Deion Sanders Accuses Colts of Stealing Signals in Past; Tony Dungy Defends the Horseshoe

NFL Network analyst and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders recently accused past Indianapolis Colts teams of stealing defensive signals–presumably during the ‘Peyton Manning era’ of the franchise’s football.

Sanders’ statements were essentially said as justification to at least partially vindicate the New England Patriots for their role in ‘Spy-Gate’ (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk):

It didn’t take long for former head coach Tony Dungy to come to the Colts defense, saying that ‘stealing signs’ has been something that has been performed by every NFL team since the game’s inception (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk):

Something that Sanders himself should already know, having played in the league for 14 seasons:

Dungy even recalled times which the Colts used ‘stealing signals’ to their advantage:

It’s not the first time that the Colts have been accused of wrongdoing, as former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio once made an unfounded accusation that Indianapolis had piped in crowd noise at the RCA Dome. With no evidence, that has been safely chalked up as a wild accusation under the label of ‘sour grapes’.

Of course, Sanders’ memory may still be recovering from severe burns he suffered during a Halloween game in 1999, when former Colts wide receiver great Marvin Harrison torched the fellow Hall of Famer for a 40-yard touchdown reception en route to Indianapolis’ 34-24 win.

Either way, it appears as though the Colts have done nothing differently than what any other NFL team has done for nearly the last century in regards to ‘stealing signals’ based on Dungy’s testimony.

At the end of the day, Dungy hit the nail on the head, when he said the clear difference between what the Colts and other teams have done and what the Patriots did regarding ‘Spy-Gate’:

Dungy knows better and so should Deion.