It seems like the "Deflategate" updates never stop, and this morning FOX Sport's Jay Glazer reported another interesting note from the story: that the Baltimore Ravens actually notified the Indianapolis Colts about the Patriots' deflated footballs prior to the AFC Championship game and that, because of that, the officials were planning to check the footballs at halftime already.
The Baltimore Ravens tipped off the Indianapolis Colts going into the AFC title game about the Patriots potentially doctoring the air in footballs, according to FOX Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer.
According to Glazer, the NFL was already planning to inspect the balls at halftime, despite D'Qwell Jackson's interception originally being reported as the cause.
While the NFL is still investigating and figuring out what direction to go in terms of possible penalties for Bill Belichick and the Patriots in what is being dubbed "Deflategate," many NFL owners, general managers and coaches are tired of the Patriots and are wondering if the league will finally take a hard line, Glazer reported.
Earlier in the week, we heard the report from Newsday's Bob Glauber that the Colts found out about the under inflated footballs after D'Qwell Jackson's second quarter interception of Tom Brady. Jackson wanted to keep the football (of course!) and so he gave it to an equipment guy, who noticed it felt under inflated and notified Chuck Pagano. General manager Ryan Grigson was then notified, and he told the league. Yesterday, we mentioned the report from ESPN's Adam Schefter that the Colts actually had concerns about the Patriots deflating footballs after their November matchup - again following Tom Brady interceptions. Furthermore, longtime NFL ref Gerry Austin did report that the footballs where checked at halftime, at which point the Patriots' footballs were found to be under inflated while the Colts' footballs were still fine. And finally, there was Tuesday's report from CBS's Jason La Canfora that the Ravens did have concerns about the Patriots deflating footballs after their Divisional round matchup.
Of course, all of these reports can be true. It could certainly be true that the Colts had concerns after their November game, and that the Ravens were upset enough following the Divisional round game that they notified the Colts to be watching for it. Then when Jackson picked off the pass, the Colts became aware that the Patriots were perhaps playing with deflated footballs in the AFC Championship game. With a story like this, we really don't have all of the information and a lot of it is left to just reports and speculation while the NFL investigates. But if indeed these reports are true, it means that Sunday's game wasn't the first time teams have been suspicious of the Patriots possibly under inflating footballs, which leads to the question of just how often the Patriots actually do this?
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