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(AP Photo)
I’m breaking a promise I made to myself when I took this job back in October. I’m writing a Spygate article.
I promise, this will be the only one. When I’m done with this article, unless the Patriots are caught videotaping something else illegally, the word “Spygate” will never appear in an article of mine again. Ever.
So why am I drudging up this ridiculously overblown controversy? Because I’m annoyed. And the target of my annoyance is the NFL, specifically the commissioner’s office.
There’s a contingent of NFL fans, albeit a relatively vocal minority, who just cannot get over the whole Spygate thing. You’ll find them on message boards (like this one), in the comments sections of any articles that mention the Patriots (like this one), and every once in a while you’ll bump into one of them in a bar.
They firmly believe that everything the Patriots have done since Belichick took the head coaching job in 2000 is tainted.
They believe this because the commissioner’s office never came clean about what they confiscated from the Patriots, what the rest of the NFL felt the Patriots could have gained from the videotape, and how many other teams were under suspicion of videotaping signals.
A couple of things need to be made clear. The Patriots were punished harshly not because they committed some insane infraction that destroyed the sanctity of an NFL football game, but because they were caught doing it in the first NFL game after the commissioner sent a letter to all teams telling them not to do it.
Their actions were a slap in the face to the commissioner, who we now know doesn’t take too kindly to people not following his rules. He had to make an example of the Patriots, and he did.
Had the videotaping been what some fans of other teams have made it out to be, the NFL would have come down much harder on Belichick himself.
Harder meaning suspension, and likely a long one.
But there was no suspension. The reason is twofold.
1) Most people in the NFL feel that the Patriots wouldn’t have gained much from the videotaped signals. Most teams switch up signals if they play a team more than once in a season because, regardless of videotape, most teams have a guy specifically in charge of trying to steal signals.
2) There’s significant evidence that more teams in the NFL were videotaping. Many more.
Mike Florio discussed Spygate on ProFootballTalk.com back on February 23rd, 2008 (the link directly to the article doesn’t work, presumably because of the switch to NBCSports…so you’ll have to take my word for it):
Regardless of whether the Patriots did or didn’t videotape the Rams’ walk-through practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, it’s not the first time that such allegations have been raised.
As Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports wrote in the days following the discovery that the Pats were taping defensive coaching signals during a Week One game against the Jets, the Broncos were suspected at one time of secretly videotaping Chargers practices.
Wrote Cole: “The San Diego Chargers increased their security several years ago at a hill overlooking the practice field at the team facility during weeks when they played the Denver Broncos. Why? It turns out Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had been hiring spies to videotape the Chargers practices. The NFL had been aware of it for several years (at least one NFL official had seen one of the tapes), but didn’t step in because it was considered a team issue.”
Such stories tend to support the rumor that Patriots coach Bill Belichick included with the materials surrendered to the league extensive evidence of cheating by other teams.
Further bolstering the belief that the Pats weren’t the only team doing what they were caught doing are the comments of former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson. The Boston Herald has posted the transcript of a WFAN interview that we first mentioned on September 29, during which Johnson said that the videotaping of defensive coaching signals was a widespread practice.
“I did it with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league,” Johnson said on September 28. “Just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.”
And this kind stuff is nothing new. Way back in 1967, Lee Grosscup wrote an item for Sport magazine that delved into the issue of spying in football.
The bigger issue with what the Patriots did against the Jets is that the Pats continued to do something that the league had specifically told teams not to do, and that the Jets decided to make a sufficiently big deal about it that it set off a media firestorm.
The staggering penalty applied to the Patriots ($250,000 fine and loss of a first-round pick) and coach Bill Belichick ($500,000 fine) created the impression that this really was a big deal, regardless of the fact that it had been going on for an extended period of time.
And by hitting the Pats so hard, the league backed itself into a corner. If the videotaping of defensive coaching signals compels such a harsh sanction, evidence that such things have been occurring on a widespread basis would potentially shake public confidence in the sport.
But at a time when folks are chasing (as we think they should) the question of whether the Patriots cheated in connection with Super Bowl XXXVI or any other postseason game since 2001, we think that resources and effort also should be devoted to exploring whether and to what extent there has been cheating by other teams.
Maybe that’s why teams like the Steelers and Eagles aren’t willing to blame spying on losses to the Pats in the 2004 AFC title game and Super Bowl XXXIX, respectively. Maybe the problem in both cases isn’t that either of the teams within Senator Arlen Specter’s territory were the victims of skullduggery. Maybe the problem is that they didn’t take enough steps to prevent themselves from being victimized by practices that were an open secret prior to Week One of the 2007 regular season.
