...you’re essentially denegrating the Patriots fanbase for not wanting Belichick’s head on a silver platter and claiming Steelers fans are much more intelligent because they would’ve insisted on the same. You should pray there’s no skeletons in the Steelers’s closet because you better believe myself, along with my fellow fanbase, will be digging into the archives and watching very closely from now on. We’ve taken a BEATING for 6 months and most of it unwarranted.

...that’s already been admitted. Both Kraft and Belichick have apologized a number of times to the public and league officials. I think what you are now asking for is for us to eviscerate abandon our team and coach. If the allegations against Harrison turn out to be true, are you willing to turn your back on him?

I realize that the “everybody is doing it” excuse might sound like Patriots fans are pointing fingers, but the fact is that coaches (especially former ones) have come out and said it themselves: Other teams were either doing the same thing, or finding other ways to push the boundaries. To believe that’s not true today is naive. You can look up a bunch of Jimmy Johnson quotes to support that argument.

A second thing to point out – and I apologize if this has been said already, I skimmed through some of the responses here – is that Belichick was not trying to be secretive with his videotaping procedures. His cameraman was not trying to hide from other football teams, the guy was out in the wide open where everyone could see him. In that sense, the term “Spygate” isn’t even appropriate. Common sense would tell you that Belichick wasn’t worrying about getting caught or breaking the rules. We’ve also read reports that coaches could be seen waving at the camera, so they knew what he was doing. (I’m also inclined to say that if you believe Belichick was using this videotape to make adjustments at halftime… that would be assuming the other team was still using the same signals and not changing them up at halftime, which would just be moronic on their part)

As for a competitive advantage, there have been mixed thoughts on it. Some believe it COULD help out, and others believe that if it did, the advantage would be minimal. I’m not sure if it helped as much as people say, or else I’d like to know why the Patriots didn’t even make the playoffs in 2002, lost to the Broncos in the divisional round in 2005, and couldn’t finish off the Colts in 2006. The thing about Belichick is that he’s extremely meticulous when it comes to paying attention to detail. So when it comes to taping other team’s signals (and then looking at the down and distance), it’s plausible that Belichick wanted to know that coordinator’s tendencies in certain situations, perhaps keeping an eye on the plays they call to hire that coordinator if the possibility exists if they like what he’s doing.

Long story short, I personally think Belichick screwed up big time after he ignored the 2006 memo. He should’ve contacted the league to make sure he was still within the rules – a mistake he’s already admitted to and taken responsibility for. Everything else was just media hype and blown completely out of proportion. My bet is the story would’ve never snowballed into the media circus it became had Belichick not won any Super Bowls within the last decade.