Have a bit of wax and are dyed the reddish color. In my experience the footballs that are dark like that have been wet and rubbed with a towel which removes the dye. I've had plenty of nfl game balls. A lot of Qb's don't like brand new football's, so they condition them a bit.
"He fumbled there better than anyone!"
Scuffing wouldn’t give it this uniform dark tone.
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