Post by Zig on Dec 10, 2014 9:24:09 GMT -5
Full disclosure: I am a Patriots fan and have been for most of my 50 years...I actively "post" on sports forums and I now own and run a Sports Forum: SportsChatter.co. I understand the Patriots are a very polarizing team, you're either a fan or you hate them...There aren't many who feel "indifferent" about them. I also tire of reading all the misinformation that crops up whenever "Spygate" gets brought up, so I'll try to set the record straight and hopefully bury this media created/fueled "scandal" once and for all.
It's maddening how many times I read "they filmed other team's
practices"! Well, no.
They did not do that. Ever. When I see someone say that I don't even
bother setting them straight. It's been over 7 years now, if someone doesn't
know the facts by now they just don't want to know them. Where that
misconception comes from is there was a "Story" about how the Patriots
had
filmed the Rams walk through before the '01 SB. It was quickly found to
be false and that story retracted. The problem though, and the reason
why so many still think that story was true, is because the "story"
broke the day before the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl in which the
Patriots were trying to finish up the "Perfect Season" at 19-0. It
went something like this: The day before the Super Bowl: PATRIOTS FILMED
RAMS WALKTHROUGH!!! Then the day after the Super Bowl: whoops, our bad,
that
never happened...But football season was over and all the SportsChatter
was about how the Patriots had choked, cheaters never win...Most
apparantley missed
the little mea culpa from the "press" that ran with a bogus story.
"First and foremost, this is about a writer breaking one of the
cardinal rules of journalism. I failed to keep challenging what I had
been told," wrote John Tomase in Friday's editions of the newspaper.
Tomase explained what led up to the publication of the Feb. 2 story,
which appeared one day before the Patriots' 17-14 Super Bowl loss to
the New York Giants. The Herald on Wednesday apologized for the story,
after former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh told NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell that he did not tape the walkthrough and did not know of
anyone who had. - See more at:
newsbusters.org/blogs/richard-newcomb/2008/05/16/boston-herald-runs-false-story-actually-apologizes-front-page#sthash.77pNMtZe.dpuf
Funny side note: The Denver Broncos actually were "punished" for
filming another's team practice. Not many even know that, far fewer
seem to
care. They got fined $50,000. Such hate and vile towards the Pats from
those that believed that story yet nobody cares that the Broncos
actually DID do it...and they got a slap on the wrist for it.
I also have read " They haven't won anything since they got caught" or
" They haven't won a Super Bowl..." Sure enough those are true
statements. Well the second one is anyway. That's just really
simplistic thinking though. Remember, they also "didn't even win a
Super Bowl"
in either of the 2 seasons before they got caught taping signals. In
2005 they lost
27-13, in Denver, in the Divisional Round. They turned the ball over 5
times, it was pretty awful all around. This was after they had lost in
Denver earlier that year, 28-20 (0 Turnovers though!) So somehow they
played even worse the second time, after they had allegedly stolen the
Broncos signals.
The next year brought an even tougher loss to swallow, in Indy, in the
AFC Championship game. 34-38. This after leading 21- 3 before half time. A
very tired, beat up and lets face it "old" defense gave up 32 second
half points. Reche Caldwell seems to get most of the grief for that
loss from Patriots fans (and I agree, he was also a huge goat in that
game) but...32 second half points! We had been hearing for a couple of
years (from the "haters") that the Patriots defense was getting old and
slow, it was
finally pointless to argue otherwise. 32 second half points! Oh, they
had played the Colts earlier that year so again, the "Second time" they
played, even though the score was a little closer they actually played
much, much worse. They really had no business even making it that far
but Chargers DB Marlon McCree wasn't "heady" enough to just go down
after he picked off a Tom Brady pass late in the game. He fumbled it
right back to the Patriots thanks to Patriots great Troy Brown making
the big play. But 2 years prior to "Spy Gate" and 2 awful play off
losses.
