This is absolutely despicable. Punishment should be: 1) Forfeit game to Jets 2) Refund all Jets fans who wasted money purchasing tickets to that game 3) Dock them 1st, 3rd, and 4th round draft picks 4) Suspend Bellicheck for the year w/o pay 5) Force Bellicheck to make a public SINCERE apology if he ever wants to coach in this league again 6) Suspend for 4 games w/o pay every other coach and player on the Patriots who is found to be guilty of having a part in this 7) From now on, allow only the home teams to record the game, and have the home team turn over the game film to the opposing team, that way there is always neutral film and never any doubts.
I am disppointed, yes. I don't think it taints what they've accomplished. Supposedly they have been doing it for years......why hasn't it been reported to the competition committee before? Why didn't the cameraman try to be a little more indiscreet? My feeling is this is business as usual for all teams, though technically against the rules, it is usually dealt with by having the cameraman removed from the sideline, and that's the end of it. I think Mangini reported it to stick it to Belichick. It worked.
NFL OWNERS who have more money then God...are really going to crap their pants over a fine. Draft picks? I want to know who gets them...if anybody. My guess is they just skip the pats..but if thats the case, the Jets have to get something out of this. Did the Jets have a chance to win that game regardless? No way...but heres the question....HOW THE HELL DO WE KNOW? How can anyone truly no that if its 7-7 at halftime instead and the Pats were cheating all along....how does anyone truly know. Does Pennington get hurt? Are the Jets able to run the ball better. I dont care how bad the pass rush is...but did that have anything to do with it? Even if it meant saving the Pats one sack... Lets put it this way...I think some people are going to be pretty shocked on the penalty...and I think it will be Pats fans. When teams start throwing around that "this has been going on since he was in Cleveland...and you have a dynasty to boot...this is some heavy stuff here..very heavy stuff. Teams that have been beaten by the Pats in the playoffs...think about how PAYTON MANNING looked so great against everyone but looked like a high school QB against the pats. Regardless of how the Pats we able to capitalize on this advantage....its in the minds of coaches that play by the rules and have been beaten by a guy they mostly despise..and now the commisioner has a big whopping problem in front of him.
No way. The Pats lose the picks, that's all. Do you actually expect the league to throw some sort of sympathy picks to the Jets?
Carolina's defense was playing @ a high level as well....then when they played the Pat's in the Super Bowl, they didnt show up......Strange? I think not!
I'll settle for what's behind doors number 3 and 5. Of the list above, those are probably the only ones that will be enforced, but I believe a SINCERE public apology is in order (one appproved first by the NFL before being recited by Belichick personally at a news conference). The apology should be completely forthcoming, including how many times this has been done in the past and under what circumstances. The apology has to also include Kraft and Belichick guaranteeing that this will never happen again under their watches.
Maybe it was the competition committee, and not Mangini from ProFootballTalk.com WERE PATS STUNG BY COMPETITION COMMITTEE? There's a theory making the rounds in league circles that the Sunday confiscation of Matt Estrella's camera was the result of a specific effort by the NFL's Competition Committee to nail the Patriots. It was, some believe, a sting operation. Rumors also are swirling that Jets coach Eric Mangini, who was with the Pats through the 2005 season, began to spread the word to other teams in 2006 regarding the tactics that Bill Belichick employs. But even after a close call last year in Green Bay, the Patriots kept doing it. ____________________
The one thing that no one has mentioned which is disappointing to me is that Mangini essentially condoned this practice while he was with the Patriots. Of course, you have to take into consideration that Belichick essentially changed Mangini's life and made him what he is today so there was probably a very strong feeling of loyalty. However, this loyalty probably ended when Belichick acted like his typical asshole self when Mangini went to the Jets. Regardless, none of that makes it right that Mangini was complicit in the practice when part of the Patriots.
Why should they care? Because now those dynasties are tainted. You bring up Barry Bonds and yes that is a perfect example, he still has the record but it is tainted. With no steroids suspicions Bonds would be considered the greatest BB player ever, now not so much. Yes there are Jets fans that believe the cheating didn't eefect the outcome but there are experts who actually played the game that think it did. Who am I to believe? The dynasty is tainted and that is a fact..
I don't disagree with you. I was merely presenting an answer to your question as to "why he wouldn't feel ashamed". Is Bonds ashamed of himself? Nope. Are the Pats ashamed of themselves? Nope. Are Pats fans ashamed of their team? Nope. I'm not condoning it at all. I just understand the clouded thinking.
But Blair, it's unfair to say Mangini "condoned" (approved of) this practice while with the Patriots. He may have known it was being used, but was he in a position to blow the whistle on it? As an employee and Belichick underling, there's no way he could have done anything about it without jeopardizing his future NFL career. To say he was "complicit" is unfair for the same reason. Incidentally, WFAN radio is talking about this very subject as we speak.
Yeah... I'm a little surprised that Beningo isn't more upset & he only thinks the Pats will be fined... Maybe he's trying not to get his hopes up for another big disappointment
I used the words "condoned" and "complicit" based on his silence. I agree that he probably wouldn't be coaching the Jets right now if he blew the whistle, but that doesn't make what he did right. Jets fans can slam the Pat all they want for their lack of integrity, but just remember where Mangini was 20 months ago. On the other side of the coin it doesn't seem like Mangini continued the practice when he was running his own ship.
