That said,here is a Statement yesterday from the Steelers:

“We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a nonissue,” the statement said. “In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games.”

Jerome Bettis has said different several times.

I’m not saying the Pats are the only ones doing this, they are the ones that got caught. I promise you that I can take six or seven guys, the resources of any of the NFL teams, be allowed to film the defensive coaches and I will guarantee you I can pick up a few blitz packages. NFL caliber coaches can do alot more than I could ever do.

While I’m not saying everybody does this, it does go on alot in the NFL and college football at all levels. Compare the number of coaches you know that has been fired for rules violations to the number that have been fired for not winning.
There is a reason this is illegal.

That would certainly explain why the Patriots were so outplayed in the Super Bowl, and couldn’t stop the Giant’s defense. They looked confused for the entire game. Word has it that Billy had the last regular season game taped, or was filming during the Giants walk through just before the Super Bowl game. Only problem was that the Giants weren’t taking any chances and let them think they had the correct signs, but the Giants brought a whole different scheme to the big game.
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He was probably filming while a defensive coordinator for the Giants under Parcells. You could sure earn the respect as a great defensive coach if you had all the other team’s signs.
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And to think I used to think he was a good coach. ‘doh! Oh well, I’m a lifelong Giants fan so I’m glad he got what he deserved…

stacman on February 14, 2008 at 4:38 PM

So. Ignore the fact that the following Pats were injured during/prior to the Super Bowl:

Ellis Hobbs – Hernia (he’s the one who couldn’t keep up with the Giant WR on the 17-14 TD, BTW)Not Listed on the Injury Reports!!!
Tom Brady – Right Shoulder
Benjamin Watson – Ankle
Jabar Gaffney – Shoulder

These players were injured during/prior to the San Diego game:

Tom Brady – Shoulder
Rodney Harrison – Thigh
Stephen Neal – Shoulder
Mel Mitchell – Arm
Donte Stallworth – Knee

Although many argue that injury was the rationale for San Diego’s loss 2 weeks before to the Pats, nobody discusses how the Pats managed to win despite their injuries…and conveniently eliminates that rationale from the realm of possibilties for how they could have lost.

So, thanks to you, this sport has now become one of identity politics.

Just looking at it from the field or the press box, you cannot process all of the info and pick up on the patterns and tendancies but the films and game polaroids can be taken into film study and picked apart. Over two or three years, you can build a nice library on teams who have kept the same coaching staff.

Big Orange on February 15, 2008 at 9:12 AM

Big Orange,

You’re still note gonna know squat about the calls, as those are called by 3 separate individuals each week, and those change each week. If that coach doesn’t change them weekly, then that’s really his problem, as they know there are people watching them constantly (and not filming them) to try & obtain an advantage.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:

Patriots. Cheat.

Cheating cheaters don’t win Superbowls. Cheaters.

JetBoy on February 14, 2008 at 4:53 PM

*Ahem*,

JetBoy. Not only does that make your current coach a cheater, since he did learn from Belichick, but that also taints a previous coach as well.

Tuna, anyone?

Because you have to establish what coach is sending in the defense that particular play. They will change coaches every play and the film can make it possible to establish the pattern they use. Again, they’re not trying to get every single play, just a few.

Just looking at it from the field or the press box, you cannot process all of the info and pick up on the patterns and tendancies but the films and game polaroids can be taken into film study and picked apart. Over two or three years, you can build a nice library on teams who have kept the same coaching staff.

I agree and would add that if you have the right coach watching the defensive coordinator signal in, and assuming teams don’t switch up signals, then maybe you can pick up one or two plays.

That said,here is a Statement yesterday from the Steelers:

“We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a nonissue,” the statement said. “In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games.”

I still do not know why this is cheating. Maybe I am missing something. Does this coach sneak into the other teams locker and video the defensive signals.

If he tapes the signals given on the field, how is this different from having someone draw the signals and have somone else map the play.

davod on February 15, 2008 at 5:50 AM

Because you have to establish what coach is sending in the defense that particular play. They will change coaches every play and the film can make it possible to establish the pattern they use. Again, they’re not trying to get every single play, just a few.

Just looking at it from the field or the press box, you cannot process all of the info and pick up on the patterns and tendancies but the films and game polaroids can be taken into film study and picked apart. Over two or three years, you can build a nice library on teams who have kept the same coaching staff.

First of all the interstate commerce clause is WAY overused. It was originally included in the Constitution to address goods being transported across states. I feel that applying it to this situation is a misapplication.

A football game is only conducted in one location, in one state… no interstate commerce. If a viewer wishes to view a game, that is a transaction between a customer and the cable company. The cable company is providing the game via an agreement between the NFL and the cable company. No physical goods are being transported between states.

