So, the Patriots are cheaters

[JohnnyLingo]

Wow, Easterbrook is on a one-man crusade to take the Pats down single-handedly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...5&sportCat=nfl

Is he an Indianapolis fan or something?

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

Wow, Easterbrook is on a one-man crusade to take the Pats down single-handedly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...5&sportCat=nfl

Is he an Indianapolis fan or something?

The First Team on Fox was discussing this on the radio this morning. Some interesting stuff I thought.

It seems like there are two things going on here:

1. The NFL wants this to go away because it has the potential to be a huge black eye to the product that has been created.

2. The Patriots were just the first ones to get caught, and now that the word is out, teams will either stop all together or be a lot more sneaky about how they go about getting this kind of info.

I do think it is interesting that the NFL just took the Patriots word for it that there were no copies made of any of the materials sent to the NFL offices.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by DrumNFeather

The First Team on Fox was discussing this on the radio this morning. Some interesting stuff I thought.

It seems like there are two things going on here:

1. The NFL wants this to go away because it has the potential to be a huge black eye to the product that has been created.

2. The Patriots were just the first ones to get caught, and now that the word is out, teams will either stop all together or be a lot more sneaky about how they go about getting this kind of info.

I do think it is interesting that the NFL just took the Patriots word for it that there were no copies made of any of the materials sent to the NFL offices.

Well at least other media outlets are talking about it. I hadn't seen anyone else, so it seemed Easterbrook was the only one.

What would you have done if you were the NFL commissioner after the Pats said there were no copies of the material?

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

Well at least other media outlets are talking about it. I hadn't seen anyone else, so it seemed Easterbrook was the only one.

What would you have done if you were the NFL commissioner after the Pats said there were no copies of the material?

I would've ordered the code red.

I think the commish did all he could do...however, I'm surprised an "investigation" of some kind wasn't launched. I think the commish would've had every right to send someone in and have the Patriots explain how the materials were used etc...it should've been part of the penalty. Full disclosure should mean the materials and how they were used, IMO.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by DrumNFeather

I would've ordered the code red.

I think the commish did all he could do...however, I'm surprised an "investigation" of some kind wasn't launched. I think the commish would've had every right to send someone in and have the Patriots explain how the materials were used etc...it should've been part of the penalty. Full disclosure should mean the materials and how they were used, IMO.

Fair enough. But you're still relying on the Patriots' word in that case.

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

Fair enough. But you're still relying on the Patriots' word in that case.

True, but I think that in this instance, it'd be an "investigation" that went on for months...monitoring activities etc...but maybe that is not realistic.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by DrumNFeather

True, but I think that in this instance, it'd be an "investigation" that went on for months...monitoring activities etc...but maybe that is not realistic.

I don't know if it's realistic, but what would it solve?

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

I don't know if it's realistic, but what would it solve?

You make an example out of a Hall of Fame coach and the team known to be the NFL's "best" franchise.

If you come down hard on the team, and make sure that they know and everyone else knows that this won't be tolerated, then you have a chance that it won't happen again.

Otherwise, you have baseballs wink wink nudge nudge steroid policy.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by DrumNFeather

You make an example out of a Hall of Fame coach and the team known to be the NFL's "best" franchise.

If you come down hard on the team, and make sure that they know and everyone else knows that this won't be tolerated, then you have a chance that it won't happen again.

Otherwise, you have baseballs wink wink nudge nudge steroid policy.

So you feel the punishment already handed down wasn't enough?

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

So you feel the punishment already handed down wasn't enough?

Not really.

I think that a punishment was handed down, and it was fine...but it seemed something that was done to get it out of the public as fast as possible. Whereas with players, the NFL lets "all the facts play out." I think the NFL wanted this to be over as fast as possible so that guys like Easterbrook could be ignored.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the Pats have been doing this for years, and it has helped them gain a strategic advantage...and they win the Superbowl this year and Bellicheck resigns. Essentially the team would be getting punished for the coaches actions and he walks away with 4 super bowl rings and can ready himself for the Hall of Fame.

Like I said, the punishment was fine, but it was more of a matter of "dealing with it" short term, rather than addressing the potential long term issues with cheating. And, there was nothing done to hurt Bellicheck personally...the fine wasn't enough if you ask me...he should've probably been suspended.