It has been almost a year and a half since the infamous scandal of "Spygate" took place. In that timeframe, the New England Patriots went through a number of experiences regarding the effect the scandal had on the team.
What concerns me is that the entire scandal seems to have faded away for the most part. More disturbingly, it seems that far too many players, coaches, and especially fans have managed to provide an unwarranted excuse for the Patriots in an effort to minimize what might be the greatest sports scandal of our age.
What we do know is that the Patriots were caught cheating against the Jets in Week One of the 2007 NFL season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was all to quick to hand out his punishment.
He fined Bill Belichick $500,000, the Patriots $250,000, and stripped them of their 2008 first-round draft pick. What might seem to be harsh punishment at first, can be seen as a slap on the wrist with further evaluation.
Those fines were the most in NFL history so there can be no doubt that this scandal was something major. The severity of the issue, however, was blatantly covered up by the NFL.
Within two weeks, they destroyed all of the evidence handed over to them by the Patriots. I have an issue with two things here.
No. 1, it could not have been more ignorant than to just assume the Patriots would hand over their most incriminating evidence (assuming they'd even still be in possession of it), and secondly it was completely suspicious for them to destroy the evidence they did receive so quickly and take no note what so ever regarding what they did discover.
At this point in time, no one was aware how long the Patriots had been cheating for. This bred far to much speculation and the opportunity for Patriots fans to deny the possibility that it has happened for an extended period of time.
It was not untill congress started breathing down Roger Goodell's neck that he finally came forward with the most important details of his investigation.
He admitted that Bill Belichick told him that he had been illegally videotaping since he became the head coach in 2000. That was quite a revelation considering there were still some ignorant fans who were under the impression that it had only happened for one game.
There is a big difference between cheating in one game and cheating in a total of 127 games which included 14 playoff games, four AFC Championships, and three Super Bowls.
Why withhold the length of time he discovered them to be cheating during?
The Patriots have been the face of the NFL for many years now. Any cheating scandal can harm the reputation of a sports league, just ask Major League Baseball. Roger Goodell knew that the more the Patriots were exposed as cheaters, the more harm it could do to his league.
Nothing positive could come out of this being exposed to the public. It would draw fourth too many questions about the effect it had, does it taint the Super Bowl, etc. Therefore, Goodell did everything he could to sweep the scandal under the carpet. He handed out quick fines, destroyed the evidence, and hoped it would go away.
Of course, it always comes back to Bill Belichick's blatant dishonest defense.
He claims that he misinterpreted the rules and therefore thought that what he was doing was okay. Let's take a look at those rules so you can judge for yourself...
p. 105 of the NFL's Game Operations Manual
"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."
That seems pretty clear cut to me but if that's not enough, read the memo sent out to all 32 NFL teams in 2006...
"Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponents offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sideline, in the coaches booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."
Yet another clear-cut warning that the Patriots chose to ignore.
Why ignore these rules if our team is good enough to win on its own?
This is another good question that most people fail to ask. I've often heard the argument that the Patriots did not need to cheat to win their three Super Bowls. If that theory is correct, you have to ask the following question.
Why even bother if you can win by the same margin anyway?
Think about it, if you believe that their illegal stealing of opponents signals had little to no effect on the game, why would they bother. I'll be the first to tell you that Bill Belichick is one of the smartest coaches in the history of football.
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