While the National Football League's (NFL) investigation into the possible underinflation of the New England Patriots showed that 11 of 12 of their footballs were inflated within the league's regulations, the act of underinflating a football isn't as easy as it sounds.

If the Patriots had indeed intentionally underinflated their footballs in the blowout AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, it couldn't have been an easy task.

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The NFL requires teams to provide 12 balls for their offense to use.

In addition, the practice of varying the inflation of a football is not illegal. They are supposed to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. They must also weigh 14 and 15 ounces.

The game balls provided were required to be inspected and approved by a referee two hours and 15 minutes before kick-off. Then, they are returned to a ball attendant.

Once the balls are approved, no alterations can be done to them.

A person knowledgeable on the situation said that the person who usually inspects the balls is a uniformed official and is generally the same each week. He usually heads to the locker room and picks up the balls.

He then recounted the whole process and movement of the footballs.

After recounting the process of keeping the footballs, it seems that there would be no safe opportunity to manipulate the footballs. The only plausible times would be before kick-off or in the sidelines during the game.

ESPN spoke to another source who is in the know. They asked him how long it would take to change and measure the pressure of the football.

The source said it would take as quick as a 10 seconds. However, 11 of the 12 balls were underinflated by 2 pounds each. That would mean that if the balls were underinflated, he or she would have been fast and skilled with deflating.

The investigation into the Patriots continues.

Players from the Colts are wondering if the investigation will warrant a disqualification, and if they will be stepping in to face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

TagsUnderinflate, Football, new england patriots, NFL, investigation, 11 of 12