NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

[jrhoads23]

I noticed when I watch games on TV the game balls they use are WAY darker than the standard F1100 game ball you can buy in stores. I know that each team is given a certain number of game balls to prepare for each game, so I am guessing they rub them up or something... however their quarterback likes. But even if they put something on them, I can't get over how much darker they are than the NFL "game ball" they sell in stores. And it is EVERY team. When you watch on TV, some of the balls they use seem to be so dark you can barely read the "Wilson" and "Duke" marks on them. And I know it isnt just TV lighting or anything... I bought a game used football from the Packers and it is way darker than any other NFL football I have seen in person.

Does anyone know what product teams use on these balls to get them game ready that makes them so dark? Or is there another reason they are so dark?

[PAC]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

From a NY Times article:


When Eli Manning drops back to throw his first pass Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, the football in his hands will be as familiar as an old friend.

That is because the ball has been scoured, scrubbed, soaked and seasoned, a breaking-in process that takes months and ensures that every ball used by the Giants in a game will meet Manning’s exact preferences. The leather will have been softened, the grip enhanced and the overall feel painstakingly assessed.

There are no new balls thrown around in an N.F.L. game. A new ball, despised for its sheen and waxy gloss, is as popular as a late hit.

For every N.F.L. game, each team has 12 to 20 balls that it has meticulously groomed and prepared according to the needs of its starting quarterback. The balls, brushed and primed using various obvious and semisecret techniques, bear the team logo and are switched out from sideline to sideline depending on which team is on offense.

In the case of the Giants, preparing the game balls used from September to December begins in summer training camp.

The Giants will start with six to seven dozen new footballs. Sorting through them, Skiba and his brother, Ed, the assistant equipment director, will give each ball a once-over.

“I’ll know as soon as I pick up a ball whether it could be a ball that Eli might like some day or whether it’s a ball he’ll never like,” Ed Skiba said.

The Skibas, who grew up in Paramus, N.J., have been with the Giants since the 1990s, serving myriad quarterbacks. Manning, like most, knows what he wants in a football.

“I want a brand new ball that feels like it’s 10 years old,” Manning said Wednesday. “You want it to feel like it’s been in your house for 10 years, where you’ve been playing Saturday afternoon games with it for a long time.

“I want it broken in but it should still have nubs on it. The process has gotten better as we’ve changed some schemes and techniques. We’ve honed in what works.”

The Skibas explained the Giants’ procedure.

■ The new ball is rubbed vigorously for 45 minutes with a dark brush, which removes the wax and darkens the leather.

■ Next, a wet towel is used to scour the ball until the ball’s outer surface is soaked through.

“You’re not done until the ball is waterlogged and water will no longer bead on it,” Ed Skiba said.

■ While the ball is wet, it is brushed again.

■ Then the ball is taken over to an electric spin wheel, where it undergoes another high-speed scrubbing.

At this point, the ball is put aside overnight. Then the process is repeated twice over the next couple of days.

About five days after it was removed from its box, the ball might go into the rotation of footballs used in a Giants practice. The goal is to get the new balls banged around, thrown and dropped in the grass and dirt. The players rough up the ball and sweat on it, which helps the aging.

In practice, various balls are in varying stages of being broken in — curing like a pigskin — and all the while, the Skibas are feeling the footballs, waiting to see if one might qualify for Manning’s special bag of footballs.

“You’re always looking for pearls, chasing after the perfect one,” Joe Skiba said. “Meanwhile, every ball Eli is practicing with feels very much like the game balls. So they’re candidates, too. Sometimes he’ll turn around and flip one to me and say, ‘That’s a good one.’ Sometimes, he wants me to throw a ball away, too.

“And we never let him throw a ball in a game that he hasn’t already thrown in practice and liked.”

[JDubbs73]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Great article, PAC. Way more involved than I would have ever guessed.

[jmeekins33]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Very interesting read. Thanks PAC.

[AKSaint]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Thanks for the informative post. Do you know if K kicker balls go through a similar process?

[Hoshal13]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Thanks for the informative post. Do you know if K kicker balls go through a similar process?

