From the sounds of things, one of the greatest players in NFL history has known the Patriots aren’t trustworthy for years. In what was rumored for years and now officially confirmed by his former coach, Tony Dungy, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has had a hunch the Pats were up to sneaky things going back to 2009-2010 and maybe even prior to that.
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Peyton refused to talk about any game sensitive material in the locker room while visiting New England and in fact would hold meetings out in the hallways. He was convinced the locker rooms were bugged.
He had heard things over the years prior to this and kept his ears open, especially when talking to players who use to play for the Pats and then wound up coming to the Colts when he was there.
Dungy didn’t know whether the rumors were true, but Manning acted out of caution after talking with former Patriots players. When asked about the speculation, which surfaced from Peter King of Sports Illustrated in 2010 (via Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports), Dungy confirmed it, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
“I know that that is very true, and, you know, as Peyton talked to guys who played for the Patriots, some of the guys who came over—whether it’s true or not he treated it as true,” Dungy said. “We didn’t have a lot of strategy discussions inside the locker room there.”
Manning hasn’t enjoyed much success against the Patriots throughout his career. He holds a 6-13 record in 19 meetings during the regular season with an 89.8 quarterback rating, well below his career mark of 97.5. He also lost two playoff games in New England early in his career.
The Broncos once again visit the Patriots this season and my guess is Manning will be out in the hall again.
