Cowboys sideline exclusive: The curious case of Brett Maher, and the missing ‘K’ balls

How far wide were Brett Maher’s missed PATs in the Cowboys’ 31-14 win over the Bucs in the wild card playoff win in Tampa?

Two of Maher’s four missed kicks missed the kicking net behind the end zone and went into the crowd. Those two balls were not retrieved, thus leaving the Cowboys’ sideline without two of their three designated “K” balls (kicking balls) assigned to the visiting team.

You know it’s a bad night for the kicker when you’re down to your last “K” ball.

But what in the heck is a “K” ball?

A “K” ball is used in NFL games exclusively for special teams plays, including extra points, field goals, punts and kickoffs.

“There are 54 game balls ready for each NFL game,” explains Andy Wentling, plant manager of the Wilson Football Factory in Ada, Ohio, where every NFL game ball is hand made. “Of the 54, there are six ‘K’ balls. … We ship them on Wednesday to the hotel where the officiating crew is staying and the officials take them to the stadium on game day.”

As for the other 48 footballs used on gameday?

“Each team brings 24 footballs to the game for use by their offense,” Wentling continues. “Those balls have the decals with the team logo. Each team marks 12 primaries and 12 backups. So, if your team scores four touchdowns and the players either chuck the ball into the stands or keep the ball for themselves to put on their mantle at home, you’ve got eight balls left. But at halftime, you grab four of your backups so you’re back to 12.”

As for the missing “K” balls on Monday night in Tampa, the Cowboys were assigned “K” balls Nos. 2, 4, and 6. When Nos. 2 and 4 missed the net, No. 6 was the last “K” ball available for the Cowboys.

This caused quite a kerfuffle on the sideline with the NFL official overseeing the “K” balls and the Cowboys specialists (kicker/holder/long snapper), special teams coordinator John Fassel and members of the Cowboys’ equipment staff.

Postgame, I spoke to two of the specialists and they had never seen an instance where a “K” ball had not been retrieved from the stands, and had never been involved in a game where they were down “K” balls.

Why had the footballs not been retrieved from the stands? Did the gameday operations folks even try to retrieve the footballs? What would happen if No. 6 had to be replaced? Would “K” balls from the other sideline be used for Cowboys’ special teams plays?

Guess I’ll spend part of this week trying to find answers to “What if?” scenarios that none of us on the Cowboys’ sideline ever thought would arise in a game.

The NFL started using “K” balls in 1999 because kickers and punters would often doctor footballs in hopes of improving their own accuracy. Whether it was baking a football in an oven, microwaving it, putting it in a sauna, ‘roughing it up’ or soaking it in citrus juices. Kickers and punters would try to give themselves an advantage … which meant it was a disadvantage for the other team’s specialists who may have preferred their football doctored in a different manner.

To be fair for both sets of specialists, there needed to be a standard – a consistency – among the footballs. Thus, the “K” balls.

How unusual is it for “K” balls to be taken out of action? I’ve seen kickers for other teams miss the net, but don’t know if those footballs were retrieved from the stands. As for “K” balls on the Cowboys sideline, I’ve seen it during a playoff game when Miles Austin returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown against the Seahawks in the 2006 Wild Card loss in Seattle.

Austin’s touchdown “K” ball was kept aside as a keepsake, as is the custom for many players who make big plays. It’s just that most big plays happen on offense or defense, so those keepsake balls come from the stockpile of 24 per team.

Oh, and I know what you’re thinking. Wasn’t that Seattle playoff the game the one in which a snap on a field goal attempt went through holder Tony Romo’s fingers?

Yes, and sorry to have brought up the unhappy memory, but here’s why. The “K” ball used on that field goal attempt was so slick, and the sheen of the football so slippery compared to balls used by offenses, that the league changed the rules regarding “K” balls the ensuing offseason.

Before the Romo incident, a dozen “K” balls were available and they would rotate throughout the game. After one was used, the next one would be used on the ensuing play. For that Seattle game, by the fourth quarter, they rotated in a slick, unused “K” ball.

The offseason rule change led to the “K” balls being numbered 1-12 (now only six balls, as previously noted), with No. 1 being used until it was no longer available, then going to the next ball. It’s not a willy-nilly rotation of balls getting thrown in from the sideline.

As for last night’s game, Maher’s misses had nothing to do with slippery footballs or problems with the operation. He pushed and pulled his kicks himself, similar to a golfer slicing a tee shot, with two missing the giant net.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all on an NFL sideline, something so unusual happens that is makes the most routine, mundane of sideline operations – like the logistics of handling the “K” balls — an interesting game note.

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