Calling on ESPN to Bring Light to Patriots Cheating
The New England Patriots and their head coach were caught cheating, which makes them seem like they lack a basic fundamental human trait: integrity. That's not surprising, considering their head coach, Bill Belichick, is a man who would sell his children to the highest bidder if it guaranteed him another Super Bowl win.
And yes, Patriots fans (some of you, at least), we know it's just the evil media and jealous fan bases making this a much bigger story than it is. Because Billy Belichick can do no wrong. Look, you and Bill Simmons can make your excuses, but just know you're exactly the same as the folks in San Francisco (some of them) who will cling to the notion that Barry Bonds has never done steroids.
The Patriots have long been suspected of cheating, but like many other sports, football is a fraternity, and unless you knew something for a fact, you didn't reveal you suspicions. Since the Patriots were caught in the act of videotaping other teams signals, nobody had to snitch on them. And now, players across the league are opening up.
Still, the question remains: how long, and for which games were the Patriots cheating the National Football League and the rest of America?
There's one entity that can bring the truth to the masses: ESPN. No other enterprise in sports has as much power as the four-letter. They can elevate or destroy an athlete or coach's reputation with one story. When ESPN talks, people do listen, even if they don't always agree with what they say.
In the world of blogging, ESPN is the single most popular target. It is a tired subject, but this situation is one that bears watching. Will the network use it's vast resources to delve into this story? Will they do everything in their power to find out how deep this cheating went? Or will they sit on their laurels, as partners of the NFL, afraid to dig up the past in fear of angering the almighty National Football League?
Since players have now started to talk, ESPN needs to hit this hard, and go full bore. Local newspaper reporters have started doing this, and now ESPN should follow suit.
Among the players already talking:
Packers QB Brett Favre: "I think we say that near about every game they play in," Favre said of playing a perfect game. "One game in particular - I watched the Minnesota game because we were playing them the following week or two weeks later - they were just flawless."
Steelers WR Hines Ward: "When we played them in the championship game, it seemed like they were a step ahead of us all the time. You never know how long they've been doing this stuff ... You hate to see it come to putting an asterisk by their championships, but I haven't heard of any other team doing something like this. I wouldn't put it past them."
Jaguars DE Paul Spicer: "I've heard something like that a long time ago. Surprised it just now comes out in the open."
Giants DE Michael Strahan: "When I heard about that, I said, ‘Whoa, how long have they been doing that?’ Stealing signals? That’s pretty heavy, man. I don’t know if that’s much different than the cheating ref in basketball. It just makes you wonder how long they’ve been doing this and has it really helped them win some games? And if they’ve been doing it in those games that they won Super Bowls in or won playoffs in. It does make you wonder. Because that team has won some big games."
ESPN has the resources to do what no newspaper, website or local television station can do. Expose the truth. Let America know if the Patriots are a legitimate dynasty or a tainted one. Will they do what a news organization should in a story this big, or will they cower in fear of the NFL? We'll find out soon enough.
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16 Comments:
I've always suspected that Tom Brady couldn't be that good. . . he went to Michigan, and UM quarterbacks suck.
Now we know, his record was because he was cheating. . .and don't think he wasn't in on it. If they were stealing defensive signals, who do you think they were telling the defenses to?
Overblown.
Shut up, Strahan - you suck.
If it taints their super bowl wins going back 5 years (it doesn't) doesn't it also taint the records of Mangini, Weis, and Crennel?
Mangini blew the whistle on himself. He doesn't deserve to be a head coach! Tear up his contract! Fraud!
Woah so you mean guys who got beat by the patriots suddenly pin their loss on cheating?
THAT BLOWS MY MIND.
So yeah, as most of the respected media (read: not sensationalists) have stated, this isn't that big of a deal. Where was your article in 2002 when Mike Shanahan claimed to steal signs? Hell, where was it LAST YEAR when Zach Thomas said that the Dolphins bought tapes of the pats to learn Brady's cadence?
In the Minnesota game, I believe they came out in a no-huddle for the first few series and blew that Minny D out of the water.
So how could they, while focusing on their scripted plays for these no-huddle drives, also be watching the defensive coaches and then adjusting since they weren't taking their time?
