Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman mock Colts for DeflateGate

Patriots

“I absolutely hate the Colts, bro.”

In a two-decade span of dominance for the New England Patriots, the “DeflateGate” controversy remains a miserable subject to prod at.

For many Patriots fans, it was an annoying slog of discourse that lasted for years on end — with media pundits, fans, and both current and former NFL players arguing over things such as PSI levels, another feared cheating scandal cooked up by New England personnel, Tom Brady’s awful courthouse portrait … and Mona Lisa Vito. 

It was an exhausting process for Brady and the Patriots, with Brady eventually slapped with a four-game suspension in 2016 and New England docked two draft picks and fined $1 million.

Now, more than a decade after “DeflateGate” dominated headlines, it’s clear that both Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman haven’t let that saga go.

During the latest episode of Edelman’s “Games with Names” podcast, both Gronkowski and Edelman took aim at the Indianapolis Colts and their role in starting said controversy. 

The allegations that sparked “DeflateGate” happened after New England trounced the Colts, 45-7, in the 2014 AFC Championship Game en route to an eventual championship win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

But both Gronkowski and Edelman believe that the sour sentiment felt by the Colts against New England started earlier that same season.

Back on Nov. 16, 2014, the Patriots doled out a 42-20 drubbing against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a laugher of a game for New England, with Jonas Gray coming out of nowhere and rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.

“This game, I swear, led to the “DeflateGate,” Gronkowski told Edelman of that 42-20 win. “I absolutely hate the Colts, bro. They needed to find some B.S. answer of why they kept losing to us every single year. And they weren’t just losing to us. We were absolutely pounding that ass. I don’t like them. Like, you can’t be any bigger of a loser pulling that off.”

Two months after that beatdown in Indy, the Colts stoked the flames that led to DeflateGate after claiming that the ball that linebacker D’Qwell Jackson in the AFC title game felt under-inflated.

“That was so stupid, bro. I’m telling you, they just came up with that because we were whooping ’em so bad every game,” Gronkowski said.

“Hey guys, this ball’s a little flat,” Edelman added in a mocking voice.

“Are you kidding me?” Gronkowski responded. “We ran the ball for 300 yards.”

Ultimately, Brady and the Patriots had the last laugh against the Colts and the rest of the NFL.

Brady and New England went on to win three more Super Bowls after that 2014 AFC Championship game, with Brady taking home his third MVP trophy in 2017.