GarageGabs

One story that hasn’t gotten a lot of ink this season has been Alex Smith’s growth from a historically bad rookie quarterback into a somewhat competent sophomore. One reason for Smith’s success: he isn’t fumbling as much as he did last year because he now brings his own footballs to games.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that an NFL rule change allows each team to bring a dozen balls with them to away games for use on offense. The balls must be examined by a referee, but they can be doctored to some extent to remove the slick waterproofing from their surface. Smith and Niners equipment supervisor Steve Urbaniak give Smith’s balls a good working over during the week, running them under some water, scrubbing them with a brush, and drying them with a towel. “I’ll go through them and check them to where they’re feeling decent,” Smith said of the process. “From Alex’s standpoint, he’s very happy with it,” Urbaniak said. “.”It gives him confidence going in knowing he doesn’t have to worry about it.”

Smith isn’t the only one who is happy after a thorough ball-buffing. Frank Gore had some fumbling problems early in the year. But Gore doesn’t seem to have any trouble holding onto Smith’s balls. The Broncos, who come from the capital of ball-doctoring, may want to keep Jay Cutler’s balls in a humidor so the rookie’s passes don’t sail on him. But the Broncos backs and receivers may have trouble grasping soggy balls.

Ok, I didn’t make this up, the full story can be found HERE.  Scroll down to the Niners/Broncos preview