Midseason Meeting Between Colts & Patriots Sparked This Mess Leading Up to AFC Championship Game
 Brady and the Patriots should be looking forward to their next meeting against Indy. |
After the release of the Wells report on Wednesday, it's now in writing that the Colts did, in fact, contact the league regarding their concerns about the air pressure as it related to the Patriots footballs.
According to the report, it was Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson who kicked this whole thing off, having sent an email to the league to raise their concerns about the air pressure of game balls used by the Patriots the day before the AFC Championship Game.
The report states that Grigson sent the email to David Gardi and Mike Kensil, who are each senior members of the NFL Football Operations Department were asked to keep an eye on the footballs.
"As far as the gameballs are concerned it is well known around the league that after the Patriots gameballs are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage the ballboys for the patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better," read the email. "it would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don't get an illegal advantage."
It apparently stemmed from their Week 11 battle against New England after Brady threw two interceptions, both of which, were handed to Brian Seabrooks, an Assistant Equipment Manager for the Colts. After getting them in his possession, Seabrooks said they "appeared to be coated in a tacky substance and seemed spongy or soft when squeezed."
Those two footballs apparently weren't tested by officials at the time, but the Colts claim there was "unspecified chatter throughout the League that the Patriots prefer their footballs softer than other teams and that visiting teams should be on guard when playing at Gillette Stadium."
So that's apparently where the rumors and whispers started. After this fiasco, one would have to think that the Colts shouldn't feel too great when Brady and the Patriots visit on October 18th in a Sunday night, nationally televised contest later this year. The best way to get even would be to blowout the team they've beaten handily recently. That seems likely, since, including both the regular and postseason, New England has scored over 40 points in each of the last four games.
Following today's news, that total may skyrocket.
