Peyton Manning takes shot at Patriots, says he feared his locker was ‘bugged’
from Erin Walsh, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
When Peyton Manning played against the New England Patriots, he refrained from discussing plays at his locker because he feared it was “bugged,” the Hall of Famer said Monday during the ESPN2 broadcast of the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions game.
“Every time I played against New England, I used to talk to my receivers in the showers. Don't talk about a play next to my locker because I know it's bugged.”
Peyton Manning on when the Patriots used to come to Indy ?
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 21, 2021
Eli Manning defeated the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl while quarterbacking the New York Giants. So, he brought up the possibility the Patriots did some sketchy things to gain an advantage, particularly in the second matchup.
“I remember, we played the Patriots in that second Super Bowl in Indianapolis,” Eli said. “They practiced at your facility all week. Were you a little nervous, going back in your facility the next year, that they didn’t have cameras in your quarterback room?”
Peyton Manning, who at the time played for the Indianapolis Colts, said he took precautions after the Super Bowl and said he would talk to his receivers in the shower and not around his locker.
“We were in the shower,” he said. “It’s very strange. Very strange to see seven guys hanging out there in the back of the shower. But take all precautions…”
The Manning brothers’ comments will definitely spark speculation among the football community because the Patriots have long been accused of cheating. During the 2007 season in the Spygate scandal, New England videotaped New York Jets coaches during a game.
Then in 2016, Tom Brady was suspended four games after allegations he had footballs deflated in the Patriots’ victory over the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.