NFL has strategy to avoid replay of "deflate-gate" in Super Bowl - CBS News

Official game balls for NFL football's Super Bowl XLIX wait to be laced at the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. AP Photo/Rick Osentoski

On Sunday, University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona will be one of the most-watched spots in the world. Seventy-three thousand fans will pack inside and an estimated 184 million Americans will be watching Super Bowl XLIX on television.

With all eyes on the game, the NFL is determined to avoid a replay of the deflated football controversy. The referees will handle the Super Bowl footballs differently than a regular game, reports CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford.

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"We're reviewing our protocol. The officials do have the footballs until about 10 minutes prior to kickoff, and then they're brought out onto the field," head of NFL officiating Dean Blandino said.

Each team typically provides 12 balls for a football game. But for the Super Bowl, the Patriots and Seahawks will hand in 54 footballs each -- which will be turned over to league officials Friday afternoon. They are then returned to the teams Sunday, to be reinspected three hours prior to kickoff.

Thursday night on some of the Patriots' most recognizable fans came to the defense of their quarterback Tom Brady, whose team has been dogged all week by lingering accusations of deflating footballs before the AFC championship game.

With the NFL going to such lengths to monitor the Super Bowl footballs, air pressure likely won't affect the game. But what could have an impact, whether Seahawks superstar cornerback Richard Sherman will miss the game. He and his girlfriend are expecting their first child.

"He's going to do his father his first favor and stay in there for another week or two," Sherman said. "I'd like to not miss the birth of my first son, my first kid."

Sherman's teammate, running back Marshawn Lynch, whose boycott of the press has led to fines by the NFL, had an interesting week of media availability.

"I'm just here so I won't get fined," Lynch said to nearly every member of the media Tuesday. On Wednesday, that changed to "Ya'll know why I'm here."

And Thursday, Lynch had his most honest and engaging session of the week while lecturing reporters.

"Ya'll shove microphones and cameras down my throat, so now for the next three minutes, I''ll be looking at ya'll the way ya'll be lookin' at me," he said.

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