Footballs used to be a pork product. As Time describes, back in the 1850s, the precursor to current-day football involved playing with a leather-encased pig bladder that people inflated by mouth. The idea of pressing your lips against a pig’s pee sack sounds vaguely revolting and raises the uncomfortable question of the “other white meat” has a yellow flavor.

That alone seems like a reason to switch to cowhide. After all, if you’re going to kill an animal and turn part of its carcass into a plaything, you don’t want to have to wonder whether it tastes like a toilet. But people had a different beef with these balls. The pig bladders leaked and tore too easily and would then have to be packed with straw or a similar filing. They were later replaced with less incontinent rubber bladders. Obviously, these beefy balls can take more of a beating because you don’t see many time outs for stuffing them with straw. But even if a beefy NFL player happened to bust a ball or deflate one, each football team has plenty of balls to play with.