Jim Irsay Says Bill Belichick Claim That Colts Piped In Crowd Noise Is ‘1000% Fictional’
Bill Belichick took a subtle shot at the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, and don't think Jim Irsay didn't notice.
Belichick appeared on ESPN's Manningcast during the Week 5 match-up between the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs. Peyton Manning asked the former New England Patriots head coach about preparing his teams to play in the loud crowd noise at Arrowhead Stadium, and Belichick responded that Kansas City wasn’t as loud as Indianapolis was.
"I’ll tell you, Peyton, the crowd noise there at Arrowhead wasn’t as bad as it was when you guys piped in music at the RCA Dome. And then when the music skipped — when the crowd noise skipped, that’s when we knew you were pumping it in," Belichick said.
Belichick was referring to a 2007 game between Indianapolis and New England when the Colts were accused of blaring fake crowd noise while their opponents were on offense. Belichick was on the sidelines for the Pats at the time, while Peyton was Indy's QB1.
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A clip from the game appears to show the crowd audio malfunctioning and skipping as Randy Moss caught a pass from Tom Brady to open the fourth quarter.
Listen:
New England went on to win the game 24-20.
Jim Irsay Shoots Down Bill Belichick's Accusation
Colts owner Jim Irsay vehemently denies the fake crowd noise claims. And he took to social media on Tuesday morning to offer his thoughts on the matter.
"Reminder...'piped-in crowd noise’ myth ---1000% fictional. And the ‘skip’ was TV broadcast. We get it, though…visiting teams couldn’t believe that 60,000 in an intimate domed stadium could make that much deafening noise!" Irsay wrote. "A credit to Colts fans"
At the time, CBS took responsibility for the glitch. The network told the NFL that the issue was only on their broadcast and could not be heard in the stadium.
"CBS has informed the NFL that the unusual audio moment that fans might have heard during the Patriots-Colts telecast was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast," the NFL said in a statement. "The network and the league insisted that it was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium."
Whether it was the fault of CBS or the Indianapolis Colts, though, one thing is for certain: Bill Belichick probably isn't in a great position to accuse anyone of foul play in 2007. You know, given that whole Spygate thing.