Around The NFL - 2007

[reese125]

The fact they overstepped the boundary, and its widely known throughout the NFL that every team does it, I'm sure Goodell will make an example out of them

Im going to go a 2-game suspension for Belichick will be imposed (which will be funny, cause you know damn well he will be coaching from his Blackberry at home or some other device come Sundays)

[SD_Eagle5]

they should be punished AND its not a big deal

How is it not a big deal knowing what D is going to be run? All these great half time adjustments the Pats have made over the years are now a bunch of bullshtein. And its obviously been going on for some time for Mangini to know about it. Dismissing by saying 'well every team does it, they just got caught' is advocating cheating.

What I'm waiting to see is how deep their deceit goes, now that they've been exposed lets see if the NFL finds radio frequency tampering.

[ice grillin you]

again every team does it...patriots just got caught for taking it a step further

if you think the patriots have had a camera man on the sidelines for much  more than the two games theyve been caught then youre crazy...teams look for this all the time...theres no way they could have had a valid camera man on the sidelines filming teams for the last five years...it just didnt happen...

from a sky box or in the stands or even on the sidelines with a telephoto like every other team does sure...but not a tv camera like they did sunday

fans of other teams are just crying sour grapes to try and lesson the accomplishments of a dynasty and at the same time make themselves feel better about their own teams failures

[Geowhizzer]

No wonder they call it the "Patriot Act."

Bush had to get the idea from somwhere.

[SD_Eagle5]

There's zero doubt in my mind they've had a camera man on the sidelines for more than 2 games. Mangini's in his second year as Jets coach and he knew this was going on. Why would the Pats chance getting caught vs. a team like the Jets? If they've gotten away with it once they've obviously done it in the past.
Their camera man was not only taping their hand signals he was also matching the audio to see what calls they were making. Teams are allowed to break down footage (those black and white pics they send down to the sidelines) but what they use in the box is strictly enforced and their camera has to stay focused on the defense, they're not allowed to take photos of the sidelines.

Its not sour grapes, when you've won 3 SBs and are this great NFL story/dynasty who's always been one step ahead of the competition and it comes out you've been cheating it raises questions.

[reese125]

its so cool to think my kids will grow up idolizing their favorite sports cheaters of all time

this world just get better and better every day

[rjs246]

No wonder they call it the "Patriot Act."

Bush had to get the idea from somwhere.

= funny.

[cj2112]

That reminds me of the story of when the reporter Lisa Olsen got harassed in the Pats locker room.

While I don't condone sexual harassment, the comment that set her off was kinds funny.  She asked Zeke Mowatt a question about the Gulf War and whether it served as a distraction for the Pats.  His response as he was getting in the hot tub was, "Have you ever seen a Patriot missile up close?" 

This may or may not be how it happened but that's what I recall.

[Seabiscuit36]

wtf does that have to do with cameras stealing signals. 

[rjs246]

I gnerally think that Dr. Z is worthless, but this is a pretty good article.

[Father Demon]

I gnerally think that Dr. Z is worthless, but this is a pretty good article.

• Good old street crime is one thing. It goes with the history of sports. But this video thing lifts it to a new level of electronic surveillance and into the realm of the hi-tech, white collar crime that we all hate. Put these guys on the business page, for God's sake. There's no place for them in sports.

That's good stuff, right there.

"At one point we had a good drive going against the Patriots," said one Lion who doesn't want his name involved in this mess, but was willing to talk about it. "Mike Martz really had 'em going. They were getting fouled up, lining up wrong, we were moving the ball. Then boom, the headset from the sidelines to the coaches' booth goes out.
 
"Next possession we were moving the ball again and the same thing happened. You know it only takes two or three plays to mess up a drive."
 
Matt Millen, the Lions' GM, was talking to Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis at the league meetings. He started telling him the story.
 
"Yeah, I know," Lewis said. "Headset went out. It happened to me in Foxboro, too."

Marinelli was the defensive line coach in Tampa Bay when the Bucs beat the Patriots in the 2000 regular season opener and did a good job controlling New England's offense. After the game the Patriots' offensive coach, Charlie Weis, was overheard congratulating the Bucs' defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin.
 
"We knew all your calls, and you still stopped us," Weis said. "I can't believe it."
 
He couldn't believe it because the Patriots had videotaped all of the defensive signals in their last preseason game, which was against the Bucs.

That first quote sounds like signal jamming.  Impressive.

I think if all this gets exposed, and the evidence is there, the Pats may go down as the cheatingest bastiches in the NFL.  This is way bigger than "everybody does it, so it's not a big deal."  This is FO's and coaches knowing that one team has been far and away the leader in cheating technology.

[Magical_Retard]

guys its not a big deal!

[rjs246]

Frankly, I still don't think that the sign stealing is a big deal. (Cutting off the other team's communication, on the other hand, I think is a huge deal.) But no matter how you slice it, the deserve to be punished and I'm gonna enjoy watching them be punished.

[ice grillin you]

its such a big deal that every team in the league has known something was up for years yet said nothing?...could that be because everyone has been cheating?

its a big deal cause they got caught not because they have been cheating

[SunMo]

i think the best part is that the dude was right next the jets coaches...it wasn't like he was hidden somewhere zooming on them...he was in the Meadowlands, on the Jets sidelines, standing next to them, with a huge camera just filming them.

farging balls...kinda awesome.