This is when the Patriots "Dynasty" died. I know because I heard over and over that the Dynasty was dead at that time. Yet the same Dynasty "coroners" seem to forget they witnessed the death with their own eyes and now pretend it's because they can't film signals anymore...2 straight years, (pre
"Spygate") 2 post season losses and 1 stinker they somehow managed to
win. After that, they sort of morphed in to their arch enemy
Indianapolis Colts. I don't think Bill Belichick actually wanted to go
all high powered offense, he just didn't have much choice. The defense
needed a total rebuild (it's just now, 8 damned years later, starting
to get there!) But they fairly easily were able to trade for Randy Moss
and Wes Welker, sign Stallworth and wallah, record setting offense!
I just think transitioning from a balanced offense with a very good
defense to an all out aerial attack while the D gets worse and worse is
probably a bigger reason why they aren't winning Super Bowls any more
more so than
anything to do with any video tapes, How many times did Peyton
Manning's Colts win 12+ games then get bounced in the playoffs? History
just isn't kind to high powered offenses coupled with a below average
defense. It is just silly
to say if the '01- '04 Patriots could win Super Bowls, then the newer,
vastly different version should be able to as well. It just doesn't
make sense to me. Even in 2007 there weren't many players left from the
"Dynasty" years. When most other "Dynasties" ended they pretty much
fell off a cliff,. After the Steelers won the last of their "4 out of
6" Super Bowls they missed the playoffs the next 2 years (9 and 8 wins)
then lost in the Wild Card round the next year...they did get back to
the playoffs for 3 straight years after that but didnt do much, then
had a 4 year playoff drought. The Cowboys "Dynasty"? Well they havent
won a playoff game since their last Super Bowl win,20 years ago...The
point is, you can only keep a Championship team in tact for so long.
This is especially true in football with the short shelf life of the
players and more so today with the salary cap and free agency. How many
big time players have the Patriots "let go" because business is
business and there is a cap to worry about? In an era when everything
is geared towards "parity" and there is now a cap and free agency the
Patriots have at least managed to stay among the league's best, and are
a threat to go deep every post season. Something even those great
dynasty with no cap or free agency to worry about could do when it
should have been easier. Losing Super Bowls hurts but I'll take that
over not eevn making the playoffs, not having a chance to win the Super
Bowl every time, thank you. The longer into the winter I can look
forward to watching a Patriots game the better! Always...
So then about the actual scandal. Well, first, I just wish Bill had
stopped doing it when it was made clear it was not allowed. That
"memo", though sent to all teams, seemed like it was intended
specifically for the teams that were known to be "stealing signals",
like the Patriots. The memo contained an edited version of the rule
that is in the book- "taping of signals" is not specifically mentioned
in the rule book, but it is in the "memo". So the Patriots had someone
somewhere they weren't supposed to be at all, doing something the memo
specifically said not to do. Not sure why Bill would say he
misinterpreted such a black and white memo but I don't think he's
stupid (nor does anyone that knows anything about anything) so I'll say
he's full of it on that. But why? Why blatantly ignore that memo
especially against a former employee who knows that you tape signals?
Maybe we'll find out after Bill retires..
Plenty of people (including Goodell) have said the tapes weren't used
during the game being played. They weren't going in at halftime and
deciphering the signals from the tapes and using that knowledge in the
second half. That would be nearly impossible to do. There are about
140-150 plays in the average NFL game. Let's say there's 140 plays, 70
in each half and 35 plays by each team's offense. That would also mean
35 plays from your opponents defense who's signals you are taping...half
time is 12 minutes and you'll hear guys say it's barely time to...pee.
You lose a couple minutes just walking to and back from the locker
room. I don't see how it'd be possible to learn much in that short time
and again the Commish and most "experts" agree with this. The tapes
were part of a "library" for future use.
I don't think there is any set formula for how often teams change
their signals. Some teams may do it once or twice a year, others may
use the same ones all year or as long as they have the same
coordinator...I really don't know, but I do know how paranoid every
coach was about having their signals stolen. ( both offense and
defense have the helmet radios now so there's very rarely any visible
signals given anymore) so it wouldn't surprise me if signals got
changed frequently but again, that's just my best guess. But what
doesn't change very often is what Coordinators like to do, which plays
they call in certain situations and most objective "experts" say that's
what the tapes were really for- learning team's tendencies in given
situations. But you can learn that from the "game film" that the NFL
supplies to all teams...
