Patriots Accused of Stealing Signals
CNN is reporting that the NFL is investigating the New England Patriots for videotaping the New York Jets staff making defensive signals during Sunday's game. The Patriots have previously been accused of stealing signals by the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. John Tomase at the Boston Herald recaps the story and the previous charges in more detail. If the league finds the charges to be true, the Patriots could be lose one or multiple draft picks.
Although there is little public record re: the facts of the situation, the potential validity of the charges must be taken seriously. While the results of the investigation will ultimately determine if there is any fire for all of this smoke, we can still engage in some reasonable speculation both in favor of and against the charges.
- If the Patriots have been previously accused of this, why would they continue to do it when the story was already out there? It's hard to imagine an organization as well-handled as the Patriots would do something this stupid, get caught, then do it again, get caught again, and then do it again against a team staffed by multiple former employees. Besides Mangini, Brian Dabol was on the Patriots staff last year (when the initial accusations were made by the Lions and Packers,) so the Jets had to have some suspicions. Unless the Pats staff has been infected by a severe case of hubris, this seems unlikely.
- Who is the employee in question? The suspected employee has not been named, nor is it clear if the previous accusations were against the same employee. One remote possibility was that some overzealous person overstepped his bounds. I don't think this is very likely given the multiple instances, but given the number of people granted access to the field there is a chance that the Patriots staff was unaware that he was doing this in addition to his official duties.
- How many instances are there? The Buffalo Bills are reviewing security tape looking for potential sign-stealing by the Patriots. Other teams are probably doing the same thing. Even if little hard evidence comes out of the investigation, enough accusations and circumstantial evidence could cause the league to level some sanction.
- Why even bother with using a team official on the field? The technology of longer range viewing equipment would preclude the need to use someone on the field. Why would the Patriots be so conspicuous as to have someone on the field making hand signals to the coaches.
The views expressed in these FanPosts are not necessarily those of the writers or SBNation.
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There's no there there
So what about stealing signals for use in the current game?
There's nothing you can get in the heat of the action with a video camera that you can't get with a pair of binoculars.
The allegations ludicrous and irrational. There is clearly no motive for videotaping signals of opponents you're not going to face for years, and there's no motive to videotape signals for use during the game in which they're taped.
But the Patriots-hating media doesn't much care about rationality. It's a great story. Anything to tarnish the greatest franchise of the 3rd millennium. Jealous fans of other teams are eager to jump aboard the anti-Patriots bandwagon. But there's no there there.
Any hater out there care to present a rational argument?
There's a lot of debate about what the penalty for the Patriots will be if the allegations are "proven" true. My question is: What is the penalty for the Lions, Packers and Jets if the accusations prove to be false?
Gamesmanship
Stealing signals has been a part of football and pro sports since the game started, so it wouldn't surprise me in itself. I just find this accusation suspect because the few details we know seem to point to a really ham-handed effort if there was one at all. I'd be upset with the team if they did do this, but I'd be just as upset at the fact that they did it so stupidly.
Lame
Sorry Jets fans, but nothing is stopping this train. You'll have to do better than that.
I certainly agree with you. There should be repercussions for the accusers when this is resolved. LAME
by smteri42 on Sep 11, 2007 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Hyperbole does not win an argument
No Excuses
Enough is enough
Next time try footnotes
Clearly this road should have been less travelled
No .. You're wrong
Brad Childress made an unfounded accusation. What he believes (or at least, what you say he believes) about the incident is immaterial. Accusations do not make a thing true. No one else, including the league, said Belichick did anything wrong. I don't think I've read the word "collusion" anywhere but blogs, so even the piling-on national media doesn't buy that load.
Yet you insist on including these events as evidence to support your own false accusations about a "pattern of bad behavior." The only pattern has been your practice of twisting the facts of actual events as a foundation of your agenda.
Right
You don't read anything written here
As far as Johnson, that's been well-documented here and elsewhere that Johnson retracted his statement, and nowhere -- ever -- did he say he was "forced" to play.
