COLTS

Ravens assistant tipped off Colts, Pagano about DeflateGate

Stephen Holder
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano.

As it turns out, Colts coach Chuck Pagano's relationship with his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, played a central role in the uncovering of the DeflateGate scandal – in direct contradiction to statements made by Baltimore coach John Harbaugh.

Contained in a ream of documents released Tuesday as part of a series of exhibits in quarterback Tom Brady's federal case against the NFL, was an email from Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan that confirms what many had long speculated: That the Ravens alerted the Colts to the fact that the New England Patriots were allegedly violating NFL rules in regards to game balls.

In an email to Ryan Grigson dated January 17 – one day before the Colts lost the AFC Championship Game in which the controversy began – Sullivan stated that Ravens assistant Jerry Rosburg called Pagano prior to the game to share concerns the Ravens had about their kicking balls during their divisional round loss to the Patriots one week earlier.

"They were given new footballs instead of the ones that were prepared correctly," Sullivan said. "We would like to use the footballs that I will break in."

NFL teams are required to use kicking balls that are delivered straight from the manufacturer in their original packaging, but a member of each team's equipment staff is authorized to begin breaking in the ball 45 minutes before kickoff.

The Ravens, it appears, felt they were not given the balls that they had prepared pre-game.

The email contradicts statements by Colts coach Chuck Pagano and the Ravens’ John Harbaugh from the NFL Combine in February.

“I had no idea until they start talking about it a day later,” Pagano said. “As a coach, I was trying to get a first down and trying to get off the field, which we didn’t do a good job of.”

Harbaugh said: "We were never involved with it to begin with."

A Baltimore Ravens assistant tipped off the Indianapolis Colts about the possibility of underinflated footballs being used in the AFC Championship game after  Baltimore's AFC playoff loss to the Patriots a week prior.

Sullivan did not cite Rosburg in the rest of his email, but he went on to add that the Patriots were known to manipulate the air pressure in balls before games – something that attorney Ted Wells' report earlier this year seemed to support.

"It is well known around the league that after the Patriots gameballs are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage the ballboys for the Patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback (Brady) likes a smaller football so he can grip it better," Sullivan's email continued.

"It would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so they don't get an illegal advantage."

Also contained in documents released Tuesday was NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent's admission that he first became aware of potential issues with the footballs when Grigson approached him in his suite at Gillette Stadium. Grigson, according to Vincent's testimony, approached late in the first half of the game and stated, "We are playing with a small ball."

The subsequent investigation resulted in Brady being suspended for four games for his role in altering the air pressure in the footballs before the game. The NFL upheld that decision on appeal last week. The NFL Players Association is now pursuing the case in federal court.