And as for Hines Ward and Michael Strahan...just shut up.
I'm really shocked at the Patriots fans not being able to comprehend the severity of the team's actions. I thought you people were supposed to be smart fans?
That said, this is unlike anything the NFL has seen before. When the Dolphins tried this, they used network video and matched up Brady's voice to the changes. Unless CBS wants the Pats to lose, there is no wrongdoing there. Plus, this was game one. Of course the Pats would have an advantage if they could tape the signals.
As for ESPN, I think some have the desire to break this story open. They need Kelly Naqi on this, not Boston Wendy Nix.
The next step is seeing how many times the camera guy in question acquired sidelines passes. If he's at each game, then each game is in question.
Nice piece, Doberman. Oh, and suck it Boston.
I think it's overblown too, but I must admit I'm shocked at how rapidly Pats fans are rallying to Bill B.'s defense.
bsanders, you don't think the Pats fans' defensiveness could have anything to do with how totally out of control this thing has gotten? As long as everyone keeps going on and on about how all those Super Bowls were phony, Pats fans will stand up and deny, deny, deny right back.
Both sides have gone too far. It's nuts to suggest the Pats are blameless. They screwed up. But it's equally nuts to think something this minor can explain their dominance. The real situation is somewhere in the middle.
If there were more reason in the conversation and fewer personal attacks, and if people thought a little more about what had actually happened, maybe you wouldn't see so many ridiculous opinions.
You realize that, calling breaking the rules in this way cheating, you could also call jumping offsides cheating, and interfering with a reciever trying to catch the ball cheating. All of it is against the rules so its all technically cheating, and just like with those times, the team will be punished accordingly and that will be the end of it. It has no bearing on the past at all. Mostly since everyone knows this kind of thing happens and changes there signals accordingly on a week by week basis if not during the game.
A player can stand on the sideline and stare at a defensive coach sending signals, if he doesnt have a photographic memory he can just relay them to the sidelines and have someone right it down. Perfectly legal and accomplishes pretty much the same thing. The rule isnt that youre not allowed to try and steal their signals, you just cant use a camera to do it cause it makes it so easy. Think about this for a minute people before you go jumping the gun. Its not like BB snuck into the office of every coach in the league and photocopied all the playbooks.
The Pat's must have stole the Jet's signal for, "don't tackle the kick returner."
Seriously, this is just people looking for anything other than their own poor play to blame for why they lost.
There is nothing to see here. A team from a major television market did not do anything wrong. Please move along to the next STEROIDSOutsideTheLinesSTEROIDS.
Sincerely,
tWWL
"You realize that, calling breaking the rules in this way cheating, you could also call jumping offsides cheating"
Sigh. More rationalization. Your logic is flawed. Defensive players aren't intentionall jumping offsides, or they'll get a penalty. The Pats intentionally did this to gain an advantage.
People have to realize that these tapes are not going to be used during halftime or during the game. I see a lot of people saying it wont make a difference becuase its happening during the same game. They would most likely tape teams that are in their division or would likely see in the playoffs. This is so they could study the signals and prepare for their coverages, not for use during the same game. That is definately an unfair advantage that needs to be punished. For example, they lost to the Steelers in 2004 34-20 (?) but then beat them the same year in the AFC champ. game 41-20(?). This is when some of the Steelers players said "it was like they knew what we were going to before we did it."
If the signal stealing didn't work and if it didn't allow BB to gain a huge advantage, then why would he take the chance of getting caught.
I gaurtentee he wasn't pulling this stuff during his Cleveland days when he was sub .500 season after season. No one was calling him a genius then.
Belichick is a fraud, Brady is a fraud. But their defense was legit, you can't take that away.
Grow up, boys. They tried to get away with something and got caught. To suggest that they won three Super Bowls because of some videotape is just childish, wishful thinking.
Dear Pats fans,
Stop being ridiculous. If stealing signs did not give them an advantage, they wouldn't do it!!
In a 3 point game, of which the Pats have had a few, stealing a sign at a crucial point could mean the difference between a close win and a close loss.
Accept your shame and move on.
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