Troy Vincent confirms 'Deflategate' investigation started after tip from Colts

NFL football operations chief Troy Vincent confirmed that the league's investigation into whether the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game began after they received a tip from the Indianapolis Colts.

Vincent admitted that it was Colts general manager Ryan Grigson who notified league officials about a suspected under-inflated football during an interview with Armen Keteyian of "60 Minutes Sports," according to MMQB's Peter King. The interview will air Tuesday night on Showtime.

There were reports that the Baltimore Ravens had informed the Colts of the Patriots' alleged under-inflating of footballs ahead of the AFC Championship, but head coach John Harbaugh denied that happened.

"That's ridiculous," Harbaugh said Sunday during NBC's Super Bowl pregame show. "I never made any call."

The NFL released a statement Jan. 23 saying that evidence supports the conclusion that footballs used by the Patriots in the first half of the game were under-inflated. The investigation is being conducted by NFL executive vice president Jeff Pash and attorney Ted Wells, and is expected to take several weeks.