If the Indianapolis Colts believed the New England Patriots were using balls in the AFC Championship Game that were inflated below the legal limit, they may not have been surprised. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Colts had seen that act before.
Schefter reported Wednesday that the Colts had concerns about balls being under-inflated when the Patriots visited Indy for a regular season game on Nov. 16.
During that game, Colts safety Mike Adams twice intercepted Tom Brady and gave the balls to the Colts’ equipment manager to save — and both times there were concerns about the balls feeling under-inflated, sources told Schefter.
Those sources said the Colts raised concerns to the league, which was aware of the issue going into this weekend’s AFC title game.
While there is in all likelihood no way to prove whether the Patriots were cheating back in November, this adds a new wrinkle to the story. Aside from raising the question of how long the Patriots have allegedly been doing this, you have to wonder if the league brought the issue up to New England.
If the NFL was made aware of the deflating accusations before the AFC Championship, would league officials have asked the Patriots about it or simply kept quiet and tried to catch them in the act? One would think the league would tell Bill Belichick “we’re watching you” rather than risk having a story called “Deflategate” completely overshadow the Super Bowl.
And if the NFL did tell the Patriots about the Colts’ concern, Belichick may be dumber than we thought. We have already seen last Sunday’s incident lead to more than one accusation against the Patriots. Don’t be surprised if there are more to follow.
