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Strip them of their entire draft this year, and suspend Belichick.
Belichick has been taping since 2000, Goodell tells Specter
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
February 13, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bill Belichick has been illegally taping opponents' defensive signals since he became the New England Patriots' coach in 2000, according to Sen. Arlen Specter, who said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told him that during a meeting Wednesday.
"There was confirmation that there has been taping since 2000, when Coach Belichick took over," Specter said.
Whole story: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns
Strip them of their entire draft this year, and suspend Belichick.
Now if Specter can find a way to prove that the Patriots caused McNabb to forget how to run a 2-minute drill, he can be a little more happy with the Eagles' Super Bowl defeat.
But every single team has been doing this since 2000. It is not fair that Belichick gets called out for it
he just got caught
I need proof that video tapes in general exist. If I don't see them before my eyes how do I know they exist? They could be figments of my imagination. This is all some conspiracy to put a black mark on Ladainian Tomlinson's legacy. He has proven to be the class of the league with the way he es about other teams celebrating, attacks opposing head coaches, calls out entire franchises for cheating when his own fans will make the assertion that the Chargers lie on injury reports and therefore also cheat themselves, sitting the entire AFC Championship game due to a mysterious pre-existing knee injury that was completely absent from aforementioned injury report, with his helmet on, with a visor, and making proclamations of how classy he is to the media.
the troll you try and mock me with doesn't mock me at all, but instead just gives you an outlet to cry more, therefore reinforcing what a whining you are.
Have a nice day Mono, can't wait to hear how you defend these most recent allegations.
oh hey my troll got a response. i guess if it was so pathetic nobody would have said about it. but they did. kick ass
The general public just found out this but Godell knew this from day one because Belichik admited it himself when he reported.
The commissioner then proceeded to punish him with cash and draft picks.
He can't punish him twice for the same thing just because the public got a clue.
Belichick should be suspened. Goodell has proved in a short time to be an increadibly weak commish.
as has already been pointed out in this thread, this is NOTHING NEW. Goodell knew about this the entire time, and his punishment of the Patriots was based on this knowlege.
This is only news to bag Charger fans like you and that bag Eagle fan Senator who is wasting time with this bull , instead of figuring out how to make our country a little less ed up. America should be outraged that our government feels the need to waste their time and hard-earned tax dollars on this .
There are terrorists out there trying to murder each and every one of us, and Arlen Spector feels the need to settle a score with a ing football team that beat his beloved Eagles? What an asshole.
As much as you'd like to pretend it doesn't exist, TSA, you should be quaking in fear that the government is stupid enough to get involved in this.
Much like the steroids scandal in baseball, it started with Barry Bonds & Jose Canseco, but pretty soon expanded to McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Pet te, Knoblauch, and now Clemens.
Once someone in the government figures out "Hey, why don't we investigate everybody else in the league to find out who else has been cheating?" there is going to be an absolute goat . Deny it all you want but you, me, and God all know that you are pissing your pants in fear of the Chargers and every other team being exposed just like the Patriots.
And "they've been taping since 2000" still says nothing conclusive. Belichick could have taped one game in 2000 and then the Jets game and that's it. Zero evidence whatsoever besides that. Zero evidence any SB wins are tainted. No mention whatsoever of 2001, 2003, or 2004. Good job trying to taint the Pats dynasty, Senator, but you failed. Now maybe you can focus on something important, like the fact that this entire country is completely ed up and there's literally a million things more important for you to spend your time with than showing the world what a bitter Eagle fan you are.
They wouldn't be in a two-minute situation if they didn't cheat. The Eagles would have already had the game won.
Then that is total bull . He basically got off with a slap on the wrist for cheating for 8 years. They better take more action than this, or the NFL is going to lose a LOT of fans, and the integrity of the league will begin to be questioned like the NBA.
It's a waste of time that could be spent fighting terrorism, but if they insist on doing this, they better launch a full-scale investigation questioning all 32 teams, or the integrity of Goodell and Congress will be in serious question.
No proof the Patriots cheated in that game.
The integrity of Goodell and the Patriots/Bellichick are already in question, and ruined in the eyes of many.
No proof that they didn't. But there is more reason to believe that they did, as opposed to didn't. If they have been cheating for 8 years (which has been proven), why would they just cheat through regular season games, then on the biggest game of the season, not cheat at all?
More things to ponder...
in the past, a way that the Patriots would always avoid pass rushes for Brady, is to throw screen passes. I always found it odd that EVERY ING TIME a team would blitz, they would just "happen" to throw a screen pass, and then finally when spygate came out, someone on the Eagles said they noticed the same odd coincendences.
Suddenly this year, they get busted, and teams that decided to blitz like crazy (Eagles, Ravens, Giants) get considerable amounts of pressure on Tom Brady, more than he has pretty much ever seen in his career, despite having by far the best offense he has ever had, which should really help take the heat OFF, not add heat. I also noticed FAR less screen passes when opposing teams blitzed, as they had done in the past.
Patriots are ing cheaters. Plain and simple.
Cheaters or not, they still won 17 straitght games under scrutiny
There are few points I'd like to adress.
1. The senate can investigate the MLB players' steroids allegations because it's federal law tresspassed.
2. on the other hand (spygate) investing in league rules is a waiste of people's taxes money.
3. Belichik is a smart man. When he reported to Goodell, he admitted that he has been doing that since becoming a head coach in the league (not only with pats, but with the browns also) and that he did not interpret the rule properly. Moreso, he provided proof that other teams' personnel stealing patriots' signals were just escorted out of the stadium and never reported to the league officials. He pleaded ignorance and worked like a charm.
He said if he knew it was prohibited, he would've reported those other teams, but didn't because he thought it was part of the game.
