In early September of 2007, the NFL fined Bill Belichick, the coach of the New England Patriots, $500,000 and ordered the Patriots to forfeit a draft pick in 2008.
The punishment was handed out after the Patriots were caught violating rules by videotaping the opposing team’s signals. In addition to this, if the Patriots fail to make the playoffs, they will be fined an extra $250,000 and forfeit their second and third round draft picks in 2008 (Battista).
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, “does not believe that the Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft, was aware of Belichick’s actions” (Battista). Also, “Carl Mayer, a New York Jets season ticket holder from New Jersey, has filed a $184 million dollar class action lawsuit against Patriots coach Bill Belichick” (Allen).
Most people around the league believe that the punishment was far too lenient. Ever since Roger Goodell has been the Commissioner of the NFL, he has been known as the “Law and Order Commissioner” (Bryant).
But after this incident, that image may change.
According to Mike Allen, “Goodell’s heavy-handed, rush-to-judgment approach has been damaging to players, owners, coaches, and now the fans themselves.” Allen can support this claim simply by comparing this punishment to previous ones handed out by the Commissioner for much less severe things. Over the years, Goodell has fined, suspended, and even banned numerous players for things such as substance abuse, gambling, and their behavior on and off the field. In the summer of 2007, “Goodell suspended Wade Wilson, an assistant coach with the Cowboys, for five games for receiving and using human growth hormone” (Sandomir).
Clearly, we can see that Wade Wilson’s act was less severe then Belichick’s. Thus, in comparison, the Patriots and Bill Belichick’s punishment does not fit the crime.
According to Mike Lopresti, the amount of Super Bowl victories should now affect the commissioner’s decision when punishing the Patriots (Lopresti). Even so, there are some that think the punishment was too harsh.
In my opinion, even though there are some people who think the NFL commissioner was too harsh, the commissioner’s decision was in fact too lenient, and was inconsistent with previous punishments.
Roger Goodell has suspended and fined players for things such as substance abuse, code of conduct violations, and their actions on and off the field. These punishments send a message to the players in the league and help Goodell obtain his hard nosed image. If we compare these punishments to how he punished the Patriots, we can clearly see that he was being far too lenient in the case of the latter.
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Commisioner.
I believe the senator should put his attention about the country not sports.I believe the Patriots got a punishment that could've been given to any other team.Because they all do it. I believe it's a ploy to throw the Patriots off there game.Even Mr. Shula in his own way is getting involved in this because of the Patriots getting a chance to be undefeated and winning the super bowl 19-0..As far as taping who has better tape coverage then tv.All you would have to do is watch some of the tv coverage tapes..But whoever is using tapes good for them, it still takes the players on the field to play the game..We still have a great game no matter what..It's been great this long it can only get better with a Patriots win bringing the attention to football even if it took record breakings to do it. Your first super bowl.
Thanks Commish
Wayne Correia
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wayne correia about 1 year ago
Commisioner.
I believe the senator should put his attention about the country not sports.I believe the Patriots got a punishment that could've been given to any other team.Because they all do it. I believe it's a ploy to throw the Patriots off there game.Even Mr. Shula in his own way is getting involved in this because of the Patriots getting a chance to be undefeated and winning the super bowl 19-0..As far as taping who has better tape coverage then tv.All you would have to do is watch some of the tv coverage tapes..But whoever is using tapes good for them, it still takes the players on the field to play the game..We still have a great game no matter what..It's been great this long it can only get better with a Patriots win bringing the attention to football even if it took record breakings to do it. Your first super bowl.
Thanks Commish
Wayne Correia
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Kelly Rummings about 1 year ago
I think the punishment was definitely lenient. Bill Belichick shouls have been suspended for a year. THe league has no tolerance for players who break the rules ; why should it be any different for coaches. My guess is the league just wants this to go away and doesn't want a similar situation that baseball is in right now with steroids.
Bill Belichick is a disgrace to the National Football League. His behavior at te Super Bowl was an embarassment to the League. Any coach that does not stay on the field for the entire game should be fined. What kind of message on sportsmanship is he sending? Did he forget his manners too? He never once congratulated te Giants on their victoory. I have never witnessed any losing coach in any sport whether it be a regular season game, playoff or championship game not recognize the team they played. While I'm sure he was shocked at losing (and I am glad), that is no excuse for not acting as a professional.
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Bob about 1 year ago
Good article though I don't think that you need to include a works cited...
Thanks for your read of my article.
Ryne Higgins
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