Posted on 05/08/2008 11:37:23 AM PDT by tobyhill
A former New England Patriots employee has sent the N.F.L. eight videotapes showing the team recorded play-calling signals by coaches of five opponents in six games between the 2000 and 2002 seasons, in violation of league rules.
But the group of tapes does not include video of the St. Louis Rams’ walk-through practice the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. The employee, Matt Walsh, had been linked to such a tape by news media speculation.
Walsh emerged as a pivotal figure in the spying controversy that enveloped the Patriots last season after they were caught taping Jets defensive signals in the season opener.
Walsh, who worked for the Patriots from 1997 to 2003, agreed to turn over the tapes and other evidence by Thursday under an agreement reached last month between lawyers for the N.F.L. and Walsh. The agreement indemnifies Walsh from all future legal fees.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Steelers' receiver Hines Ward said this about the 2002 AFC championship "win" by the Patriots:
"Oh, they [Patriot defenders] knew," Ward said Wednesday. "They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game here at Heinz Field. They knew a lot of our calls. There's no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2007-09-12-1294083353_x.htm
So, the Patriots taped the Steelers in the 2002 NFC championship game; that is now undisputed. Does it stand to reason that that they also taped he Rams two weeks later in New Orleans, as has been alleged by the Boston Globe? Of course it does.
There should be a criminal investigation. Fixing sports games is illegal. That is exactly what Belichick did.
If it was a closed practice that they got into then there maybe some legal issues. I know teams try to take every advantage that they can and I hope they continue but I don’t want the NFL to start looking fixed or on the take.
Quite a leap of logic there, friend. If I throw a quarter over the fence and you can't find it does that mean it doesn't exist? You have no idea if it does or doesn't and neither do I. But given the evidence so far it is safe to assume where there's smoke there's fire.
Seems as if winning three SB's, maybe by cheating, is going pretty big.
The bluster of the common New York steak head . . . you don’t even have the gumption to be original with it. Now go light up a cigar, mouse up your hair, get in your Nissan, hop on the Long Island Expressway, and make Tony Soprano tough guy faces at all the other people.
Do your homework but don’t do it all. This silly. If NE wants to waste their time filming coaches instead of player’s strong and weak points let them. Any team that doesn’t rotate their signals is foolish. I’d be hoping for the NE to rely on my team’s old habits.
The league should eliminate the rule.
Is this your first day logging on to the internet, cowboy?
I’m sorry. I cannot make out your post. I have my horsesh*t filter on.
Dear God . . . not only am I embarrassed for you, I'm embarrassed for all who love or even know you. I think your mother just tore up your high school graduation photo.
Who knows why they didn't plant a mole, steal a playbook, bug a locker room or even payoff the GoodYear blimp camera man to zoom in a little tighter? All that doesn't matter. What matters is that Belichek cheated as much as he felt he needed to insure the Patriots winning.
Oh, yes... and he got caught.
I am original. How do you like my post. It's patriot Blue. Neat huh?
Now go light up a cigar, mouse up your hair, get in your Nissan, hop on the Long Island Expressway, and make Tony Soprano tough guy faces at all the other people.
Actually I live in Joisey and why would I want to put a Mouse in my hair? Is that what you Massholes do? Geez, maybe that expalins why you all smell the way you do.
And doan make fun a da Sopranos ya heer. keep dat sh*t up an ile trow ya a beatin' ya wont faget annitime sune. no whatt i meen? Hah? FUGEDDABOUDIT!!!
I think Hemingway’s Ghost has been drunk since Feb 7th.
Apparently you didn't watch this year's Superbowl.
Or last year's.
If, in your line of reasoning, any infraction of the NFL rulebook whatsoever constitutes cheating, then yes, by your reasoning, the Patriots "cheated." You seem to think this cheating---as you call it---or rule-breaking---as I call it---constitutes a material breach in the integrity of the game of football, a claim which I say is downright ludicrous, given that---as I and others on this thread have said---if the camera were merely placed in the front row of the stands, instead of the sidelines, what they did would not have been against the rules at all. I can only assume that you root for another team, and your team can't beat the Patriots on the field, so you have to elevate this situation into something it's not. You cling to it; it gives you hope that your team might actually win a game versus the Patriots.
“This is BS, and certainly nothing to be wasting congressional time on.”
Correct. If they want to “investigate” something, they need to make a big hullabaloo about the Dhims recording Newt Gingrich’s cell phone call a few years back.
Should I use only one or two syllable words so you can follow along without moving your lips?
Please quote for me the federal law which forbids one GAME team from videotaping another GAME team. This is NOT about “fixing” games, no matter how you try to spin it. It is about whether one team cheated or not (by violating the RULES of a GAME, NOT any LAW)
No, I am not in favor of picking and choosing the laws we enforce, but I AM in favor of very carefully picking and choosing the laws we have in the first place. And there are no LAWS which oversee NFL teams taping each other; nor do their NEED to be.
If you have to resort to “fix-is-in” comments and “gambler protection” efforts then you are trying WAY too hard to make this a federal criminal issue. This, of course, is typical behavior for those of a totalitarian bent who like a strong central government (otherwise known as National Socialists).
Must be the missing part of the Constitution the founders forget to add on.
Certainly this needs to be investigated and possibly the Justice dept. should get involved to keep the NFL from burying it.
And what about that awful smell from the Charles river. Probably all the Pats fans that jumped in to end it all after the defeat of their ignoble team at the hands of Big Blue.
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