Brad Johnson Says He Bribed NFL People to Alter Footballs Before Super Bowl XXXVII

Brad Johnson, who for whatever reason does not always get mentioned in the same gasp as Trent Dilfer when backhanded compliments are doled out about whether you can win a Super Bowl with X quarterback, has an interesting revelation about Super Bowl XXXVII. Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times:

"At the Super Bowl, the NFL had 100 footballs. They were new, slick and supposedly under the league’s watchful eye. But not leaving anything to chance, Johnson made sure the balls were scuffed and ready well before the Dixie Chicks sang the national anthem. “I paid some guys off to get the balls right,” Johnson now admits. “I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them.” How much did it cost Johnson? “Seventy-five hundred (dollars),” he said. “They took care of them.”"

Stroud says that Johnson made this admission several years ago, before the 10-year reunion of the Bucs’ Super Bowl victory (and, similarly to Patriots-Colts, Tampa Bay wiped the field with Oakland that day). In any event, as #DeflateGate continues to develop, we’re going to hear a lot more about various forms of altered footballs than any of us probably ever cared to know.