Second, I think some of these teams are just acting like crybabies. “Waaahh… someone figured out our signals!” Then change the signals and make the other team pay for it! You don’t think that would be an advantage? Imagine what would happen if a team changed their signals halfway through the season. “Go ahead and figure out our signals… we’ll make you wish you hadn’t!”

If he tapes the signals given on the field, how is this different from having someone draw the signals and have somone else map the play.

why is Arlen Specter investigating this?

This is what Senators do to make themselves feel relevent.

For the record: I may not be Belichick’s biggest admirer, but I like that he wears sweat shirts when he coaches, like a high school coach, that he almost always outcoaches the other team, and that he insires his players to act like they’ve been there before.

He’s just a really good coach. If he’s cheating on the spying game, then slap him around some and find out who else is doing this — shock warning! Maybe someone else is spying! — and let’s maybe not take so much schadenfreude out of this comeuppance.

Come on. You guys know he’s great.

TheBigOldDog on February 14, 2008 at 5:00 PM

Heres how:
There are typically three coaches sending in defensive signals. The films work by matching the defense to the signal and establishing a pattern or rotation the coaches who are sending the signal to the field.

The advantages may or may not help in the current game but can help in future games. Plays like zone blitzes are the most valuable because if you can pick up what side a blitz is coming from, you can watch your wide out on that side and audible your slot reciever to the same side. You’ll wind up with single coverage or possibly no coverage on one of them. More times than not, a couple of plays will determine the game. Knowing the defense is a huge advantage.

In that spirit, I just want to say that from what I’ve seen so far, Roger Goodell is the best professional sports commissioner I’ve ever seen. Compare how he has dealt with the NFL’s problems with how Bud Selig has dealt with the MLB’s problems. Goodell clearly has taken the approach of, “It’s silly to try to go back and change history, doling out punishments for things that happened before I was commissioner.” Clearly, Goodell takes a ‘no-BS’ stance with the league (Pac-Man, Rodney Harrison, Tank, the Bengals, etc.). The Patriots cheated this year and were punished this year by the current commish–that’s how business is done. 3/4 of a million dollars and 1st round draft pick are not small things, so the Pats were definitely punished. Just because I’m a Chargers fan doesn’t mean I should be moaning about the Patriots cheating against us in the playoffs in San Diego last year–that won’t put Nate Kaeding’s kicks through the uprights, but it will cast a shadow over the last 7 years of professional football. Most figured (or knew) that some teams have cheated over the last few years; I think it’s best to accept that previous commissioners should have done a better job, and move on.

a) The NFL has an anti-trust exemption, which requires them to have fair competition among those entities within the trust (i.e. the teams);
thirteen28 on February 14, 2008 at 3:58 PM

I’m a Bills fan, and there’s been alot of talk/speculation the past few months, and especially the past week, of them being sold and moved to Toronto. One of the things mentioned was the anti-trust. The NFL was quick to quell the fears that the team would move. Buffalo’s owner is 89 yrs old and won’t be around forever, and many viewed the Canada games as a pre-cursor to the Bills being sold to some Canadian billionaires who were like giddy schoolkids announcing the upcoming games in Canada. I can only hope the Buffalo group is given a chance to buy the team. Despite having losing seasons for the past 8yrs. the Bills still sell out just about every game in one of the largest stadiums in the NFL.
Back to the original subject, Fox News reported a couple days ago that Jay Glazer still has copies of the Spygate tapes.

thirteen28 on February 14, 2008 at 4:16 PM

Any fines handed out will simply be passed on back to the consumer. No different than any other large business. The consumer pays for the NFL investigation, then for any penalty resulting from the investigation.

Er, not to pee in the punchbowl of a scoop this glorious, but why is Arlen Specter investigating this?

Because he does not know anything about baseball or steroids? That is just a guess… Or was that rhetorical?

al sends

“When I came into the NFL, back in ‘89, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, ‘Here’s what we do, we videotape the opposing team’s signals and then we synch it up with the game film.’ So I did it.”

Johnson admitted it was “borderline” but he ended up stopping because he didn’t think the team got much out of it.

– sigh –

BB=Evil Genius
AS=Well, his initials are one letter short…

The best thing I can say about AS is that he fought cancer like a champ.

Other things, like revenue from T-shirt and other types of merchandise sales are most decidedly not shared…

thirteen28 on February 14, 2008 at 4:55 PM

Unless you actually know the agreement, I would tend to disagree with you. I am basing my statement on the fact that if you look at the NFL gear for different teams, it’s the same design for all teams, just names and colors change. I would guess the NFL merchandising arm takes all the money and then divies it up among the teams. Do they split it proportionatlly based on sales?