What we're looking for here is E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E. If you have it. Present it. If you don't .. well, you don't.
Why not allow comms in defensive helmets?
You don't know who's going to be on the field. How many are you going to have? It's a lot easier with the quarterback position. Every team has a quarterback. It's a lot different on defense. It's not necessarily one guy.
So much for your "pattern of bad behavior."
This was your point
I never said, nor implied, that Belichick's statement means they haven't engaged in bad behavior. Man, you really are clueless. Try to read what's actually said and not just make stuff up as you go along.
It means
I'm done with you
LOL
When Bill Polian is you're role model, you are sadly lacking heroes.
by smteri42 on Sep 11, 2007 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Inane. That's a good word
However, there are plenty of stories and anecdotes of Polian threatening, abusing and even assaulting people:
But this is exactly the holier-than-thou attitude some Colts fans have. They refuse to look in the mirror.
Another gross misrepresentation
Fact: You have never provided a single shred of evidence that Ted Johnson was "forced" to play, as you allege.
Fact: You never provided a single source that said Belichick or anyone on the Patriots was involved in "collusion" in the Vikings allegations (later retracted).
Fact: You never formed an argument about communications in defensive players' helmets. You just said you don't believe Belichick -- which of course ignores the other 9 teams that voted against the proposal.
Fact: You never presented evidence such as "this and this and this." You merely repeated the baseless allegations you made before.
Fact: You have provided nothing else to support your "pattern of bad behavior" allegation.
Fact: You have never once posted here without making a direct or indirect derogatory comment about me, the community here, Patriots fans in general, or the New England Patriots organization. The derision directed at you is always and only in response. You reap what you sow.
Based on your diatribe above, I can only conclude you studied pre-law or political science, because your posts are all spin and no substance. You can say you provide all kinds of evidence; that doesn't make it true.
I agree with you on one point: It could have been a fruitful debate. Unfortunately, you were never interested in that.
"National opinion" is not evidence. And it's far from "truth."
By the way, I am a trained investigative reporter. So you got that wrong, too.
No, you haven't
I'm not trying to cloud the issues. I'm trying to get you to provide substantiation. You haven't. You can't. Otherwise, you would.
And, as I've said before, and as is common practice anywhere in the world, the burden of proof is on you. You're making the accusations. It's not my lot to disprove them.
But I have. I provided documentation about Ted Johnson. Here's more. I provided an explanation and supporting facts regarding the defensive helmet communication. I cannot provide anything to disprove the collusion, because there's nothing to disprove.
One source. Just one. Can't you do that?
Find someone who reported it as collusion or cite a league investigation. You say there are all these sports writers. Name one. Provide a link. You have not provided a single source other than Childress's wishy-washy-later-retracted statement. Do something other than point fingers and whine about it.
Otherwise, it's just you making a blatant false allegation that it was collusion. Heck, Childress never said it was collusion. There's no there there, and you can't use it to support your "pattern of bad behavior theory."
You don't need direct access to players coaches or anyone else. Just find someone legitimate who supports what you claim.
I can't make it any more plain and simple. I've challenged you a dozen times to find a source and you have yet to present one. You say you can't do better. If you can't, then your argument is empty. Stop bothering people.
Do this one thing (which you can't) and then I'll debate Ted Johnson with you, because you have all your facts screwed up there.
Yes, you failed.
"Dishonesty" and "collusion" aren't even close. I'm glad after 20 posts you finally understood the absolute simplest of concepts. Are you implying no one else in the NFL is "dishonest." You can't possibly be that stupid.
The Paul Zimmerman link you provided talks only about the videotaping incident. Congratulations. Everyone knows that. That doesn't demonstrate the "pattern of bad behavior," for which you have provided no "evidence." Now that you figured out "dishonesty" vs. "collusion," maybe you can work on "evidence" vs. "opinion" and "conjecture." "Evidence" you never had.
Like I said about that guy at that other blog: You can overfill those burlap bags; doesn't mean anyone will buy it. No one intelligent, anyway.
