More reasons to hate the NE Patriots (UPDATE: NFL penalizes Patriots)

According to some, if you ain't caught, it ain't cheatin'.

 

I don't think this is that big of a deal. I would be surprised if more than half the teams in the NFL weren't doing something similar. I mean, people can make cameras so small these days, it would seem quite simple to set one up on a coach where he could very inconspicuously spy on the other team.

 

don't really see the big deal either, other than them being specifically warned about it and doing it anyway.

Jets brought in Caldwell to obviously get some info on the pats gameplan so w/e.

 

What I find funny is that everybody always hypes New England as this class organization when they are anything but.

 

If this is true football is dead to me.

 

i don't understand why this is a big deal either. with the amount of technology and scouting that goes on in the nfl and any other league, i just assumed this was common.

 

GUILTY

If you are caught cheating during the game, shouldn't they forfeit that game?
I know docking "multiple" draft picks will hurt also, but why not make them ineligible for the playoffs or something like that. We will never know but it's quite possible what they were doing influenced the outcome of that Jets game.

 

Goodell should execute Brady's son

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

Sleazy? How about smart.

 

Exactly!!! You never saw this kind of behavior out of the truly great football franchises of our youth: the Cowboys, the Steelers, the Raiders, the Dolphins. Never!!!

Wait, what's that..."rampant steroid abuse", you say? Painkiller addiction? Amphetamines? Hmmm...damn.

 

If Cheating is Cheating
this
is the NFL Equalivent of Barry Bonds

Rocket River

 

I don't think this is worth an execution, but an embargo preventing them from drafting a first round draft pick if they make the playoffs;or a second and third if they do make the playoffs has been enforced. wow!

 

Ruling in according to the Boston Globe but no link. It was also announced by Schefter on NFL Network:

Bill Belichick has been fined $500,000 by the NFL.


The Patriots have been fined $250,000 by the NFL.


The Patriots will give up their first-round pick in 2008 if they make the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs, they will surrender their second- and third-round picks.


Belichick will not be suspended.

“This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field,” Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to the Patriots.

"I specifically considered whether to impose a suspension on Coach Belichick," Goodell also wrote. "I have determined not to do so, largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension."

 

NFL fines Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and team $250,000 for spying



http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflspying&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Goodell's hard line on discipline, aimed so far at players, came down this time on a coach and a team.

New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 Thursday and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals.

The commissioner also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't.

"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots.

The videotaping came to light after a camera was confiscated from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets' sideline during New England's 38-14 win last Sunday at Giants Stadium.

The NFL said the camera was seized before the end of the first quarter and had no impact on the game.

Goodell said he considered suspending Belichick but didn't "largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension."

New England, strengthened by the addition of Randy Moss and two other first-rate wide receivers as well as linebacker Adalius Thomas, is considered one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl for the fourth time since the 2001 season. If the Patriots lose their first-rounder next season they still will have a first-round pick, obtained from San Francisco in the deal that brought Moss from Oakland.

NFL rules state "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." They also say all video for coaching purposes must be shot from locations "enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead."

That was re-emphasized in a memo sent Sept. 6 to NFL head coaches and general managers. In it, Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations wrote: "Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."

The NFL statement said Goodell believed Patriots owner Robert Kraft was unaware of Belichick's actions.

But it said the commissioner believed penalties should be imposed on the club because "Coach Belichick not only serves as the head coach but also has substantial control over all aspects of New England's football operations. His actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club."

There was no immediate comment from the Patriots.

The action against Belichick is the latest in a series of harsh disciplinary actions taken by Goodell, who took office last Sept. 1, succeeding Paul Tagliabue.

The most notable were the indefinite suspension of Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick after he pleaded guilty to a federal dogfighting conspiracy charge and the one-year suspension of Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones after numerous run-ins with police.

On Wednesday, Belichick issued a one-paragraph statement 10 minutes before his regular availability, saying he had spoken with Goodell "about a videotaping procedure during last Sunday's game and my interpretation of the rules."

"Although it remains a league matter, I want to apologize to everyone who has been affected, most of all ownership, staff and players," he said.

NFL coaches long have suspected opponents of spying. In the early 1970s, the late George Allen, coach of the Washington Redskins, routinely would send a security man into the woods surrounding the team's practice facility because he suspected there were spies from other teams there.

And coaches like Seattle's Mike Holmgren and Philadelphia's Andy Reid, among others, always cover their mouths when calling plays from the sideline because they fear other teams have lip readers trying to determine their calls.

The most recent hefty fine against a coach was in 2005, when Tagliabue fined former Minnesota coach Mike Tice $100,000 for scalping Super Bowl tickets.

Last November, Goodell fined Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the competition committee, $12,500 for criticizing officials. He also fined Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney, one of his mentors and the man who informed him he had been elected commissioner, for the same violation.

 

WTF is the point of fining a billion dollar team a quarter of a million dollars? Using fines as a punishment is teh stupidest thing in sports. It is never proportional to how much a team or player is worth and means a slap on the wrist.

The first round pick they lose isnt that big of a deal either. We all know where teh 49ers will finish. They have a first rounder from teh 49ers or something. Punishment goes as if it didnt happen.

 

You are kidding right? First rounders in the NFL are big even if they are late first rounders.

 

Actually, losing draft picks hurts pretty bad. Especially in the first three rounds in the NFL.

 

I understand there is a little bit of cheating or "gamesmanship" in all pro sports, but if you get caught, you get the penalty. Especially since it actually breaks rules that are apparently on the books and could affect the outcome of the game.

We all know pitchers sometimes doctor the ball, or players steal signs, or someone pops some pills, or wears slick stuff on their jersey, etc. It happens, just don't get caught if you don't want to pay the penalty...and if you REALLY don't want to pay the penalty, don't do it at all.

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=3118594#post3118594