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Originally Posted by Ugly Duck
Belicheat's explanation is: "I felt there was a gray area in the rule and I misinterpreted the rule."
At first it seems like a wishy-washy poor excuse. Until you read how vague the wording of the rule actually is:
"Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."
After reading that weak language, we can easily see how Belicheat could be led to believe that it was OK to videotape opponent's offensive and defensive signals from the sidelines.
I don't like the guy, but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt in his innocent misinterpretation. If the NFL doesn't want signals being taped, they gotta just spell it out in black and white. They can't leave the rule as grey and vague as the wording now stands or other coaches may fall into the same trap as Belicheat.
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That's not the one that BB was referring to:
It's this:
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From the league's Constitution & Bylaws:
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"Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game."
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http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...aping_rul.html
That's what he was referring to when he said he NEVER used the tapes "during the playing of a game."
There's another rule about being able to film in another location for game film that contradicts the above two as well.
If you're a smart coach and use a lack of clarity to push the envelope it's gamesmanship, imo. BB is supposed to be known for that type of thing. It's smart. It's just the haters that see it in the worst possible light.
Stealing signals isn't illegal either, just how it's done. Stealing signals in taught in to young kids and has been done since sports started. It could have been done other ways but this was easier. It was done openly while the videotographer was in full view. If you think you're cheatin' you'd hide it a lot better I'd think.