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Former Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Blake, pictured in 1997 when he was with the Cincinnati Bengals, had ball boys remove air from footballs before games when he played. (AP Photo/Mark Lyons)

Is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a cheater? And if so, does he have a lot of company around the NFL?

Retired Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Blake says that removing air from footballs was common when he played in the NFL from 1992-2005.

"I'm just going to let the cat of the bag, every team does it, every game, it has been since I played," the ex-Jets QB said Wednesday in a radio interview on the "Midday 180" show on Nashville's 104.5 The Zone. "Cause when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can't feel the ball as well. It's too hard.

"Everybody puts the pin in and takes just enough air out of the ball that you can feel it a little better. But it's not the point to where it's flat. So I don't know what the big deal is. It's not something that's not been done for 20 years."

Deflating footballs has been a hot story leading into this year's Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks because 11 of Brady's 12 footballs used in their 45-7 AFC Championship Game win over the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18 had leaked air.

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Blake says that he'd order ball boys to let air out of his footballs just before the start of games during his entire NFL career, which included time with the Jets (1992), Cincinnati Bengals (1994-99), New Orleans Saints (2000-01), Baltimore Ravens (2002-03), Eagles (2004) and Chicago Bears (2005).

What was the process?

"Well, I would say (to a ball boy), 'Take a little bit of air out of it. It's a little bit hard,'" Blake said. "And then he'd take a little bit out and I'd squeeze it and I'd be like, 'OK, it's perfect.' That's it."

Blake, who had his best seasons with the Bengals and represented them in the 1995 Pro Bowl, feels that this practice was done by all quarterbacks when he plays, and he believes it never stopped.

"I guess it wasn't a big deal back then, but it is now," he said.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com Philadelphia Sports on Facebook.