By the way, what I just posted was said by an ex patriots security guard who used to escort outside of the stadium personnel found taping the pats (including the jets' guy). I just can't find the link, when I find I'll post it.
Specter: Goodell's Spygate explanations don't pass scrutiny
By Mike Fish
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: February 15, 2008, 2:26 AM ET
A day after meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in Washington D.C., Sen. Arlen Specter said he continues to be troubled by a number of issues surrounding the league's handling of Spygate and will continue his investigation.
Specter (R-Pa.) told ESPN.com that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) offered support on Thursday for his inquiry into the New England Patriots' questionable videotaping practices, saying Leahy is "prepared to have the committee pay for people who travel and investigate." Leahy sat in on a part of Wednesday's session with Goodell and league counsel, Specter said.
Sen. Arlen Specter, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls Roger Goodell's reasoning for the destroying of the Spygate evidence "absurd."
"I'm determined to go forward," said Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "You have answers and positions where [Goodell] is saying that with the destruction of tapes that, 'We did the right thing. We're absolutely sure.'
"Well, that is absurd . . . Goodell says things that don't make sense."
Among the issues that continue to trouble Specter are:
• Goodell's imposition of a penalty -- the loss of a first-round draft pick, a $500,000 fine to coach Bill Belichick and a $250,000 to the team -- before the Patriots had turned over evidence, including notes dating to 2002 and six tapes from the 2006 season and 2007 preseason, requested by the league. The Patriots were caught videotaping defensive signals from the sidelines in their Sept. 9 season opener against the New York Jets. The commissioner imposed his penalty on Sept. 13, four days before New England provided the tapes and notes.
"Did they know the scope of the wrongdoing before the penalty was imposed?" asked Specter, a former Philadelphia district attorney. "The answer is no."
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello, in response on Thursday, said Goodell's hasty punishment stemmed from the fact that the Patriots had been caught at the Jets game and Belichick's admission that he had been taping signals since he became New England's head coach in 2000. Belichick reportedly told Goodell that he thought he was within the rules to tape other team's signals as long as the information wasn't used in the game at hand.
"[Goodell] issued the discipline as quickly as could to send a strong message to teams that this wouldn't be tolerated, and there'd be a severe penalty if you violated the rules," Aiello said. "The discipline included they had to turn over everything that had related to that taping procedure."
Specter heard that explanation from Goodell on Wednesday. On Thursday, Specter said, "The word absurd and ridiculous keep coming to my mind, because he [Goodell] says it with a straight face."
• Specter said it was unsettling to learn that the tapes, as well as notes, turned over by the Patriots in September had been destroyed in Foxboro rather than in the league's New York offices. Aiello said the do ents and tapes were destroyed after they were reviewed by NFL officials Jeffrey Pash and Ray Anderson, and that the call to destroy the material came from Goodell, saying "There's no further use for it, so he said get rid of it."
Specter said the league's suggestion that the material, particularly the notes dating to the 2002 season, was destroyed because it might have afforded a compe ive advantage is unbelievable.
"Everything has changed," he said. "Nobody could use those. They are scrap paper -- except evidence."
With the evidence destroyed, Specter said there is no way to tell what advantage the Patriots might have gained in the illegal taping practice.
• Specter is particularly concerned about how the taping might have affected New England's games involving teams from his home state in the 2004 playoffs.
In a preseason opener in August of that year at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles played in what proved to be a preview of the 2005 Super Bowl, won by the Patriots 24-21. And in an Oct. 31 regular-season game in Pittsburgh, the Steelers beat the Patriots 34-20. Those two teams later met in the AFC le game, which New England won, 41-27.
Later Thursday, the Steelers released a statement that read: "We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a non-issue. In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games. The Steelers fully support the manner in which Commissioner Goodell handled the situation and the discipline that he levied against those who violated league rules. We are confident that the Commissioner has taken appropriate action in his investigation of this matter, and will do so again if new information arises which requires further investigation and or discipline."
• Specter believes the NFL hasn't gone far enough in its offer of legal protection to former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh, who has told ESPN.com that he has potentially embarrassing information about the team's taping practices.
The league has offered to indemnify Walsh against exposure to a lawsuit from the Patriots, but the proposal stipulates that Walsh must tell the truth and return anything he took improperly. Under those conditions, the team could still file suit against Walsh even after he turns over evidence to the Patriots and league.
"Matt Walsh is an important guy, and they have made it so conditional," Specter said. "All they got to do is say, 'We're not going to sue you.' It is not a big deal."
Specter said he has spoken with Walsh's attorney three times in the last two days and understands that Walsh is "scared." He said the Judiciary Committee could afford Walsh immunity if Walsh is ever summoned to testify at a Senate hearing. He described both Walsh and his attorney as "cooperative."
• Specter said he was concerned to learn from Walsh's attorney that an NFL security representative, Farley, had been investigating Walsh. Specter said: "I confronted them on that, and Goodell says, 'Yeah, he [Farley] works for us. Yeah, he is a security guy, but we didn't know he was investigating him.' "
Aiello said Thursday that it is an overstatement to suggest the league is investigating Walsh.
"The only thing we're doing is looking at public records and trying to verify his employment history in an effort to learn about him," Aiello said.
Mike Fish is an investigative reporter for ESPN.com. He can be reached at [email protected].
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3246788
"Did they know the scope of the wrongdoing before the penalty was imposed? The answer is no."
That's the hardest thing to swallow. He didn't even make it look like a real investigation.
Yea, that bothers me as well. I think this whole thing is going to get ugly, and I hope Goodell gets ed.
Hey guys let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. The senator COULD be a Steelers fan!
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