Tony Dungy Says Peyton Manning Thinks The Patriots Bugged His Locker Room

If you thought that Deflategate was a thing of the past, well you were wrong. In a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Tony Dungy, a former Indianapolis Colts coach, said that Peyton Manning was so concerned about the New England Patriots bugging his locker room at Gillette Stadium before games, that he held team meetings in the hallway.

Dungy does not know whether or not this was true, but Manning has had a less than stellar showing against the Pats. He currently holds a 6-13 record in 19 meetings within the regular season, with only a below his usually average 89.8 quarterback rating (usually 97.5.) Manning also suffered two playoff losses to the Pats earlier in his career.

Dungy has not stated whether or not the rumors are factual, but he stated that he knew Manning many times acted out of caution. In a report by Peter King in 2010, Dungy went on to say that,  “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. We didn’t have a lot of strategy discussions inside the locker room there.”

Dungy himself was unsure of whether or not opposing teams and managements were using any tactics to gain an upper hand – especially since it is in lieu of the 2007 Spygate.

It may just be Manning’s superstition and overall bad luck, and as Dungy puts it, “Peyton takes everything to the nth degree.”

However, due to a lack of evidence in the face of outstanding speculation, there is nothing that suggests the Patriots are in the wrong.

The only thing that this allegation does succeed in, though, is that all teams will now be on even higher alert when they play New England at home.