Signal-Stealing Update

by 6thround on Sep 11, 2007 9:09 PM EDT in News

League Office Confirms Violation
Commisioner Goodell Reviewing Potential Penalties

ESPN is reporting that NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell has confirmed that the Patriots broke league rules when a team official was in possession of a video camera on the sidelines during Sunday's Jets game. The Patriots have until Friday to present their argument re: the specific intent of the use of the camera. Potential penalties could include a suspension for team employees, fines, and loss of future draft picks.

The NFL competition committee will review the charges and make a recommendation to Goodell, who will then hear the Patriots counter-argument. The specifics of the allegation are still unclear. Unnamed league sources are quoted in several articles citing the Patriots guilt, and the likelihood of severe penalties, but no league official has gone on record. There is still a lot of information that needs to come out, but the likelihood of some penalty seems certain now. The league did issue a letter to all teams this off-season re-iterating the policy of prohibiting the type of behavior in question, which could lead to Goodell issuing a stern rebuke as a warning to other teams.

Poll

What penalty should the commissioner levy against New England?

0 recs | Comment 9 comments

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Comments

The Commish should bring the thunder

I really hate to say this but... I really hope that Gooddell comes down heavy-fisted on us. Its the only way to put this behind us and not have it cast a huge pall on the rest of the season. I love the Pats and will always love the Pats- I just thought we were better than this. At least do it well enough to not get caught :P But seriously, I hope we can regain our position as the class of the NFL because thats where I think all Pats fans expect to be.

by LooseLeaves1205 on Sep 11, 2007 9:43 PM EDT 0 recs

Snookered

This may be all part of the normal gamesmanship, as some say it is, but I agree that this is disheartening. There are still a lot of details that need to come out to better understand exactly what happened, but they'll probably never be made public.

by 6thround on Sep 11, 2007 10:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

He did

If these teams that are coming out of the woodwork now and are telling the truth about Bill's past, then I'd say he's done a fantastic job spying and not getting caught. The Steelers secretly claim that they suspected Bill of it back in his Browns days in the mid-90s. A decade later he gets caught.

Honestly, wouldn't Mangini know? Wouldn't he want to protect his team from that? Maybe he was the one to tip off security? It's very dramatic and suspicious. This whole thing just needs to disappear fast.

Josh

by Josh on Sep 12, 2007 9:02 AM EDT up 0 recs

Nail 'em

And I mean that in a good way- take the game from Sunday. Do something harsh. then, watch the Pats come back and go to the Playoffs. I'm already tired of hearing about...in the past...in the past...Get over it people, your teams lost. Yes, I'm disappointed.

by chippyarm on Sep 11, 2007 10:26 PM EDT 0 recs

voting %

Award Indianapolis the Super Bowl leads the votes at the moment..lmao

by rimrock101 on Sep 12, 2007 12:15 AM EDT 0 recs

Dumb

The Patriots need to lose a couple draft picks, then just move on. It's disappointing and it does distract people from the success that the Pats have legally gained, but it's no more or less than other spy alleged in the past. Punish them with a pair of picks and forget about it.

The camera didn't make Moss run faster and it didn't put the Jets into a zone defense for most of the game trying to shut down the scrambling receivers. The lack of pressure on Brady wasn't all offensive line adjustments, it was the threat they posed to the defense in general. This might have helped, I'm not disputing that, but the Pats played very well in all aspects of the game Sunday. Let's not lose sight of that or even think they should lose the game as a result. It happened, the league will deal with it. That's all.

That being said, I hope BB plays clean ball for the next 15 games so we can all sit back and know they didn't need a damn camera to get points on the board.

Josh

by Josh on Sep 12, 2007 8:58 AM EDT 0 recs

The truth

All you blindly loyal Patriot fans better wake-up. Stealing defensive signals is huge. Each Superbowl you guys won was by three points- was this small margin because of cheating? Is Belichicks's "genius" simply because of illegal footage? This is not unlike Donaghy and the NBA. It is not good. I propose no lost draft picks-no suspensions- do what the NCAA does- ban the team from the post-season. The Patriots cheated- ban them from the playoffs for one or two years. That'll teach them and send a meesage to the rest of the league. Put an *asterisk next to those SB victories because they could be tainted. The Patriots have tainted the NFL and the most sacred prize in team sports..the Lombardi trophy.

by patriothater on Sep 12, 2007 6:51 PM EDT 0 recs

You MIGHT ...

... want to actually find out what happened before you start making your holier-than-thou pronouncements. The league has announced nothing, so stop so "blindly" levying your judgments on the team's accomplishments in years past.

Remember, your team, whomever that may be (I have a pretty good guess), may be the next team caught. So be ready to accept the punishments you're so eager to disperse to others.

Have something to say? Create a free account and step up to the Pulpit! (Please: No vulgarity. Thanks.)

by tommasse on Sep 12, 2007 7:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Reply to Mr. Tommasse

Fair enough. At the recent press conference, Belichick didn't look like the confident coach he is, but more like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Specifically, for the good of the game, I was hoping to hear a categorical denial, but none was given. The reality is that if found guilty- the only price to be paid is a few draft picks, which is nothing in this age of free agency. Also, if found guilty, and I concede the Patriots are guilty of nothing as of yet, it will take a long time to restore any credibility.

by patriothater on Sep 12, 2007 10:41 PM EDT up 0 recs