Tony Dungy, responding to Deion Sanders' accusations, says Colts stole signals but didn't cheat

Tony Dungy, responding to Deion Sanders’ accusations, says Colts stole signals but didn’t cheat

Then-Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy speaks during a news conference on Dec. 29, 2008.

Feb. 8, 2017 1:15 PM PT

Three days after Deion Sanders claimed the Indianapolis Colts stole their opponents’ signals during the 2007 season, that team’s coach from those days responded to the allegation.

“Of course we got signals when we had an opportunity to do that,” Tony Dungy said Wednesday morning on NBC Sports’ “Pro Football Talk Live.”

But were those Colts cheating when they did so? Absolutely not, Dungy said.

“I think we have to go back to what is cheating,” he said. “People accusing us of cheating? I don’t think that’s the case. Stealing signals? You can go back to the 1800s in baseball, you can go anywhere there were signals done, and people were looking and watching and trying to get signals. … So that’s what happens, and it’s been done legally for years.”

During his lengthy explanation, Dungy mentioned that Sanders, now an analyst for the NFL Network, surely must have participated in signal stealing during his career as a Hall of Fame cornerback.

“Deion, I’m sure on every scouting report that he ever got, the first thing that’s on there on the defensive scouting reports, who is the live signal caller, who signals the personnel groups in,” Dungy said.

“And that’s what happened. And you looked over there because you wanted to know as a defensive player: Is it going to be three wide receivers? Is it going to be two tight ends? Who’s in the game? There’s a person over there signaling, and Deion Sanders and every other defensive player would look at the offensive sideline to get that signal. So that is football.”

Bill Polian, the Colts’ president at that time, told ESPN on Wednesday: “Deion’s 100% wrong when he says we did it illegally. We did not. We complied completely with every rule the league had with respect to stealing signals.”

Following New England’s victory over Atlanta in Super Bowl LI on Sunday, NFL Network analyst LaDainian Tomlinson brought up Spygate, the 2007 controversy over the Patriots’ unauthorized videotaping of their opponents’ signals.

Sanders responded on air: “Those same critics, did they say anything about the wins that the Indianapolis Colts had? You want to talk about that too? Because they were getting everybody’s signals. Come on, you don’t walk up to the line and look over here and the man on the sideline giving you the defense that they’ve stolen the plays of. We all knew. L.T. knew. Everybody in the NFL knew. We just didn’t let the fans know. That was real, and that was happening in Indy.”

Dungy said Wednesday that he’s really not sure what Sanders is talking about.

“That’s all part of the game, but doing it legally and illegally, that’s the difference. I hope Deion is not saying we did something illegally,” Dungy said. “Of course we got signals when we had an opportunity to do that, and so did Deion.”

Later on Wednesday, Sanders tweeted that he stands by his comments from Sunday night, but he’s tired of the topic.