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          NFL Nation

          Back judge on ball security: 'It doesn't have to be like that'

          • Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff WriterAug 7, 2015, 10:14 PM ET
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              Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University. You can follow him via Twitter @joshweinfuss.
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          GLENDALE, Ariz. -- An NFL back judge compared the upcoming security around game balls this season to having a Brink's truck and a guard with a pistol protect the balls.

          "They made that so crazy it ain't even funny," said Steve Freeman, who's entering his 15th season as an NFL official.

          "It doesn't have to be like that," he continued.

          Freeman said during a rules presentation at the Arizona Cardinals training camp Friday that the changes are a result of "some overreaction."

          Freeman didn't get into the specifics of how the game balls will be managed by officials this season in wake of Deflategate. But he said a security guard will be with the balls, along with the kicking ball coordinator, when the officials aren't in their locker room during their 50-minute walk around.

          Prior to this year, Freeman said it could have been easy for someone to get into their locker room and tinker with the balls.

          "When we go out for our 50-minute walk around, there's nobody in the locker room," Freeman said. "It's anybody and everybody, if the locker room (attendant) doesn't watch the locker room, could come in there and let all the air out if they wanted to."