If you have "debated" this subject before you know plenty of former
Head Coaches have said they did the exact thing the Pats were caught
doing. Former Dallas Cowboys HC Jimmy Johnson admitted they did it but
didn't gain much if anything from it that couldn't be gained from the
"legal" tapes the league supplies you with. Of course that was before
Goodell took over and tried to "clean up" the game...Signal stealing
and "bounties" for that matter , have been a part of professional
football since day 1 but neither will be tolerated any more. Not on
Goodell's watch!
So I am of the belief the tapes didnt help very much, if at all. The
main reason being 1 Ernie Adams. He is kind of a "mystery man" but is
Bill's right hand man. He's the guy in Bill's ear during the games.
"
I said, 'Take this kid, (Ernie Adams) give him last year's playbook,
and see if there's anything he can learn,' " Fairbanks said. "Two days
later, Hank calls me and says, 'Coach, this damn kid knows the whole
book already.' "
Fairbanks then told Bullough to give Adams the defensive playbook. Two
days later, Bullough said Adams had memorized that one as well.
"So I told Ernie to stick around and we would find something for him to
do," Fairbanks said. "I came to find out later he has a photographic
memory."
www.boston.com/sports/articles/2008/02/03/adamss_role_its_top_secret/?page=full
He's really a fascinating guy, read on up him if you don't already know
about him.
Ernie Adams would have teams signals figured out usually by the 1st
quarter and totally legally...Nothing illegal about having someone with
a "photographic memory" on your staff...Other teams also have hired lip
readers or "coaches" who's sole job was to try to steal signals. If I
am Bill, I rely on Ernie during the game more than a tape of a previous
game since there's a good chance that team has changed signals.
Remember every HC is paranoid about protecting their signals and after
the "scandal" we heard stories about teams knowing the Pats were doing
this...
Then I hear all the time about how the league covered it up...Covered
what up? Everybody knows the tapes showed the Pats taping
signals...What else could be on there exactly? Jay Glazer has copies of
the tapes and he said what we all know plus added that there was a lot
of footage of cheerleaders...
JG: Because it's not just football...it's classic. The tapes go back
and forth between... Well, the first part of the tape, the guy
recording it , all he's focusing in on are the butts of the Jet City
Dancers. He's going from chick, to chick, to chick, and then you see,
like, Tom Brady step in and then he'll [the dude taping it] hit the
coaches a little bit, but when there's a break? He goes into the stands
and then focuses on T and A. It is classsssic. It is like Spygate meets
"Girls Gone Wild."
And that's what's on the tapes that everyone's getting upset about?
Does that damage the credibility of those tapes at all?
JG: Oh, no, no, no,no — because the rest of it, is damaging. Because
they go the coaches, to the down and distance, back up to the coaches,
back to the down and distance — it couldn't be anymore clear. They
focus in on three guys the entire time, it is soooo brazen it's
incredible.
deadspin.com/383677/jay-glazer-owns-the-nfl
Pretty much what everyone knows...So what is this "cover up" I keep
reading about?
If anything was covered up it's the rumor that the tapes showed other
teams doing the same exact thing. That would seem to be a good reason
to destroy the evidence to me...It wasn't to protect the Pats since we
all know what they were guilty of....But I'd love to finally get an
answer to how destroying the tapes was done to protect the
Patriots...Anyone?
Then you hear players like Hines Ward..."everytime we audibled the
Patriots switched up!" Yeah, no kidding...Are they supposed to not
change positioning after the offense does? Watch any game-any game- and
you'll see the same thing happen quite often...
