NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell layed out the penalty for the New England Patriots videotape scandal earlier today. The Patriots†organization is fined $250,000, and Coach Bill Belichick is fined personally $500,000. More significant as far as a team impact,†the Pats will have to forfeit their first round draft pick if they reach the playoffs this season.†If they do not reach the playoffs, they must forfeit their second and third round draft picks. The first round pick the Pats acquired this past draft from the 49ers is not affected by this penalty.
Coach Belichick released the following statement:
“I accept full responsibility for the actions that led to tonight’s ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused. I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career.
“As the Commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week’s game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.
“Part of my job as head coach is to ensure that our football operations are conducted in compliance of the league rules and all accepted interpretations of them. My interpretation of a rule in the Constitution and Bylaws was incorrect.
“With tonightís resolution, I will not be offering any further comments on this matter. We are moving on with our preparations for Sundayís game.”
So there you have it. You also have, in my analysis, the reason for the videotaping. Whether Belichick truely misinterpreted the rules is debatable. However, he indicated that the Patriots “never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.” The key there would be, “while the game was in progress.” The videotape was most likely used for future scouting purposes. However, it is interesting to note that coaches, especially when playing a team twice, change their signals. To say Eric Mangini doesn’t change his signals I think would be insulting a great coach.
Perhaps by using the videotape they can establish a pattern or a mindset on how they call plays. Keep in mind that their are onfield adjustments as well, and things are tweaked by the playcallers on the field (usually MLB and/or SS). I’m not going to pretend to know exactly what’s going on there, but that’s my take. Fire back Patriots Nation.
TJ…I don’t personally believe that they actually sell the videotapes, I was just echoing what Brent said as a possible explanation. I, too, think that they are smarter than putting this violation out there as public (among coaches) knowledge. It was just a theory. Nobody knows the thruth for sure except Belichick and his staff.
Why assume Belichick is telling the truth?
Jamie, so by saying he didn’t most likely sell the tapes, are you agreeing that it was pointless to tape teams such as the Pack, Jags, and Bengals? He only plays them once a year, and im pretty sure he didnt think he would be playing the Pack in the SB….
Having said this, we both know Belichick is smarter then that, which only can mean he did use the videotaped information for the game in progress..there is no doubt about it…
I dont buy that Belichick didnt use the videotaped information for the game in progress….why would he pull the same stunt against teams such as the Packers, Bengals, Jags, ect….
he only plays these teams once a year so those tapes would be worthless….
TJ – he could have sold the tapes to other teams….
He also could have been preparing for a possible playoff rematch- you know he likes his bases covered. Brent also has a good point about selling the tapes though.
Why? The article stated it – scouting. Knowing how players play and why they do what they did on the field. Did the QB audible that, or was it the play called by the coach? The the WR run the route correctly? Did they make a great play by adjusting? Knowing if a player will do what you tell them to do, or how good their gut reactions are in a game is critical. Besides, having information available the you don’t need is much better than not having information you do need.
Besides, the buzz around the league from current and former coaches and players would suggest the real problem here was how brazen the Pats were – everyone is doing it anyway.
Belicheat…No one is surprised. I bet Mangini does it too. Considering they hate each other, Mangini probably planned to dime out Belicheat even before the game took place, but most definately if they lost. Chalk one up for the student.
I think that this wasn’t hard enough. If your going to suspend a player for a year who was arrested countless times but was never convicted (innocent until proven guilty) Then Belicheat should be suspended for the season. And regardless if The Patriots make the pre season or not, they should forfeit their first 3 picks. Lets face it, the pats always trade away their first rounder anyways.
I think a first round pick is a pretty harsh penalty. The money is almost negligible… if it’s possible for a half a million dollars to be negligible.
I certainly do not by any means believe that Bill wouldn’t use the information at halftime. Anyone that does believe that should say “Hi!” to the Easter Bunny for me and show me their pictures of the WMD’s we destroyed when we first invaded Iraq.
Enough of this. Let’s concentrate on the football game Sunday night.
Brent, Jamie…are you serious? why would any team even attempt to sell videotaped information, proving that they are cheating other teams in the league..Every team that knows of their videotape information would get the idea that if the Pats are cheating against this team, they probably would cheat against them…even Belichick is smarter then that.
i don’t think that he can keep making these statements about a misinterpretation of the rules and not clarify with further detail. i, for one, want to know exactly what he expects us to think he thought he was doing. without that clarification, i also have trouble believing he wasn’t using it for the game in progress.
regardless, those of us out here on the outside are never going to know the full details of what really goes on, what other teams do it, what real impact it had on the game, etc. etc. what we do know is that the league has sanctioned the patriots quite heavily for it, and belichick has issued public apologies for the first time i can recall–clearly it is a serious issue.
i think the real damage here has little to do with the real impact the videotaping had on the game–it has more to do with having given people a basis on which to question the patriots’ accomplishments, and apparently for a completely unnecessary reason. even if it wasn’t as flagrant an offense as we’ve been led to believe by some, it was carried out with extremely poor judgment that is totally unacceptable from as smart a guy as belichick, and i’m still none too happy with him for all the trash talk i’m going to be hearing for, oh, as long as he remains the head coach of the team. (this is NOT to say i want to see him gone, however. i still believe he’s the most gifted head coach in the NFL…that’s what’s so sad about this.)
with that said, i agree we should try to move on from here, starting with hopefully kicking san diego’s ass this sunday. that could put a lot of this crap to rest. a loss, and we can look forward to at least another week of the media firestorm.
A loss would definitely keep this media firestorm going. I can hear it now: “Did they lose because they couldn’t use the video camera anymore?” hahaha
TJ – The Jags and the Bengals were possible playoff teams, and were in it until the very end of the season. Again, those tapes weren’t confiscated so we don’t know their contents. Anyways, everything is speculation unless BB comes out and specifically says what the tapes were used for. Period. Everyone can formulate their own opinions (and will). And no, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to misinterpret the rules, and said as much on my MVN radio appearance earlier today.
TJ – someone sole the Dolphins tapes last year – so there is a market for the tapes. BB would not sell them himself on EBay but if he can use the tapes other teams could as well.