Being a Pats fan for the past 21 years, I know the in and outs of their style and how they operate on a day to day basis.
Bill Belichick, their infamous head coach with three super bowl wins with the Pats, has nothing to fear from the media complaining of possible cheating allegations.
The problem that arises is the constant bantering from coaches, players, and club presidents to force the Patriots to give up all of their super bowl wins.
Here's where they are wrong.
The past three super bowl wins occurred before the allegations even arose and there was never enough evidence to suggest that they had been videotaping games more than the past few games before the tapes were confiscated.
The other interesting facts that arose from this are the fact that coaches change their signals every game (to throw off coaches), and even if the Patriots did know the signals from prior meetings, they would still have to execute the plays to perfection.
Some people will say, "well, it makes it easier to execute a play if you know what it's going to be." My answer to that is the fact that they play the Jets, Dolphins, and Bills more than every other team, so chances are they know a few of their tricks and other plays.
Another issue that arises is the relationship between Eric Mangini, the coach of the Jets, and Bill Belichick.
The two have clashed in the past where Mangini was under Belichick as an assistant coach. Since that point, their relationship has been sour. The point of this is to show the coincidence of the allegations posed against the Patriots when they were playing against the Jets. It's a dead giveaway that Mangini wanted to get back at the Patriots in some way that ended up being a distraction all season.
I would have to say that the distraction failed. Going 18-1 on the season was amazing and a thing of beauty. Losing in the Super Bowl is okay after their great season.
I am just pissed at the media and how they handle sports in general. There are issues of global warming, oil prices, and genocide and they choose to spend more effort on the Patriots and their "Spygate."
I hope that the Patriots come back this season, with a new linebacking core, and prove for every hater out there, that they are the best team in history.
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3 months ago
Ryan,
I'm glad to see fans sticking up for the Patriots. This whole issue is a camera location technicality. Some people who aren't very knowledgable about the game don't realize that it's not against the rules to study and try to decode the opponent's hand signals. Others aren't aware that the league really doesn't have a rule against filming signals. This misundertanding arises in part from a Ray Anderson memo. As many fans are aware, the Patriots were investigated for breaking a videotaping rule on page 105 The NFL Game Operations Manual and disregarding a September 2006 memo from Ray Anderson, the NFL's head of football operations, reminding teams of the rule. Unfortunately, Anderson's memo inaccurately paraphrased the rule and gave no indication that this one rule would be interpreted differently than the league's other videotaping rules.
The Game Operations Manual, unlike Ray Anderson's memo, doesn't mention defensive signals at all or ban cameras from any place accessible to club staff members. Memos don't change the rules. The rule only prohibits camera use from three specific locations and requires cameras in other locations to be enclosed with a roof over them. No mention of recording signals. It's not about what the Patriots taped; it's where they taped from. Yeah, there was a violation. The camera was in the wrong spot. Wow! What next? Are we going to take away Super Bowl wins if players break the new hair length rule that's been proposed? (If it passes that is. Last I heard it had been tabled for the time being.)
Based on Article IX of the NFL Constitution, Belichick said he interpreted the rule differently. Article IX bans the use of electronic equipment except for poloroids and field phones which might help a team during a game. And yet, all NFL teams film games from a raised sideline angle and an end zone angle. The NFL collects these recordings and distributes them to NFL Films and to other teams. How can they do this considering Article IX? They can do it because Article IX is interpreted to allow teams to tape while preventing them from watching the recording and using it to help them until the game is over. Belichick applied this interpretation to sideline filming. Goodell disagreed and punished the Patriots pretty harshly.
3 months ago
Well, it's official Walsh and Goodell have finally come to terms, they will meet on may 13th to discuss the Patriots.
Truth be told I'm a Pats fan but I really have no problem with a punishment being levied regardless of memos or the technicality Scott mentioned, however true Scott's statements may be. Goodell needed his example and while it sucks that it had to be us we were the easiest target, taping had been a common practice dating back to Al"if you're not cheating you're not trying" Davis' '70s Raiders teams who not only stole signals but bugged teams locker rooms during half-time and Goodell wanted it out of the game, and what better way to do it than to bring the hammer down on the most well-known and successful offender, the Patriots.
What really pisses me off though is how Goodell may punish the team retroactively for alledged offenses occurring before Anderson's memo came out. Apparently he forgets that Paul Tagliabue didn't enforce any rule about taping and therefore anything that the Patriots may have done was completely within the rules at the time.
Apparently, Specter has lost some thunder and unless Walsh has some real smoking gun evidence than that investigation may end soon.
3 months ago
Good points everyone-but lets say that Walsh does indeed have a tape of the Rams walk through done on the eve of the SB....who is to say that he didn't do that on his own? Unless I hear Belichicks or Krafts voice saying something to the effect of "Yes Matt, that's right. I want to jeopardize this entire organization and send out a known employee of the Pats to video tape the opposing teams walk through of the game."
Unless I hear some thing like that, where either BB or Kraft admit to telling Walsh to do this, then I'm not caring a bit if he's got a tape of a bus up in flames filled with old ladies all of which are my adopted grandmothers. Unless I hear it from BB's or Kraft's mouth, then it's hearsay. Reason being is that I could hide in the stands for a few hours, then tape the Rams doing a walk through without anyone telling me to do so, then say that both BB and Kraft forced me to do it while they held my family hostage on the moon threatening to take away their oxygen supply if I failed to cooperate. Who is to say that BB or Kraft told him to do this? Who is saying they didn't? Benefit of the doubt anyone? Why is it that there's only one person on the entire Patriots staff that claims to have any knowledge of this? Why hasn't any one else come forward to back up Matt Walsh? The answer is simple-either Walsh is lying or the entire Patriots organization is lying. I fail to believe that one person out of 1,000 is the only one that knows anything about any type of "illegal video taping".
If this does fly, and Goodell punishes the Pats for anything further than what he's already done to them, then I hope that Kraft steps up and slaps the taste out of Goodells mouth. It's not enough that Goodell passed judgement with only a phone interview of Belichick, but he also "left the case open" in case anything else came to light. I'm all for playing by the rules and for making changes as far as not taping video signals, but is it really necessary to deface an entire organization?
With that said, don't even get me going on Sen Spectar-talk about wasting tax dollars. Last I checked the NFL was a private organization, not a federally or state funded organization. What's he doing wasting money investigating the NFL? Looks like he's solved the unemployment, health care, homeless and any and all other important issues that's happening in his state leaving him nothing better to do than to jump up and waste time and money investigating the NFL.
2 months ago
Half of you dumb Patriot fans are a bunch of bandwagon fools. All these tapes did was help them win football games. The pats are a bunch of cheating losers. Most of the tapes were from 2001 but I guarantee there are more. Just wait. Matt Walsh didnt want to expose this team of more cheating because it would completely bring this organiztion down. This team went 16-0 and still lost the super bowl, how pathetic is that? Not only that but they cheated during the time of there dynasty. I'd rather be the Miami Dolphins picking first than be in the postion this organiztion is. This team is no dynasty because a dynasties dont cheat. Oh and by the way hope you fans enjoyed winning these past couple of years because its all going down hill from here now that they were caught peeping and lost pathetically in the super bowl.
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