Although the tapes also showed some offensive signals it was mostly
defensive signals. Offenses have long had the helmet radio so the only
times you'd use hand signals on offense would be if the radio system
was down or sometimes in no huddle/hurry up offenses...And if 1 team's
radio communication goes down, neither team gets to use it. In hurry up
situations there just isnt time for the defense to use any "illegal
tape" knowledge. So you can pretty much forget about the offensive
signals since they are rarely if ever used. It was mostly about the
defensive signals. Even if your limited ability to think for yourself
has you believing the only reason the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl
in a while is because they can't tape signals anymore, you should be
able to recognize that Brady actually became a better QB after
"SpyGate"...Before SpyGate (even somewhat today) it was "the Patriots
won because of the defense" or "the kicker"...Because in most of those
wins during the SB run Brady was just 1 guy on the team, he wasn't
asked to carry them like he has been since about 2006...Now it's
because Brady and the offense "knew what was coming"?...News flash:
most teams with coaches worth their salt know what's coming most of the
time...Forget about Brady for a minute here, let's talk about Peyton
Manning. How many times does he take a look at the defense and change
the play? And the defense always gets the last chance to change their
formation/play call....always. So if Brady "knew what was coming" and
audibled, the defense would also change...That's just how football
works. Anybody that watches and knows the game should know this really
Lastly, about how the Patriots Lombardis are somehow "tainted" by
this...I ask again, how? Like "bounties"on players, taping stuff you
shouldn't be taping was pretty common place before Goodell took
over...Maybe it was " unethical" but we know for fact others were doing
it since we have several admissions of it. And there is/was nothing on
those tapes that couldn't be gleaned by watching the "All 22" film the
league supplies all teams...All 22 shows the scoreboard
(down/distance/time etc then the formations..)
FF to the 3 minute mark...
So the league supplies teams with every thing that could be learned
from the tapes the Patriots were making except for the signals but I
have also seen shots of coaches giving signals on All 22 film...But
mostly what the Patriots were looking for was tendencies, not really
the signals since signals change.
I started to write about how every team receives game film from the
league of their next opponent's last 3 games but in trying to find a
link to back me up I found out that's no longer the case, they actually have
access to every game
Before 1995, teams only received two or three game tapes of upcoming
opponents. With the new system, they received and logged them all.
www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80c3eb01/article/when-it-comes-to-film-study-coaches-have-entered-the-digital-age
It's almost as if the NFL gives you everything you need to know to beat
your opponent, you just have to know how to use that info...and nobody was better at that than Bill and Ernie
The 2014 version of the Patriots is, once again, one of the top teams in the NFL. If they can finally get that elusive 4th Lombardi, I wonder what the "haters" new slogan will be since they wont have the tired and lazy "They haven't won blah blah blah..." Here's hoping we find out and the "haters" get more original material
Go Pats!
It's maddening how many times I read "they filmed other team's
practices"! Well, no.
They did not do that. Ever. When I see someone say that I don't even
bother setting them straight. It's been over 7 years now, if someone doesn't
know the facts by now they just don't want to know them. Where that
misconception comes from is there was a "Story" about how the Patriots
had
filmed the Rams walk through before the '01 SB. It was quickly found to
be false and that story retracted. The problem though, and the reason
why so many still think that story was true, is because the "story"
broke the day before the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl in which the
Patriots were trying to finish up the "Perfect Season" at 19-0. It
went something like this: The day before the Super Bowl: PATRIOTS FILMED
RAMS WALKTHROUGH!!! Then the day after the Super Bowl: whoops, our bad,
that
never happened...But football season was over and all the SportsChatter
was about how the Patriots had choked, cheaters never win...Most
apparantley missed
the little mea culpa from the "press" that ran with a bogus story.
"First and foremost, this is about a writer breaking one of the
cardinal rules of journalism. I failed to keep challenging what I had
been told," wrote John Tomase in Friday's editions of the newspaper.
Tomase explained what led up to the publication of the Feb. 2 story,
which appeared one day before the Patriots' 17-14 Super Bowl loss to
the New York Giants. The Herald on Wednesday apologized for the story,
after former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh told NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell that he did not tape the walkthrough and did not know of
anyone who had. - See more at:
newsbusters.org/blogs/richard-newcomb/2008/05/16/boston-herald-runs-false-story-actually-apologizes-front-page#sthash.77pNMtZe.dpuf
Funny side note: The Denver Broncos actually were "punished" for
filming another's team practice. Not many even know that, far fewer
seem to
care. They got fined $50,000. Such hate and vile towards the Pats from
those that believed that story yet nobody cares that the Broncos
actually DID do it...and they got a slap on the wrist for it.