E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E
First, you still, after dozens of request, have yet to provide a single newspaper report that alleges collusion. Not one. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So many exist ("allegedly"), but you can't provide one. Hence, you have no argument.
As far as Zimmerman, that's not E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E. Zimmerman making unsubstantiated allegations is no different than you making them. I could make the same allegations about the Colts. Doesn't make them true.
The only argument I've made for you is that you have no idea what you're talking about. And, thanks, for the compliment. I pretty much nailed it.
Good luck selling your crap elsewhere.
Intentionally ignoring his request
No, the MSNBC story didn't support it
I really hope you're not pre-law, because you're going to have trouble paying bills. You could be a politician though.
We'll stick with the Kool-Aid, but you should probably knock off the vodka.
Please provide any evidence of collusion
"Honest" and "debate"
I'm sorry, too. Sorry you couldn't construct an argument with anything but conjecture and innuendo. As you say, too bad. Best of luck snowing someone else.
ESPN
What is your favorite flavor?
You are allowed the natural partisanship for your team as much as others claim their right to believe the worst about you. We are all emotionally attached to our team, too often to a fault.
Having said that, your statement does expose your koolaid mustache. First, you don't believe the Pats are guilty of doing it. However, these other teams are all doing it, so we need to get a clue.
What are you saying? That the Patriots, though being the only team caught in this suspicious activity, and seemingly more than once at that, ARE THE ONLY TEAM NOT DOING IT? That appears to be your incredible deduction. Or do you feel that if it is wrong and they are the only ones doing it, they are not really doing it. However, if they are doing it, then so is everyone else, so it's not really wrong.
Since 2) every team who has a brain is doing it, but 1) you don't believe the Patriots are doing it, can we conclude that it is your opinion that the Patriots don't have a brain?
Perhaps koolaid is not the problem here.
by coltsfanawalt on Sep 12, 2007 12:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Why thank you...
Okay, enough sarcasm for one day, man, all that sarcasm is making my eyes hurt...
As for my previous comment. I guess I should have labelled them 1) and A) or 1) and I) or something. I never said that I believed both statements 1) and 2) at the same time. Think of it this way... if 1) is true, if the Patriot employee did take a vid of whoever the hell is Mangini baby's Defensive signal caller, and I'm still waiting for the League to show me and everyone else their supposed evidence (does anyone think that the public will ever get to see the tape, I don't think we will). Then I also firmly believe that other teams in the league are doing it as well.
And you have to admit, there's a bit of piling on going as well... Come on. LT calling all the Pats cheaters, seriously... we beat their butts last year, they need to get over that, focus on this Sunday... and yet, they won't... and if they loose, how much you want to bet that they'll complain about some other supposed cheating... oy...
Putting myself in your shoes...
You are very right, there is alot of piling going on. That is frustrating, and it happens too often to people in prominent positions when they get accused. I don't have a good answer for all the liars and opportunistic people of the world.
I don't think you are stupid. My only issue with your posts is that if, God forbid, there is indeed foul play in your organization, then you will firmly conclude that everyone is doing it. It's understandable to struggle wih an indictment against your team. It's one thing to believe the best as long as you can. It's another thing to decide if you are guilty, then so is everyone else. It's a jump to go from purely believing the best about those you respect to cynically believing the whole world stinks. It looks like a desperate attempt to justify wrong actions, but I don't know you and cannot judge your motives. You are probably responding in shock; I'm sure I would be.
It would be great if it all proved to be a misunderstanding, and there would be no more dark shadows cast over an organization as wonderful as the NFL.
by coltsfanawalt on Sep 13, 2007 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Pretty well said
I think there is enough hearsay (not to mention outright admission) from former players, especially those in the media who have called the allegations (now officially ruled upon) rather inconsequential. From that I deduce that there are others guilty of the same "crime."
The Patriots are not the only team that has been accused of like actions. It may be that only the Patriots did it so openly employing these exact methods.
This information tends to get buried or ignored by those who simply can't resist taking their shots.

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