Bill Belichick drew the ire of Colts owner Jim Irsay.
Belichick was in his customary role as a guest on the first half of “ManningCast,” ESPN’s simulcast of “Monday Night Football” with Peyton and Eli Manning, as the Chiefs were facing the Saints.
Peyton gave Belichick a golden opportunity to revisit the old Colts-Patriots rivalry when he asked the former head coach about how you prepare teams on how to handle intense crowd noise.
“I’ll tell you what Peyton. The crowd noise there wasn’t as bad as it was when you guys piped in music at the RCA Dome,” Belichick answered. “And then when the music skipped, the crowd noise skipped, that’s when we knew when you were pumping it in.”
All these years later, Irsay remains sensitive about the insinuation.
“Reminder…’piped-in crowd noise’ myth —1000% fictional,” the Colts owner wrote on X.
“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! A credit to Colts fans.”
The RCA Dome, where the Colts played prior to Lucas Oil Stadium, was an infamously noisy venue.
The original allegations happened during a regular-season game in 2007, and viewers at home noticed an apparent “skip” in the deafening noise while Tom Brady was lined up to take a snap.
The Patriots, who at the time had recently been subject to Spygate punishment from the NFL after they were accused of illicitly videotaping the Jets’ signals, requested the league investigate the circumstances.
“CBS has informed the NFL that the unusual audio moment heard 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,” a league spokesman said at the time.
“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.”
