Super Bowl XL comes with a guarantee: Every football -- all 120 of them -- will be dropped.

That is, each will be marked with a drop of synthetic DNA to thwart potential counterfeiters who might be tempted to sell phony “game-used” Super Bowl footballs, which can be worth thousands of dollars. Exposed to a specific laser frequency, the DNA glows to a bright green.

“The ball can change hands a thousand-plus times, but it will never lose that DNA,” said Joe Orlando, president of PSA/DNA Authentication Services, a division of Santa Ana-based Collector’s Universe Inc., which for the sixth consecutive year marked the Super Bowl footballs. “The chance of replicating this exact DNA sequence is one in 33 trillion, so it’s virtually impossible.”

The NFL has prepared 10 dozen Wilson footballs for Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks and plans to use a new one on every play of the first half, before going to a 12-ball rotation after halftime. It’s something the league has done for several Super Bowls, donating some to charity auctions, setting aside others for selected players, coaches and officials, and sending the one used on the opening kickoff to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


“You have to guard that one like your life depends on it,” said Mike Pereira, supervisor of NFL officials.

Some players said they would be holding on a little extra tight too.

Steeler receiver Antwaan Randle El was caught off guard when informed about the continuous shuttle of new pigskin.

“Every play? I didn’t know that,” he said Wednesday. “That’s not good.


“It’s slick, it’s slippery. Even when you go to tuck it, the ball’s prone to come out a little more often than normal.”

Added quarterback Charlie Batch, backup for Steeler starter Ben Roethlisberger: “If they’re not broken in, that could present a problem. But it shouldn’t be a problem for Ben because he wears a glove. I don’t think that necessarily would affect him, but that could affect anybody [else] who has to touch the ball. It’s a little more slick and the laces aren’t broken in.”

And the grip is a concern even for those who don’t catch or carry the ball.

“You get those new balls that are right out of the bag, that’s an issue,” said Greg Warren, Pittsburgh’s long snapper, whose job it is to accurately hike the ball back on field-goal attempts, conversion kicks and punts. “You just have to make sure you stay focused. Because if that ball slips just a little bit, it makes a big difference.


“For me, if the ball slips out too soon, I’m going to get a real low snap. So I have to be aware of that. But I don’t want to grip it too hard, because if you grip it too long it’s going to go high.”

Said Carolina receiver Steve Smith, who played in the Super Bowl two years ago: “It’s no big deal. You can’t even tell. We play with new balls all the time.”

But New England tight end Christian Fauria, who played in the last two Super Bowls, says of the balls: “Quarterbacks and kickers definitely know the difference between a good one and a bad one.... It’s like handing a pitcher a brand-new baseball after every pitch. They like to scuff it up.”

To break in the footballs, the NFL uses a machine similar to an electric golf-shoe buffer. It’s quicker and more effective than rubbing each by hand.


“They really take the rain protectant off of them, which kind of acts like Vaseline at times,” Seattle kicker Josh Brown said. “But as much as we play in bad weather and the rain up there in Seattle, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

New footballs, old footballs, Seahawk receiver Darrell Jackson said he doesn’t have a preference.

“My job is to catch it,” he said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s slick, or if it’s wet, or if it doesn’t have enough grip on it. Whatever ball’s out there, I’ll just hold on tight.”

Teammate Robbie Tobeck, a center, doesn’t seem worried either: “We use new balls every game. I haven’t had a problem with it at all.”


NFL kickers and punters always have new footballs to deal with. In 1999, in order to encourage returns by making it more difficult for a kicker to reach the end zone, the league began using “K-Balls” -- kicking footballs -- that went largely untreated. From the start, they were unpopular with those required to use them, kickers and punters who previously had the ability to knead, scuff, even microwave footballs before using them in games.

Now the K-Balls are handed to them right before the play, leading to those almost comical moments when kickers animatedly squash, punch and push on them just before they are set on a tee.

“The leather isn’t cracked,” Brown said of a K-Ball. “It’s very sharp, the edges are sharp. Sometimes it doesn’t feel as if it’s aired-up enough. You get a quarterback ball, and that ball’s hitting hands, it’s popping, it’s cracking. The ball expands during the game, so the leather becomes more pliable to your hands. There’s a big difference.”

The footballs used in Super Bowl XL might all be called $1K balls, because any of them might go for at least that much at auction. Each is initialed by the referee working the game.


A football from this game “might be worth $1,000 to $1,500 once the hype dies down, unless it becomes an all-time classic game,” said Simeon Lipman, director of pop culture memorabilia for RM Auctions. “If the ball has significance, if it’s a game-winning ball, a touchdown ball, certainly the price might rise.”

The NFL will document and keep track of which ball is used for which play.

No doubt the players will too -- especially those eyeing a keepsake from the game of their lives.

“We don’t even see them until the game starts,” Seattle punter Tom Rouen said. “But I’m going to definitely try to get my hands on one.”


Staff writer Jerry Crowe contributed to this report.