The Sports Rumors

Shame on New England + Photo of Cameraman In The Act

When I first heard the story break about how the Pats had allegedly used cameras to steal signals given out by the Jets defensive coordinators, I didn’t read into it much. I actually thought it was silly that the immensely talented Pats would find it necessary to do so. But after getting over my initial excitement of the first week of the NFL, I started reading into it more and found that the story was a lot more serious than I had first thought.

I was not familiar with the rule that you can’t use cameras to steal signals because I am just not that knowledgeable when it comes to rules such as these. I did more reading and research and I came to find that the Patriots had been suspected, and accused of doing this in the past. However, they had never been outright caught. I also came upon an article that said Commissioner Roger Goodell had sternly warned the Patriots organization about this in the offseason. I don’t know how many other teams do this in the NFL. I know a lot of people thought Miami did it last year when they, ironically enough, beat the Patriots 9-0. Zach Thomas hinted after the game that they had figured out the Patriots audibles courtesy of “Network Television.” Again, I don’t know how many teams do this but an infraction of the rules is an infraction of the rules. Just like a lot of people did steroids but only a certain amount got caught; just like more people are involved in dogfighting but only one individual (of note) got caught; and just like a lot of people get in fights at strip clubs but only one idiot got caught (repeatedly).

The Patriots got caught.

And let me clarify something because a friend of mine brought this point up. I don’t want to hear “Oh, the Pats didn’t need to steal signs with Randy Moss catching touchdowns and Ellis Hobbs running back kickoffs.” No, that is besides the point. If I rob a bank and give the money to charity, or if I rob a bank and spend it on expensive cars, guess what? I’m still guilty of robbing a bank.

The Patriots got caught.

Now what to do about the punishment? I’ve heard people say that they should erase the win they had versus the Jets. I don’t agree with that because that will lead to much more confusion down the road in the season. For example, do you give the Jets the win even though they were clearly dominated? If they don’t get the win, and the Pats don’t get the win, do we have two teams emerge 0-1 from the same game? That’s just not going to be feasible.

The other option I heard was to take away a third and a fifth round draft pick, or a second and a fourth, and many other combinations. To be frank, that’s not going to affect the Patriots one bit. They have tons of picks and they always manage to trade players for more picks; players that they probably would have cut anyway.

I also don’t agree with suspending Belichick for one game because honestly, do you really think that he won’t dictate the entire script of the game beforehand? He could tell a monkey exactly what he wants done on gameday in every situation and it would get done. So him not being at the game really doesn’t change much. Realize that Belichick isn’t the great coach he is because of his in-game decisions; Tom Brady makes most of those. Belichick is a star coach because of his preparations and game planning throughout the week.

So how do I suggest the league punish the Patriots? To be honest, I really don’t know at this point. I’d like to learn more about the case and hopefully find out if other teams have been accused or suspected of doing the same. I don’t think it’d be accurate or credible for me to dish out my suggested punishment without having more familiarity. However, I will say this. Goodell had better come down very hard on New England. If you’re going to come down hard on three players (Pacman, Tank, and Vick) who were wrong in their own right, but had nothing to do with the sanctity of the game, then you had better come down hard as can be on a team that has been found guilty of cheating.

Look at the top right of the picture. There is a circle around the cameraman who was stealing the Jets defensive signals.