SportingNews.com talked about Jimmy Johnson’s comments, and they also had a few interesting nuggets from Mike Ditka as well:
As expected, the Patriots spy scandal was a hot topic during the various Week 2 pregame shows. And much of the discussion centered on the notion that cheating is part of the game. For example, FOX's Jimmy Johnson admitted to videotaping coaching signals during his time with the Cowboys, and that he was told about the technique by a Chiefs scout 18 years ago. Johnson also confessed to having interns rifle through the press box trash in search of notes that might have been discarded by opposing coaches. Also, ESPN's Mike Ditka spoke of George Halas bugging locker rooms and George Allen videotaping practices.
In reality, what the Patriots really did and what they were harshly punnished for was crap directly on the new commissioner’s head. The only people not in on the "spying" secret prior to Mangini turning into a mafia-style rat in September of 2007 was, apparently, the fans.
So before fans of other NFL teams start throwing stones, keep in mind that not only is there a good chance your team was doing the same thing in some form or fashion, but I can probably find other separate examples of your own team cheating.
The Cowboys? Jimmy Johnson admitted illegally videotaping other team's signals.
The Broncos? See the ProFootballTalk.com article above. Also, there was that "winning a Super Bowl while cheating on the salary cap" thing.
The Jets? “The newspaper, sighting " league sources familiar with the situation", says the Jets were caught using taping during a game in Foxborough last season. Here's the difference though: The Patriots apparently didn't report it to the NFL and instead just had the offending employee removed.”(From wbztv.com)
The Giants? Belichick learned everything he knows about being a head coach from Bill Parcells (at least, that's what Bill Parcells would like people to think), whom he worked under in New York while the Giants were winning two Super Bowls in the 80s. Hmmm...wonder if they were videotaping signals back then?
The Steelers? Terry Bradshaw (among others) admitted that steroid use was common-place on their 70s Super Bowl teams. More recently, they had a team doctor caught up in a steriod distribution investigation.
The point here is this: If you look hard enough, you’ll find a reason to call almost every team and every former champion illegitimate.
A few other facts that have been distorted over the last couple of years:
1) Nobody believes the Patriots could have used the videotape during games. There’s no way they could get the camera guy into the locker room, break down the tape, relay the information to the coaching staff, and then relay the information to Tom Brady (who would have to know, since he would be the one who would have to change the play based on the signals he saw) during HALFTIME.
I mean, seriously, how long do you think halftime is?
2) Teams change their signals from game to game, especially when they’re playing the same team twice in a season.
3) Memo to Hines Ward: Offensive signals are sent via a microphone in the quarterback’s helmet. So if the Patriots’ defense always seemed like they knew what was coming, it was because your offense is so insanely predictable. It was DEFENSIVE signals they videotaped.
4) In 2001, the Patriots played the Steelers for the first time in the Belichick era in the AFC Championship game. Unless you believe that he was taping signals while working under Parcells in New York and brought the tapes with him to New England, Spygate had nothing to do with winning the AFC Championship game in January of 2002.
5) Same thing goes for the Raiders. And if videotaping signals is so important, how did the Raiders spank the Patriots when they met again in the 2002 season? Maybe the Raiders videotaped New England's sidelines...
If you disagree, please feel free to either email me your thoughts or put them in the comments below.
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Questions? Comments? Insults? You can email them to Sean Crowe at scrowe@gmail.com.
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Comments
I think the point that you touched upon that made everyone freak out, that it was in fact the very first game after the commish said not to, where the Pats got caught. Good stuff here—interesting to read Jimmy Johnson's take and quotes about it all.
Hopefully all the haters etc. will shut the hell up and think of some new material to hate upon—it's getting old now.
Their championship teams will always be known as the Cheatriots! Good luck with the 'it's ok that they're cheaters cause everyone was doing it card'.
Dennisonschili: The point many of the former head coaches were making was that "spying" was a part of the game, and they didn't consider it cheating.
And the point wasn't "everyone was doing it so it's OK" the point was if you want to throw stones, it's real easy to throw stones back because aside from the Texans who just joined the league, everyone else has a past...
-Sean
***
The Patriots will always be known as cheaters, no matter how you want to spin it. Just accept it instead of trying to blame all the other teams for doing it too but not getting caught.
Also convenient when you brought up the Jets' taping without the follow-up articles where the league sided with the Jets' side of the story that they were granted permission.
But keep spinning away. People just don't forget stuff like this.
Good and informative article.
Still, the hate for the Patriots will continue as long as they are the team to beat.
