Obviously, Kraft and the other brass at NE are going to say that this was all known and covered ground. Would you expect them to come out and say that these are new offenses and they should be royally punished for each act?

Why don't you try reading Arlen Specter's statements quoted in the media from this past February where he says that Goodell told him that the Pats admitting this had been SOP since BB became coach in 2000?

Excerpts from The New York Times article written by Greg Bishop
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/sp...ts&oref=slogin

The New York Times obtained a list of the Walsh videotapes. The information was later confirmed by Walsh’s lawyer, Michael Levy, from the Washington offices of McKee Nelson.

On Tuesday, Walsh is scheduled to speak with Commissioner Roger Goodell and Senator Arlen Specter in separate meetings. Walsh could provide additional information at that time, including how the taping worked, how extensive it was, which Patriots employees were involved and the significance of the evidence he handed over.

The first tape is dated Sept. 25, 2000, from a game the previous day. The last is from Sept. 29 two years later.

All the tapes are scheduled to arrive at N.F.L. offices Thursday morning.

Levy would not say whether Walsh was behind the camera on each tape, but confirmed that Walsh obtained the first seven tapes during his time in the Patriots’ video department, which ended after the 2002 Super Bowl.

The last tape, in September 2002 against the Chargers, was shot by someone else after Walsh left the video department for a job in the scouting department that ended in early 2003.

The Chargers tape shows raw footage, Levy said, of the San Diego coaches from the Patriots’ sideline, followed by a shot of the scoreboard showing time, down and distance. The tape contains no footage of actual plays during the game, only the sequence, which the Patriots could match to play tape.

The other seven tapes are more sophisticated. They show shots of the opposing coaches’ signals, followed immediately by a shot of the play, usually from the end zone camera, Levy said.

The tape from the A.F.C. championship game is the most extensive, showing two angles of each play.

Spygames -- the long, long, LONG tradition of spying in the NFL.

http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport...ug-nflspy.html

Jimmy Johnson on doing the EXACT same hting as Belichick, and how it was common in the NFL, **BUT** that the NFL punsihing the Pats was deserved because the NFL tried to stop it and the Pats basically stupidly ignored their orders to do so:


http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-...ad.php?t=82335

Jimmy Johnson thinks Spygate is overblown We originally posted this WFAN interview as having been conducted during Super Bowl week. It actually dates back to September. Regardless, it’s still interesting to note how commonplace former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson feels the use of cameras is by NFL teams. He admits he used them to steal signs all the time.

Q: How about the spying thing Jimmy. You’re a coach does that bother you what Belichick did?

JJ: Oh please. I’ve said it on our show. Eighteen years ago a scout for the Chiefs told me what they did, and he said what you need to do is just take your camera and you go and zoom in on the signal caller and that way you can sync it up. The problem is that if they’re not on the press box side you can’t do it from the press box, you have to do it from the sideline. This was 18 years ago.

Q: You think the NFL came down too hard on them?

JJ: No, no, I said it on the show. He was wrong for doing it for the simple reason that the league knew this was going on not just in New England but around the league. And the league sent out the memorandum to all of the teams saying you cannot do this. And so that’s when Bill Belichick was wrong. After he got the memorandum saying don’t do it any more, he did it.

Q: Did you ever steal signals?

JJ: Oh in a heartbeat, yeah. Yes I did.

Q: Via video, Jimmy? Or no?

JJ: Oh yeah, I did it with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league. Just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.

Q: But did you do it by taping the signal caller?

JJ: Yeah.

Q: Oh you did.

JJ: That’s what I’m saying. I was saying one of Marty Schottenheimer’s scouts, Mark Hatley, who has passed away now, Mark told me that’s how they did it, and Howard Mudd their offensive line coach with Kansas City, who now coaches for Tony Dungy, he was the best in the entire league at stealing signals.

Q: Where’d you put your guy who was videotaping? Where was he?

JJ: My guy was up with my camera crew in the press box. So you’d just put an extra camera up with your camera crew in the press box who zoomed in on the signal callers. That’s the best way to do it, but anyway you can’t always do that because the press box camera crew might be on the same side as the opposing team. If they’re on the same side as the opposing team that’s when you need to do it from the sideline.

Whatever
 

It's so common that they got slapped for it already but nobody else has? I don't see anyone coming to their aid with that bullshit of "everyone does it" either. It's not legal pure and simple and I don't think everyone is doing it.

Belicheat is suppose to be a genius football coach but he needs a guy to illegaly tape signals with a Sony Handycam on the sideline? What a douche.

I hope they get hit hard for the AFC Championship game. They may have cost the Steelers millions in SB revenues. Id' be wanting some serious ass over this shit if I'm the owner of Pitt.

*sigh*

Try reading the article. Try understanding that the Pats already admitted all thsi, that the NFL already knows it, and that there will be no further punishment. Try understanding that lots of people in the NFL "cheat" in lots of different ways, and that the NFL came in recently ('06 or whatever) and said "hey, stop it, we're serious", and the Patriots, presumably unlike everyone else and quite stupidly, didn't.

Did you read JJ's quote, even. Your beloved Chiefs used to do EXACTLY the same thing.

How so? What rule did we break? You don't know because we did not break a written rule.

The salary cap is all unwritten? And I have no doubt that the NFL has a written "bad sportsmanship" catchall that rightly encompasses things like spraying yourself with pam or whatever the frack your boys did.

Let's wait until next week. ....:thumb:

Meanwhile, Amnorix thinks its very unfortunate that Senator Spector thinks is a federal matter, or that it is deserving of his time as opposed to, you know, things of national importance. I'm sure the fact that he is an Iggles fan and that the Pats beat them in the SB has nothing to do with his continuing involvement.

i used to like the Patriots as my 2nd favorite team... I have a Bledsoe Jersey, even. But, **** Belicheat and the Patriots. They are ****ing cheaters and have scarred the NFL with their weak ass need to **** other teams over to get an unfair advantage.

Belicheat should be forced to resign... so teh Chiefs can sign him.

You have my full agreement there. Get that shit out of courts. Along with baseball's steroids.

We did not cheat the salary cap nor did we break a written rule. We made cash loans from players and paid them interest on the loans. It actually had nothing to do with the NFL. We used the money to pay for upfront costs on our new stadium. We didn't video tape the other team to make in game adjustments and cheat on the field.

You mean like fraud? I agree that the local authorites should arrest Bellichek, but I have no problems with the committee investing the Patriots crimes since the local authorites have decided to ignore their duty.