Free Republic

Patriots’ HC Bill Belichick will not be traveling to Washington nor accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he announced today.

Not rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor anthem can stop football fans booing Bill Belichick.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a decision throwing out a lawsuit stemming from the New England Patriots' 2007 "Spygate" scandal. The high court refused to revive a New York Jets fan's class-action lawsuit against their football archrivals and coach, Bill Belichick. Carl Mayer, a lawyer in Princeton, N.J., known for filing legal actions against New Jersey politicians, is a Jets season ticket-holder. He wanted millions of dollars from the Patriots and Belichick, claiming they deceived customers by secretly videotaping Jets coaches' in-game signals. His lawsuit claimed fans spent large sums to see games that were...

Green Bay Packers fans turned out in droves to welcome their Super Bowl championship football team back to town on Monday. Fans lined the city streets all along the Packers’ route from Austin-Straubel Airport back to Lambeau Field after the team’s plane landed around 1:45 p.m. The players and coaches traveled in a caravan of Green Bay city buses, and on some streets fans were lined up as much as five or six people deep, on both sides. The crowds grew considerably larger the closer the team got to Lambeau. Upon arriving at the stadium, thousands of fans were waiting...

WASHINGTON (AP)—Sen. Arlen Specter wants an independent investigation of the Patriots’ taping of opposing coaches’ signals similar to the Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball. Specter again criticized the league’s handling of the investigation and threatened the possibility of revoking the NFL’s antitrust exemption during a news conference Wednesday. The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee met with former New England video assistant Matt Walsh a day earlier. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell indicated he considered the investigation over after meeting with Walsh on Tuesday. “Everybody pooh-poohs it,” Specter said. “It’s ridiculous to make that kind of contention.”...

Under Belichick, the Patriots have often run a no-huddle offense, which forces opponents to quickly call a defensive play. N.F.L. rules allow quarterbacks to hear instructions from coaches — through a headset and into a speaker in the quarterback’s helmet — until there are 15 seconds left on a play clock. When the defensive play call is deciphered, the Patriots could call a play to counteract.

Bill Belichick was hit with a $500,000 fine Thursday night -- the maximum allowable by NFL by-laws -- for violating the league's policy on videotaping the Jets defensive signs Sunday. In addition, Roger Goodell notified the Patriots that they would forfeit a 2008 first-round draft choice if they reach the playoffs, or second- and third-round picks if they do not qualify for the playoffs. The club was also fined $250,000.