We’re approaching the nine-year anniversary of the Patriots’ AFC Championship Game victory against the Indianapolis Colts.
New England easily won, 45-7.But what happened after the triumph was a controversy that would follow the Patriots for years to come.
“Deflategate” occurred when the Colts reported that the footballs used in the AFC Championship Game were under-inflated. This resulted in a year-long inquiry and the suspension of then-quarterback Tom Brady for four games for his role in the controversy.
It was a long, drawn-out process that even reached the courts of the United States. Even though the AFC Championship Game is long in the past, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman — who both played for the Patriots against the Colts in the AFC Championship Game — commented on the incident on Edelman’s “Games With Names” podcast.
But it wasn’t the AFCCG, according to Gronkowski, that caused “Deflategate.” It was the Patriots’ 42-20 regular-season win months previously, which became known as the “Jonas Gray game” because the running back raced for 201 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
“This game, I swear, was the catalyst for DeflateGate.” I despise the Colts completely, bro. They needed to come up with some BS explanation for why they continued losing to us year after year.” Gronkowski explained. “And it wasn’t simply that they were losing to us. That (expletive) was absolutely pounding us. They irritate me. You can’t possibly be a bigger loser than that.”
D’Qwell Jackson of the Indianapolis Colts intercepted Brady two months later in the AFC Championship Game. He felt the football was underinflated. That’s when Indianapolis claimed the Patriots purposefully underinflated the footballs in order to acquire a competitive advantage.
“Are you kidding me?,” Gronkowski exclaimed. “We ran the ball for 300 yards.”
New England went on to win Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks, but “Deflategate” was just getting started.
Following Brady’s four-game suspension by the NFL in May 2015, a tutorial in air pressure from coach Bill Belichick was followed by a protracted investigation that included the United States District Court. Judge Richard Berman overturned Brady’s suspension, but the league reinstated it.It may have gone to the United States Supreme Court, but Brady indicated on Facebook in July 2016 that he would accept the suspension.
The Patriots were also docked two draft selections and fined $1 million.
