re: Breaking news: Non-referee entered refs locker room and took game balls

Former ref Jim Daopoulus just restated the refs locker room should be locked and nobody should be allowed to enter and touch the game balls besides the refs. Just curious to the explanation for this one guys?

quote:

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“The equipment manager will bring a bag of 12 or 24 footballs — it depends on the weather. The backup balls they’ll keep in the locker room or the replay room during the game. But those footballs come directly from each equipment manager in a bag, and once they go into the officials’ locker room, nobody has access to them except for the officials. So nobody can sneak in there and let the air out or put air in or do anything. There’s usually a security guard in there, so the footballs sit in the officials’ locker room for two hours until they go out onto the field

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This was his quote from three days ago. When he heard there was video off someone entering he reiterated this is completely against protocol and not correct