I also have read " They haven't won anything since they got caught" or
" They haven't won a Super Bowl..." Sure enough those are true
statements. Well the second one is anyway. That's just really
simplistic thinking though. Remember, they also "didn't even win a
Super Bowl"
in either of the 2 seasons before they got caught taping signals. In
2005 they lost
27-13, in Denver, in the Divisional Round. They turned the ball over 5
times, it was pretty awful all around. This was after they had lost in
Denver earlier that year, 28-20 (0 Turnovers though!) So somehow they
played even worse the second time, after they had allegedly stolen the
Broncos signals.
The next year brought an even tougher loss to swallow, in Indy, in the
AFC Championship game. 34-38. This after leading 21- 3 before half time. A
very tired, beat up and lets face it "old" defense gave up 32 second
half points. Reche Caldwell seems to get most of the grief for that
loss from Patriots fans (and I agree, he was also a huge goat in that
game) but...32 second half points! We had been hearing for a couple of
years (from the "haters") that the Patriots defense was getting old and
slow, it was
finally pointless to argue otherwise. 32 second half points! Oh, they
had played the Colts earlier that year so again, the "Second time" they
played, even though the score was a little closer they actually played
much, much worse. They really had no business even making it that far
but Chargers DB Marlon McCree wasn't "heady" enough to just go down
after he picked off a Tom Brady pass late in the game. He fumbled it
right back to the Patriots thanks to Patriots great Troy Brown making
the big play. But 2 years prior to "Spy Gate" and 2 awful play off
losses.
This is when the Patriots "Dynasty" died. I know because I heard over and over that the Dynasty was dead at that time. Yet the same Dynasty "coroners" seem to forget they witnessed the death with their own eyes and now pretend it's because they can't film signals anymore...2 straight years, (pre
"Spygate") 2 post season losses and 1 stinker they somehow managed to
win. After that, they sort of morphed in to their arch enemy
Indianapolis Colts. I don't think Bill Belichick actually wanted to go
all high powered offense, he just didn't have much choice. The defense
needed a total rebuild (it's just now, 8 damned years later, starting
to get there!) But they fairly easily were able to trade for Randy Moss
and Wes Welker, sign Stallworth and wallah, record setting offense!
I just think transitioning from a balanced offense with a very good
defense to an all out aerial attack while the D gets worse and worse is
probably a bigger reason why they aren't winning Super Bowls any more
more so than
anything to do with any video tapes, How many times did Peyton
Manning's Colts win 12+ games then get bounced in the playoffs? History
just isn't kind to high powered offenses coupled with a below average
defense. It is just silly
to say if the '01- '04 Patriots could win Super Bowls, then the newer,
vastly different version should be able to as well. It just doesn't
make sense to me. Even in 2007 there weren't many players left from the
"Dynasty" years. When most other "Dynasties" ended they pretty much
fell off a cliff,. After the Steelers won the last of their "4 out of
6" Super Bowls they missed the playoffs the next 2 years (9 and 8 wins)
then lost in the Wild Card round the next year...they did get back to
the playoffs for 3 straight years after that but didnt do much, then
had a 4 year playoff drought. The Cowboys "Dynasty"? Well they havent
won a playoff game since their last Super Bowl win,20 years ago...The
point is, you can only keep a Championship team in tact for so long.
This is especially true in football with the short shelf life of the
players and more so today with the salary cap and free agency. How many
big time players have the Patriots "let go" because business is
business and there is a cap to worry about? In an era when everything
is geared towards "parity" and there is now a cap and free agency the
Patriots have at least managed to stay among the league's best, and are
a threat to go deep every post season. Something even those great
dynasty with no cap or free agency to worry about could do when it
should have been easier. Losing Super Bowls hurts but I'll take that
over not eevn making the playoffs, not having a chance to win the Super
Bowl every time, thank you. The longer into the winter I can look
forward to watching a Patriots game the better! Always...
