Posted on 09/13/2007 6:18:32 PM PDT by indcons
New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 Thursday and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals.
Commissioner Roger Goodell also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't.
"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots.
The videotaping came to light after a camera was confiscated from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets' sideline during New England's 38-14 win last Sunday at Giants Stadium. Goodell will not change the outcome of the game.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Good one, DFW. Post of the day.
the patriots....they cheat....they are from Mass....
seems like a pattern.....
the nfl should have them forfet the game!!!
I’m a Seahawk fan, but have rooted for the Pats in past. Never a fan of the organization and coach. I Like Brady.
If I understand correctly they have TWO first round picks, and get to keep at least one of them? The punishment is a joke. At a minimum there should be NO first round picks if you are going to punish them.
The money is irrelevant. They’ll make it back. The Pats are all about Championships in the present, and keeping one shot at what are considered among the best in the draft is too much. Sure, some of them turn out to be busts but you can’t know that for sure going in.
IMO, IF you want to lay down the law about cheating AND ignoring previous warnings you either strip them of all draft picks for a year (that cound set them back 2-3 years in the furture) OR strip them a game. The latter is the less extreme. You don’t necessarily give that game to the JETS, but as they are in the same division that restores the playing fild between them for division title and could affect the Pats playoff berth.
I was wondering if I was the only one who thought like this.
Here’s the question I have, what’s to say the Pats haven’t been sending a spy to tape a team & their signals in advance & then taping again in the current game to make sure they haven’t changed the signals? Belicheck is known as being a genius, if he would go this far to cheat, wouldn’t he be smart enough to go that far? Hmmmmmmm.
Here’s another interesting concept:
“At one point we had a good drive going against the Patriots,” said one Lion who doesn’t want his name involved in this mess, but was willing to talk about it. “Mike Martz really had ‘em going. They were getting fouled up, lining up wrong, we were moving the ball. Then boom, the headset from the sidelines to the coaches’ booth goes out.
“Next possession we were moving the ball again and the same thing happened. You know it only takes two or three plays to mess up a drive.”
Matt Millen, the Lions’ GM, was talking to Bengals’ coach Marvin Lewis at the league meetings. He started telling him the story.
“Yeah, I know,” Lewis said. “Headset went out. It happened to me in Foxboro, too.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/dr_z/09/13/cheating/index.html?eref=T1
It’s a very interesting article.
come on, would anyone really feel the need to cheat against the Lions? I mean the Lions? Maybe a professional team but not the Lions.
ROLLERBALL (aka-NFL) pays the freight. So, the networks don\\\’t care. But, compare this to how they freak about Barry Bonds \\\”CHEATING\\\”!
Oh yeah. Another NFL guy got crippled this week. Who cares? Barry Bonds cheated.
Thanks for posting. The title of that article speaks volumes (”Smooth criminals”).
Ouch, but so true.
Yeah, but whats to prevent some team with some guys sitting
in the stands, with a mini-high-resolution camera, in their
hat, or in some type of clothing from doing the same,
and relaying the images to the coaches? The team was probably
gonna study the film, and see what hand signals caused
what reaction on the field...howzeabout sending those folks
to Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan to figure out the
signals of the terrorists?
Pats are cheaters!
Because . . . ? The video tape was confiscated before half-time. The coaching staff never viewed the video tape. So, what exactly happened that nullifies their win? Getting caught video taping the other teams sidelines merits consequences that are appropriate. Your suggesting is not IMHO.
You expect the other team to behave like gentlemen and win fairly, that’s why.
The focus should be on having the best talent on the field and a wise coach who prepares the team for what might be coming based on research, observation, and facts, rather than simply knowing what’s coming.
So much about the game encourages it to be over-coached, over-analyzed, etc. Heck -- how silly is it that coaches can now communicate with their quarterback using a radio/headset? What respectable sport would allow such a thing?
I fail to understand how observing signals communicated in public constitutes cheating.
I realize there is a rule against taping & they broke that. But that aside, if you don't want someone seeing your communication then don't do it in the open.
Have to keep in mind, the videotaping is what the NFL *caught* them doing. There are much more serious cheating tactics strongly suspected. Putting mikes on defensive players to record audibles so the coaches can match them to actual plays ran on tape. Putting receivers in the defensive players helmets so they can hear the offensive play calls of the opponents and be communicated to by the coaches. Jamming the opponents radios.
Then the mundane like faking injuries to slow the opponent down and get free timeouts.
At the AFC Championship game last year, the Colts banned all video equipment from the field. Pretty clear indication they knew what the Patriots were about.
Have to wonder what kind of man would take honor in winning by cheating. How can Bob Kraft not fire Bilicheat? If he does not fire him, he is either complicit, condoning it or both.
Look, I'm a Cowboys fan, and the three teams I hate the most are the three that have, or could, tie Dallas for Super Bowl victories, PITT, NE, and SF. So ensuring these SOBs never get another Super Bowl is fine with me.
But I keep going back to the fact that I don't know if it matters much. Vince Lombardi would virtually GIVE you his playbook, and still beat you.
Then why the Jets? Or the Packers?
The thing with cheaters is that they get hooked on it. The success of the cheat messes with their minds. Thinking you have a "secret edge" is powerful mojo, and over time, it erodes and supplants not just confidence in one's own ability to go it alone, but the original ability itself.
That Bellichik felt the need to cheat against the Jets says he's long since past the point where he knew for certain the line where talent and skill left off and his secret weapon began. IMHO, he's been doing this a long time.
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