I was told k balls weren't issued until game time and were kept locked up until then to prohibit altering.

[PAC]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

I was told k balls weren't issued until game time and were kept locked up until then to prohibit altering.

They're given 45 minutes (under referee supervision) to prep them before game time.

[jrhoads23]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Awesome info... thanks!

Has anyone tried to catalog each referee and what markings he makes on his game balls? I believe Mike Carey does a "MC". I have one that has a saw tooth style marking (I dont know what ref did it). It would be interesting if someone made a list of all the refs and their markings to better help people identify a game used football to a specific game or two.

[jrhoads23]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

That is a cool article. I wonder what they do when a team makes it to the NFC/AFC Championship game where they use special balls with a special emblem on them. For example, the NFC Championship game uses game balls with the "NFC Championship" logo on it. In addition, I believe those game balls also have the two teams lasered on them as well - meaning they can't make them ahead of time - they need to wait until Sunday's games are over.

So that means if a team wins on Sunday and makes it to that game, they have less than 7 days to prep the balls. And that is assuming they get the balls immediately after they win the game to get them there. I wonder if the Wilson factory is on standby Sunday night and immediately starts making the balls once the games are over. Assuming they can get 40 or so cranked out that night, the NFL has them overnight 20 new game balls to each team that Monday. That would mean the teams would get the balls on Tuesday and would only be able to break them in for 5 days or so for them to be ready by Sunday. Quite the contrast from the months they have to break in their regular season game balls.
Or perhaps Wilson makes game balls a week ahead of time and just lasers the 4 different scenarios of the two teams playing. Once the two teams are determined, they ship them out first thing Monday morning and destroy all the balls which were made with the wrong teams on it - but that would be a lot of wasted leather.

Thats just my guess. Anyone know?

[flaco1801]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

If the QB has a great game and tosses 5 td's he loses 5 footballs to the receiver as keepsakes...

[RaiderNationPDX]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Awesome info... thanks!

Has anyone tried to catalog each referee and what markings he makes on his game balls? I believe Mike Carey does a "MC". I have one that has a saw tooth style marking (I dont know what ref did it). It would be interesting if someone made a list of all the refs and their markings to better help people identify a game used football to a specific game or two.

Tony Corrente uses an eight-pointed star stamp, usually applied to the panel underneath the one with the air valve (centered).

Jerome Boger uses a strange stamp (kind of looks like a snail, squared off on three sides) usually applied to the tip of the football.

Clete Blakeman's stamp/mark is, I believe "R34."

The sawtooth scribble you mentioned is, I believe, Walt Anderson.

Mike Carey, as you mentioned, Sharpies on his initials

Other officials Sharpie on their jersey numbers, initials, etc. Basically, with a little triangulation between balls and some Googling, I've never found it too hard to figure out the referee stamp on a ball I'm interested in, which is why I've never compiled a list. If someone wants to take this and others' info & compile it into a coherent table, they are more than welcome though. Hope this helps!

[jrhoads23]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

I thought I read somewhere that you can tell what season a football is from because the two letters printed underneath the fill hole. Can anyone confirm this? If someone has a nice collection of game balls they can guarantee the season they are from, can they check and see if all balls from the same season have the same two letters printed? What in used in 2013? 2012?

[paul457]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

I thought I read somewhere that you can tell what season a football is from because the two letters printed underneath the fill hole. Can anyone confirm this? If someone has a nice collection of game balls they can guarantee the season they are from, can they check and see if all balls from the same season have the same two letters printed? What in used in 2013? 2012?

Interesting. I have a game ball with 'ES' printed on the air valve side of the ball, but close to the seam. Does anyone have a decoder for these codes?

[jrhoads23]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Interesting. I have a game ball with 'ES' printed on the air valve side of the ball, but close to the seam. Does anyone have a decoder for these codes?

Do you know what game/season your ball is from?

[paul457]

Re: NFL game balls - why so much darker than store footballs?

Do you know what game/season your ball is from?

Unfortunately I do not. It's fairly new, it's a BCA Ribbon Patriots game ball.