[stupac2]

I suspect there is something I am missing. What is it?

That there are a lot of people out there who really, really want to call the Patriots cheaters.

My guess is that the number was arbitrary. I mean, it needs to be something, right? But they can't care that much, because a ball that's inflated in a locker room then brought out onto a freezing field will very quickly be significantly below that pressure, and you're not allowed to heat them (and they'll go above on hot days too). So maintaining that internal pressure can't actually be very important to the NFL, it's more likely that they just picked some number that seemed reasonable.

[stupac2]

I suspect there is something I am missing. What is it?

That there are a lot of people out there who really, really want to call the Patriots cheaters.

My guess is that the number was arbitrary. I mean, it needs to be something, right? But they can't care that much, because a ball that's inflated in a locker room then brought out onto a freezing field will very quickly be significantly below that pressure, and you're not allowed to heat them (and they'll go above on hot days too). So maintaining that internal pressure can't actually be very important to the NFL, it's more likely that they just picked some number that seemed reasonable.