The Super Bowl included another prime example of the existence — and value — of inside information in pro football.
In the days preceding the game, the Patriots and quarterback Drake Maye did everything they could to create the impression that his injured throwing shoulder was fine. It was not.
The fact that Maye received a painkilling injection before the game proves it. Those things aren’t done preemptively. He had a condition that was causing significant discomfort to require the area to be numbed so that he would have a chance to play as he normally does.
Maye fully participated in practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. He was removed from the final report, with no designation to suggest anything other than he was good to go.
Of course, that complies with the league’s woefully minimal injury-reporting rules. They focus on availability only, not effectiveness. But, to the average person, the message is unmistakeable. Maye was fine.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Look at what he said last Monday night.
“I’m not trying to lie to you guys when I say I’m feeling great,” Maye said. “I’m feeling great, and looking forward to getting out there today. Another day of practice, we got one tomorrow, and feeling pretty good.”
He wasn’t trying to lie when he said he was feeling great. He was, as suggested by the painkilling injection he received six days later, successfully doing so.
On one hand, it’s always been part of the game. Injury reports are bare-bones recitations of a player’s overall health. No one, as they say, is 100 percent by Halloween.
On the other hand, the NFL has jumped fully into bed with gambling. The league makes millions from sportsbook sponsorship. Owners are allowed to acquire up to five percent of any company that operates a sportsbook — and the league has refused in the past to disclose which owners own pieces of which sportsbooks.
The scandal is coming. And, when it happens, they’ll act surprised. Shocked. Appalled. Even if they should have seen it coming.
They surely do. And, hopefully, they’re scrambling behind the scenes to avert it. Or at least to delay it. Until then, it’s about cramming as much cash in the coffers as they possibly can, before the reckoning arrives and the irreversible damage to the integrity of the game occurs.