How do you know only DEFENSIVE signals were taped? Why keep a rule dictating from where you can tape, if breaking it doesn't afford an unfair advantage? If the Pats derived no unique advantage from breaking that rule, then why keep doing it after the warning? Why do you compare alleged transgressions that were legal (e.g., Steelers steroid use in the 70's) and that are baselessly assumed (e.g., Giants "must" have been taping since Belichek worked under Parcells) with ACTUAL RULEBREAKING by the Pats? Why do you think that signals stolen early in the game cannot be employed later in a 3-hour game? Why do you ignore that signals stolen in the first of two games a couple of months apart cannot be used in the second game despite half-year signal change-ups? Why do you ignore commentary from players that were there while believing commentary from coaches that weren't? Why don't the Pats deserve "an asterisk" next to their record simply for willful rulebreaking for 6 straight seasons?
Quote (dg): How do you know only DEFENSIVE signals were taped?
Read the article. Offensive signals are called audibly. The coach always has something covering his mouth to avoid lipreading.
dg (Quote): If the Pats derived no unique advantage from breaking that rule, then why keep doing it after the warning?
Read the article AGAIN! He's saying that, if every other team uses shady tactics to gain advantage, then the net advantage is zilch.
Quote (dg): Why do you think that signals stolen early in the game cannot be employed later in a 3-hour game?
Maybe... just *maybe* some of the signals can be captured, analyzed, and dissected within the game, but there are so many different signals, different dynamics, and such that getting each and every signal perfectly translated is impossible.
Quote (dg): Why don't the Pats deserve "an asterisk" next to their record simply for willful rulebreaking for 6 straight seasons
Because other rulebreaking teams don't get the same scrut
Sean,
First problem with your article was that not every team was cheating and there aren't any facts to back up your argument that they were. The second problem is that even if you are right and they were, you're contention is analogous to saying that we should just accept steroids in baseball because since everyone is doing it there is no net advantage. If you weren't a fan of the offending team then you would realize how ridiculous your stance is. Fact, the Patriots were caught cheating. The rest of your article is based purely on speculation on your part. That said, I can't deny that Brady is amazing and I felt that way long before he had the gaudy stats to back it up. It's too bad such a great quarterback's rep is tarnished by cheating on his coaches part. Maybe they would have won all those titles without cheating, but we'll never know and hence the *. And fyi, I doubt Belichick taped his opponents back in his Brown's days haha.
The Patriots will only be known as "cheaters" by dolts who already hated us for whipping them. The rest of the NFL fandom will know them as the team of this past decade.
Besides, they didn't "cheat", they broke a league rule. The league rule states that you can't video from the SIDELINE. Video taping signals is ALLOWED as long as it is from the coaches box. Teams STILL do it today.
Actually, its a misconception that it was the very first game after the memo. The memo actually came out the year before. Most of the media has this wrong.
This so-call scandal was nothing more than a NY media conspiracy to damage the Patriots, and destroy BB. Roger Goodell caved under media pressure. So, in addition to his levy of unprecedented fines, he docked the Pats a #1 draft choice.
In punishing the Pats as harshly as he did, he lent credence to the BS and the lies sprewed by the media. Had he instead been level headed, and merely fined BB, and perhaps suspended him a game for articulated "insubordination" reasons, the spygate fiasco would likely have petered out long before the eve of SB 42.
What the media and Arlen Specter pulled on BB and the Pats to distract them on the eve of their date with history was a unprecedented disgrace.
Thank you for your article...but its' 18 months too late.
Being a lawyer, I think alot of Patriots fans are hilarous. I get a lot of laughs reading fans attempt to defend their beloved teams behavior, which I might add was Illegal! The state of the criminal mind is when caught in wrong doing, deny it, and point fingers at everyone else as often as you can. I can see myself in court defending a client on a DUI, and telling the judge he should be shown mercy since everyone else at some point in time has driven a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. I have my moments, but even I would not insult the judges intelligence with that one. I can also hear the judge laughing under his breath reply, "Everyone else is not being tried, and everyone else didn't get caught, your client did!" Opinions differ amongst different people, what does not differ is HARD COLD FACTS! You people sound like an alcoholic trying to defend himself against those trying to get him in rehab. DENIAL is comical sometimes,
So you don't want to talk about SPYGATE.
Either does Belichick.
What are you going to do, throw mud at great legends, as if BS baffles brains.
You infer the Steel Curtain unit was more juiced than any other in the NFL during the 70s???
Where is your proof?
What is your point?
