Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason believes all of the talk about the New England Patriots under-inflating footballs began as a coordinated effort from the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts.
Earlier this week, NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent revealed that Colts GM Ryan Grigson is the one who alerted the league about Deflategate. On Wednesday, Esiason told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich Show” that he believes the Ravens and Colts worked together in an attempt to “embarrass” Tom Brady.
“If you notice, Harbaugh never went after Bill Belichick and never said anything negative about him as a coach for the previous two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl,” Esiason said. “Next week the Patriots are playing the Colts, and their head coach is Chuck Pagano, who was once defensive coordinator under John Harbaugh and the Ravens. They’re all close and they’re all tight.
“This is what I believe happened: they all wanted to embarrass Tom Brady, and they wanted to put him on the spit if you will. They wanted to make him answer questions about said rule book.”
Harbaugh has repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with Deflategate. While it was initially reported that 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls were under-inflated by two pounds per square inch, more recent reports have indicated that only the ball that D’Qwell Jackson intercepted was that far under. The others were supposedly “just a few ticks” below the allowable limit.
“You can say whatever you want about DeflateGate, and who said what, but to me this is about how the NFL operates: it’s back stabbing, it’s insecure and it’s childish,” Esiason added. “‘You want to call me out? I’m going to call you out. You want to embarrass me? Guess what I’m going to embarrass you.’ I’m telling you, this is the way the NFL works.
“At the end of the day, Tom Brady is the one who’s got the last laugh. He’s got his third Super Bowl MVP trophy and his fourth Super Bowl.”
Until the NFL releases its findings, nothing can be ruled out. Heck, even someone who is linked to the New York Jets organization has seen his name thrown into the mix. But if it turns out that the only ball that was anything close to two pounds under was the one the Colts were in possession of, people will start wondering.
