Bill Belichick roasts Peyton Manning over pumped-in crowd noise in Indianapolis
BOSTON -- Bill Belichick has found his comfort zone in sports media. During his appearance on the Manningcast Monday night, the former head coach delivered a savage zinger toward Peyton Manning over pumped-in crowd noise in the RCA Dome during those famous Patriots-Colts battles of yesteryear.
With the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium being its usual loud self while the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, Manning decided it was time to pick the brain of one of the greatest head coaches of all time. Manning asked Belichick how he would simulate such a loud setting to prepare his team.
Manning probably wasn't prepared for Belichick's response, in which he called out the Indianapolis Colts for pumping in fake crowd noise during games at the RCA Dome.
"Well, I tell you Peyton, the crowd noise there at Arrowhead wasn't as bad as when you guys piped in music at the RCA Dome," Belichick fired. "Then when the crowd noise skipped, that's how we knew you were pumping it in."
Bill Belichick called out the Colts for pumping in fake crowd noise against the Pats 😭 @EliManning pic.twitter.com/9sKDLpVBT3
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 8, 2024
Boom. Roasted!
Manning took the jab in stride, laughing and responded with an "Okay, okay" while Eli Manning giggled over the exchange from afar. It showed great restraint that Peyton didn't bring up the few times that Belichick and the Patriots were accused of some funny business on (or off) the football field.
While Manning didn't respond, Colts owner Jim Irsay did -- albeit Tuesday morning.
Reminder..."piped-in crowd noise" myth ---1000% fictional. And the "skip" was TV broadcast. We get it, though…visiting teams couldn’t believe that 60,000 in an intimate domed stadium could make that much deafening noise! 👋🙂 A credit to Colts fans.
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) October 8, 2024
Tthe stories of the Colts pumping in fake crowd noise is nothing new, especially not for Patriots fans who lived through the Pats-Colts rivalry of the early-to-mid 2000s. The most famous instance of the Colts making their stadium artificially loud came after the 2006 AFC Championship Game in Indy, when the Colts beat the Patriots 38-34 and went on to win Manning's only Super Bowl in a Colts uniform.
Belichick obviously has a good enough relationship with Manning that he can have these fun moments with his former foe. And Manning doesn't seem to mind taking jabs from Belichick, either.