You suggest the ethical approach to professional football in New England was different with the Patriots Offensive coaches, than with others staff, yet they kept their jobs.
I'd say 'nice try' but I'd be lying.
Fact is, the 2004 AFC Championship game is tainted.
The Patriots have admitted they cheated.
That is no small transgression.
There should be an asterisk.
Fact is, they gave up a first round draft choice.
That is no small penalty, not a 'tuck rule' turning point, but still, a big deal.
Fact is, Belichick got caught.
Belichick confessed, then carried on like none of it mattered.
It remains unresolved.
Belichick needs to walk the gauntlet before anyone can let his players and teams off the
Some of you are missing my point here entirely.
To use PerryMason's analogy, what the Patriots did was tantamount to getting caught speeding, then getting a ridiculously huge ticket because they mouthed off to the cop.
Yes, speeding is against the rules, but it's certainly not an awful crime that destroys the fabric of society as we know it.
Nobody is arguing that the Patriots didn't break the rules, what we're arguing is that the crime was more like stealing a piece of candy than butchering a small village.
-Sean
God I am so tired of all the idiots out there who just can't stand the Pats. This stuff goes on in every profssional sports league known to man. Christ, when I was in Babe Ruth league baseball the coaches would look at the signals and try to outguess or steal what the coaches were signaling.
Whatever anyone says and whatever team is hated you still have to play the game and execute to a plan. Winners are always hated and losers are always the haters. When the Pats were called the Patsies back in the 90's (or does everyone forget that) no one hated them. The advent of these blogs brings out the the forum for stupidity and I guess free speach...nuff said1!
Bobby Boogie: The 2004 AFC championship game is tainted?? Really? Please, enlighten me.
Which defensive signal did they steal that caused Big Ben to throw 3 interceptions and caused Bettis to lose a fumble? Because without those plays (especially the 80-yard TD return by Harrison), the Patriots lose and the Steelers are the AFC champions.
I'm eagerly awaiting your reply!
-Sean
"To use PerryMason's analogy, what the Patriots did was tantamount to getting caught speeding, then getting a ridiculously huge ticket because they mouthed off to the cop."
Don't think so PatsExaminer. As quickly as this came to light, the NFL did everything possible to make it go away. Your analogy on the punishment outweighing the crime is totally off base. The Patriots had, and still have the opportunity to appeal, or even to sue the NFL if they had thought they were innocent or the punishment was excessive. Just like the players who tested positive for bumetanide. You can always take it to court, and the Pats didn't. I think the NFL and the Pats both wanted this poison dart to go away for both their sakes. With the money Mr. Kraft has, if he thought he could come out to the good, he would have gone to court. Your not thinking like a rich man. Think of it as a plea bargain. Your gonna look bad, but not as bad if you take this to court.
PerryMason: The NFL tried to make it go away? They levied the largest fine in NFL history and took away a first round pick (ensuring the controversy stuck around until at least the next April).
They destroyed the evidence the Patriots gave to them for a couple of reasons:
1) the first tape leaked to the media, so they knew they couldn't trust themselves.
2) Belichick included videotaped evidence of other teams doing the same thing, something the NFL desperately wanted to avoid having leak due to the big deal they made out of what the Patriots did.
The Patriots couldn't take it to court, because they did clearly break a rule. Like you said, the everyone else is doing it argument doesn't fly. It's the same reason why I've never been able to get out of a speeding ticket.
But it's still just a speeding ticket. A little perspective would be nice.
-Sean
What perspective do you want? Any team or player can appeal punishment by the NFL for any number of reasons. The NFL is currently in this process with the players who used bumetanide. This has been back and forth in the court system since last season, and it's still going back and forth. If Robert Kraft or Bill Belichick had thought their punishment were too harsh, as you claim, common sense says they would have filed an appeal. If one is to accept your point, one has to also accept the fact neither of the two were smart enough to appeal their harsh punishment.
Let's get something straight Mr. Crowe. Whether you choose to believe this or not, a man of Bob Kraft's money and resources, does not take ANYTHING off ANYONE unless HE HAS TO! He can drag anything through the court system until he no longer has the money or resources to do so. He didn't. Bill Belichick didn't. Rich man's logic says that he stood to loose more than he would gain. So he stood "PAT"!
I love the folks that ask if it didn't give tham an unfair advantage, why did they do it? The reason why is because it forced the other team to change their signals. The players couldn't get comfy with the old signals and in a tense game changing situation it might lead to confusion on the defenses part.
