Nov 5, 2007 4:15 pm US/Eastern
CBS Takes Responsibility For Patriots Audio Blip
Critics Had Accused Colts Of Cheating
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
CBS has taken responsibility for the audio irregularity heard during Sunday's Patriots-Colts telecast that prompted complaints that the Colts had cheated.
"CBS has informed us that the unusual audio moment heard by fans during the Patriots-Colts telecast was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast. It was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium," the National Football League said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
The Patriots won the game, 24-20, to remain unbeaten.
The noise was heard during the early moments of the 4th quarter at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, with the Patriots on offense. Viewers heard loud crowd noise and what sounded like a whooping sound, or feedback from a microphone. The crowd noise then abruptly diminished.
Jason Cole of Yahoo.com reported this morning that Patriots president Jonathan Kraft complained after the game to the NFL's vice president of security, Milt Ahlerich.
"We're aware of it and we're looking into it," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Yahoo.com. "It may just be the TV feed from CBS, but we're checking it out."
The Colts were quick this afternoon to post the NFL statement on their Web site.
"We trust this will put an end to the ridiculous and unfounded accusations that the Colts artificially enhanced crowd noise at the RCA Dome in any way," the team added.
According to the Yahoo.com article, a Patriots spokesman said Monday that the team plans no formal protest to the league.
The incident is sure to add to the growing animosity between the two franchises. Colts coach Tony Dungy called the Patriots' spying scandal "a sad day for the league," and likened their illegal taping to suspected illegal-steroid use by baseball's Barry Bonds. And combative Colts president Bill Polian has long accused the Patriots of bending the rules.
On the other hand, many teams have suspected the Colts of piping crowd noise into the RCA Dome to disrupt their opponents' signal-calling.
"I don't know if there are levels of being deaf, but we couldn't hear anything," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said after Sunday's game. "You really couldn't hear anything at certain times, so we pretty much went exclusively with the wrist band, which is a challenge, too."
Brady was not asked whether he believed the Colts had cheated
Click on this link and scroll to the 2:25 time code in this to hear what appears to sound like some sort of skip in the audio.
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