Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen was unsuccessful in his efforts to retrieve the game ball after teammate Travis Hunter intercepted his first pass in the NFL.
Hunter made an acrobatic grab in the back of the end zone in the second quarter of Sunday’s 35-6 win over the New England Patriots. He celebrated by spinning the ball on the ground.
Brandon Green of Spectrum News 13 shared a video of a tense interaction between Hines-Allen and the designated ball boy:
Jacksonville coach Liam Coen addressed the situation on Monday.
“I was just talking about it,” Coen said, per Mark Long of the Associated Press. “I haven’t gotten a clean answer. We’ve been in communication with those guys over there. I think they’ve gotten it sorted out; I can’t say for certain if we got the actual ball or not.
“I know there was something that went on there. I think it’s all squared away. We’ll get it taken care of.”
Some teams and the NFL itself can be very protective of their game balls.
During one broadcast last year, CBS Sports’ Tony Romo explained the balls are implanted with chips that provide proprietary data. The league wants to maintain tight control of that data:
It’s unclear what caused the NFL staffer to be so insistent on keeping the ball in his possession.
From Hines-Allen’s perspective, Hunter’s interception was a big moment in the second-year star’s pro career. It was an occasion worthy of setting the game ball aside. Teams have 54 designated game balls, so they can afford to lose a few.
Maybe the pigskin in question eventually found its way to Hunter.