PerryMason: OK, you seem like a relatively intelligent guy. You own a business. Your business makes BILLIONS of dollars every year. But your business is really a division of 31 other businesses. The person you put in charge of those 31 other businesses, a man you backed and helped get the position, fines you less than 1% of your income for a season.
Do you
a) make a huge case, undermine the guy you have trying to clean up your sport, and pay tons of attorney fees dragging this through court and keeping the story in the paper for YEARS. Potentially, by the way, threatening your status as one of the most influential owners in the NFL...
or do you:
b) pay the fine, apologize for breaking the rules, don't throw anyone else publicly under the bus, and move on?
He would, no doubt, go with the best business decision...which is b) pay the small fine (in comparison to what your company makes), and move on.
-Sean
PerryMason, if you are really a lawyer then you should know about politics. How do you think it would look if Kraft appealed the first contoversial decision by the "new commissioner" the he just championed through the owners meetings. That would have been a no win situation for both of them.
Sean,
I would hazard a guess some folks have no clue about taking one for the team, which happens to be one of the things that Pats players do all the time.
Gardnerhey and PatsExaminer,
Congrats! You get part of the point! He stood to loose more than he would gain. You make it out like the NFL over punished the Patriots. The NFL and the Patriots wanted this to dissappear. Money wise it wouldn't have mattered what Kraft did, because even with the Cheat label, you guys still love them, just the same if he would have fought the punishment. You'd still go to games, and buy the merchandise. Rich people... Bob Kraft rich... not Tom Brady rich, don't take one on the chin for no one!
I'll summarize all the negative things about Patriot Nation in these posts, and I'm out. I'm going to refer to you as the Pros and to all other the Cons. The Pros yell "haters" while the Cons yell "cheaters". A simple solution to both. You Pros would never have to hear from the "haters" if you did not proclaim the Patriots greatness. The Cons would never yell "cheaters" if you did not insult their intelligence by your proclamation.
You know you've had a bad day at work when your up still entertaining yourself on a message board...GET THIS......
Your the owner of a billion dollar company. You've just been accused of cheating. You only have two choices and you have to make the best decision for all parties involved including yourself First and Foremost. YOU:
A: Fight the accusations with all resources until the end, because that is what you've been taught all your life, and, if unsuccessful, your vindicated by your perservation.
B: Execute damage control, due to the human emotion of Self Perservation. Accept your fate, live another day, and worst of all..............................................ACCEPT THE ASTERISK!!!!!!!
Look, the bottom line is the team violated the rules and barely won their three titles despite it. This is only one example of your arrogant coach thumbing his nose at the rules of law—his disdain for the media he is supposed to promote the game through, his mis- and dis-information regarding injuries.
You can't expect anyone NOT to be a Patriots' hater who is not a Patriots fan. It comes with the territory, and as much as I like your writing, I not only don't have any sympathy for you, I think you have it coming if you defend them.
Two things on this......first of all, it was never the Jets who orignally saw the Pats tape, it was the editor, Don Leberfeld, of Jets Journal, an independent publication who first notified NFL security during thje first half of that particular game and ............if Goodell really wanted to punish the Pats, he should have taken SF's pick away from them, which was the 7th pick of the draft, they turned that into Mayo plus a least 2 more players, that would have been the fairer punishment
Frank Deford pointed out that a good sports fan just does their best to support their team. It's obnoxious jerks who try to tear the other team down.
I say it's always best to let obnoxious jerks stew in their own juices. First, they are prone to hyperbole and outright fabrication - and you can't parry those arguments without lowering youself to the level of a liar or prevaricator. Secondly, if it ain't this, it'll be that. And if it ain't that, it'll be the other thing. It's best that we get over them because they'll never get over this, that, or the other thing. It's not in their nature to get over nothing. Thirdly, if someone doesn't want to see something for what it really is, no amount of rational thinking or factual support is going to counter what they believe to be true. You can only bludgeon someone with reality so much. A dead horse can't change its mind.
So, just go out there and support your team. And solid laugh at the expense of the folks in tin foil hats.
Jealosy, it's all about jealousy. The Pats win because they are good. Belly had a knack for picking talent that can play well togethor, with few exceptions, they have good players and few superstars. But under his guidance they work well as a team and beat opponents soundly. Everyone wants to take you down when you when your on top.
Anyone who thinks that a reel video tape can change the outcome of a game so sophisticated, skilled and dynamic as American Football is beyond reasoning.
All you haters keep talking. We Pats fans will watch the game...and the scoreboard. Let's get another one this year boys!
Bobby Boogie, Are you kidding. Did you even read the article. I'm sorry but you're just a sore loser about the Pats dynasty.
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