Peyton Manning decided to poke the Patriot Nation hornet’s nest during ESPN2’s Monday Night Football alternate broadcast, going into detail about the possibility of the Patriots bugging his locker and the steps he would take to avoid giving anything away.
“Every time I played against New England, I used to go and talk to my receivers in the shower, like in the far corner,” Manning said. “I'm like, ‘Don't talk about a play next to my locker, because I know it's bugged. I know it's got a hot mic in there.’ We’re in the shower, very strange to see seven guys hanging out in there.”
While it might seem like Manning was joking, it’s worth noting that there have been rumors about Manning being concerned about bugs for over a decade and that Tony Dungy, his coach with the Colts, confirmed those rumors were true back in 2015.
“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 said.
So, who better to respond to Manning’s accusations than Ty Law, the Patriots defender who gave Manning more problems than anyone? Most famously, Law picked off Manning three times in the 2003 AFC championship game, a 24-14 Patriots win en route to their second Super Bowl.
Law did just that Tuesday morning on The Greg Hill Show.
“You know what’s even stranger about that comment is that I agree with Peyton: He is extremely right that it’s very strange to see seven guys in the shower talking about football,” Law said. “But you know what, he might’ve thought that because we were in his head a little bit.
“Let’s be honest, we were in his head a little bit. That’s OK. That’s Bill Belichick scheming up things and giving players confidence, so you probably did think we had a bug in there because we knew what you were doing. I ain’t gonna tell no secrets right now, but we knew what he was doing. So go ahead in the shower with all your buddies.”
Law and the Patriots defense beat up the Colts’ receivers so badly in that AFC title game that Indianapolis general manager Bill Polian famously responded by successfully lobbying the NFL to crack down on physical play against receivers that offseason.
It was the first of several instances of the Patriots-Colts rivalry spilling over off the field, with Deflategate being the most famous and these occasional accusations of bugging being another. Asked if it’s frustrating to hear stuff like this, Law said it’s actually just the opposite.
“I take satisfaction in it,” Law said. “Because if you want to go to those extremes, when they were talking about how we played aggressive on their wide receivers. What did they call it, the ‘Ty Law rule’? I mean, I look at that as a compliment. We just came out there, we kicked ass, we took names, and y’all had to go home mad on the bus and we went to the Super Bowl. I take satisfaction in it. It’s not frustrating at all. It’s funny.”
Law also added that he’s friends with Manning now and that there are no hard feelings despite Manning’s comments Monday night.
“Peyton is my friend, a great quarterback, a great competitor,” Law said. “But there’s gonna always be a lot of talk about that rivalry, whether it’s him joking about we had it bugged or this-gate or that-gate. What’s this one called? Bug-gate? That’s just another -gate they want to add onto it for whatever reason. But Peyton is great. I think his analysis is funny, his wit is awesome. I enjoy listening to him.”
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