So then about the actual scandal. Well, first, I just wish Bill had
stopped doing it when it was made clear it was not allowed. That
"memo", though sent to all teams, seemed like it was intended
specifically for the teams that were known to be "stealing signals",
like the Patriots. The memo contained an edited version of the rule
that is in the book- "taping of signals" is not specifically mentioned
in the rule book, but it is in the "memo". So the Patriots had someone
somewhere they weren't supposed to be at all, doing something the memo
specifically said not to do. Not sure why Bill would say he
misinterpreted such a black and white memo but I don't think he's
stupid (nor does anyone that knows anything about anything) so I'll say
he's full of it on that. But why? Why blatantly ignore that memo
especially against a former employee who knows that you tape signals?
Maybe we'll find out after Bill retires..
Plenty of people (including Goodell) have said the tapes weren't used
during the game being played. They weren't going in at halftime and
deciphering the signals from the tapes and using that knowledge in the
second half. That would be nearly impossible to do. There are about
140-150 plays in the average NFL game. Let's say there's 140 plays, 70
in each half and 35 plays by each team's offense. That would also mean
35 plays from your opponents defense who's signals you are taping...half
time is 12 minutes and you'll hear guys say it's barely time to...pee.
You lose a couple minutes just walking to and back from the locker
room. I don't see how it'd be possible to learn much in that short time
and again the Commish and most "experts" agree with this. The tapes
were part of a "library" for future use.
I don't think there is any set formula for how often teams change
their signals. Some teams may do it once or twice a year, others may
use the same ones all year or as long as they have the same
coordinator...I really don't know, but I do know how paranoid every
coach was about having their signals stolen. ( both offense and
defense have the helmet radios now so there's very rarely any visible
signals given anymore) so it wouldn't surprise me if signals got
changed frequently but again, that's just my best guess. But what
doesn't change very often is what Coordinators like to do, which plays
they call in certain situations and most objective "experts" say that's
what the tapes were really for- learning team's tendencies in given
situations. But you can learn that from the "game film" that the NFL
supplies to all teams...
If you have "debated" this subject before you know plenty of former
Head Coaches have said they did the exact thing the Pats were caught
doing. Former Dallas Cowboys HC Jimmy Johnson admitted they did it but
didn't gain much if anything from it that couldn't be gained from the
"legal" tapes the league supplies you with. Of course that was before
Goodell took over and tried to "clean up" the game...Signal stealing
and "bounties" for that matter , have been a part of professional
football since day 1 but neither will be tolerated any more. Not on
Goodell's watch!
So I am of the belief the tapes didnt help very much, if at all. The
main reason being 1 Ernie Adams. He is kind of a "mystery man" but is
Bill's right hand man. He's the guy in Bill's ear during the games.
"
I said, 'Take this kid, (Ernie Adams) give him last year's playbook,
and see if there's anything he can learn,' " Fairbanks said. "Two days
later, Hank calls me and says, 'Coach, this damn kid knows the whole
book already.' "
Fairbanks then told Bullough to give Adams the defensive playbook. Two
days later, Bullough said Adams had memorized that one as well.
"So I told Ernie to stick around and we would find something for him to
do," Fairbanks said. "I came to find out later he has a photographic
memory."
www.boston.com/sports/articles/2008/02/03/adamss_role_its_top_secret/?page=full
He's really a fascinating guy, read on up him if you don't already know
about him.
Ernie Adams would have teams signals figured out usually by the 1st
quarter and totally legally...Nothing illegal about having someone with
a "photographic memory" on your staff...Other teams also have hired lip
readers or "coaches" who's sole job was to try to steal signals. If I
am Bill, I rely on Ernie during the game more than a tape of a previous
game since there's a good chance that team has changed signals.
Remember every HC is paranoid about protecting their signals and after
the "scandal" we heard stories about teams knowing the Pats were doing
this...
Then I hear all the time about how the league covered it up...Covered
what up? Everybody knows the tapes showed the Pats taping
signals...What else could be on there exactly? Jay Glazer has copies of
the tapes and he said what we all know plus added that there was a lot
of footage of cheerleaders...
JG: Because it's not just football...it's classic. The tapes go back
and forth between... Well, the first part of the tape, the guy
recording it , all he's focusing in on are the butts of the Jet City
Dancers. He's going from chick, to chick, to chick, and then you see,
like, Tom Brady step in and then he'll [the dude taping it] hit the
coaches a little bit, but when there's a break? He goes into the stands
and then focuses on T and A. It is classsssic. It is like Spygate meets
"Girls Gone Wild."
And that's what's on the tapes that everyone's getting upset about?
Does that damage the credibility of those tapes at all?
JG: Oh, no, no, no,no — because the rest of it, is damaging. Because
they go the coaches, to the down and distance, back up to the coaches,
back to the down and distance — it couldn't be anymore clear. They
focus in on three guys the entire time, it is soooo brazen it's
incredible.
deadspin.com/383677/jay-glazer-owns-the-nfl
Pretty much what everyone knows...So what is this "cover up" I keep
reading about?
If anything was covered up it's the rumor that the tapes showed other
teams doing the same exact thing. That would seem to be a good reason
to destroy the evidence to me...It wasn't to protect the Pats since we
all know what they were guilty of....But I'd love to finally get an
answer to how destroying the tapes was done to protect the
Patriots...Anyone?
Then you hear players like Hines Ward..."everytime we audibled the
Patriots switched up!" Yeah, no kidding...Are they supposed to not
change positioning after the offense does? Watch any game-any game- and
you'll see the same thing happen quite often...
Although the tapes also showed some offensive signals it was mostly
defensive signals. Offenses have long had the helmet radio so the only
times you'd use hand signals on offense would be if the radio system
was down or sometimes in no huddle/hurry up offenses...And if 1 team's
radio communication goes down, neither team gets to use it. In hurry up
situations there just isnt time for the defense to use any "illegal
tape" knowledge. So you can pretty much forget about the offensive
signals since they are rarely if ever used. It was mostly about the
defensive signals. Even if your limited ability to think for yourself
has you believing the only reason the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl
in a while is because they can't tape signals anymore, you should be
able to recognize that Brady actually became a better QB after
"SpyGate"...Before SpyGate (even somewhat today) it was "the Patriots
won because of the defense" or "the kicker"...Because in most of those
wins during the SB run Brady was just 1 guy on the team, he wasn't
asked to carry them like he has been since about 2006...Now it's
because Brady and the offense "knew what was coming"?...News flash:
most teams with coaches worth their salt know what's coming most of the
time...Forget about Brady for a minute here, let's talk about Peyton
Manning. How many times does he take a look at the defense and change
the play? And the defense always gets the last chance to change their
formation/play call....always. So if Brady "knew what was coming" and
audibled, the defense would also change...That's just how football
works. Anybody that watches and knows the game should know this really
Lastly, about how the Patriots Lombardis are somehow "tainted" by
this...I ask again, how? Like "bounties"on players, taping stuff you
shouldn't be taping was pretty common place before Goodell took
over...Maybe it was " unethical" but we know for fact others were doing
it since we have several admissions of it. And there is/was nothing on
those tapes that couldn't be gleaned by watching the "All 22" film the
league supplies all teams...All 22 shows the scoreboard
(down/distance/time etc then the formations..)
FF to the 3 minute mark...
So the league supplies teams with every thing that could be learned
from the tapes the Patriots were making except for the signals but I
have also seen shots of coaches giving signals on All 22 film...But
mostly what the Patriots were looking for was tendencies, not really
the signals since signals change.
I started to write about how every team receives game film from the
league of their next opponent's last 3 games but in trying to find a
link to back me up I found out that's no longer the case, they actually have
access to every game
Before 1995, teams only received two or three game tapes of upcoming
opponents. With the new system, they received and logged them all.
www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80c3eb01/article/when-it-comes-to-film-study-coaches-have-entered-the-digital-age
It's almost as if the NFL gives you everything you need to know to beat
your opponent, you just have to know how to use that info...and nobody was better at that than Bill and Ernie
The 2014 version of the Patriots is, once again, one of the top teams in the NFL. If they can finally get that elusive 4th Lombardi, I wonder what the "haters" new slogan will be since they wont have the tired and lazy "They haven't won blah blah blah..." Here's hoping we find out and the "haters" get more original material
Go Pats!
