No way I can explain, unless they can prove we spoke with Branch's agent PRIOR to them giving permission.
Exactly, especially since we didn't wind up with him. Let them file charges. They go nowhere with this, look foolish to the sports world and eventually resemble the crybabies they're becoming. In the meantime, game-plan against them. Perhaps, through some divine intervention, we actually get to kick their asses.
I don't blame the Pats' FO for filing tampering charges on the Jets if there is a reason, I blame the Jets' FO for not filing tampering charges against KC. We could've gotten more than a 4th in that case.
Far be it for the Jets to tell the Pats how to run their organization, but move on Pats! You got a first round pick for a guy you were prepared to be without for 10 weeks. This whole thing has been a little bit of a black mark on your reputation; if you're smarter than everyone else, then you will turn the 1st rounder into the next coming of Jerry Rice and will be primed for your 4th Championship. Thank the Jets for making a market in a receiver who has no better than 2nd round value.
they've got red all over their faces, they handled the branch situation all wrong, and now they are looking to get some of the respect back
I have been angry for 7 months over the obvious tampering as regards Herman Edwards. This was such a clear case of previous contact what with the family dinners and prior shmoozing. I wouldn't be worried about this threat...the league NEVER enforces this.... as we well know from the Kraft/Bellichek highway robbery. But it IS the new recuitment technique, isn't it?
It can clearly be argued that NE handled the situation in such a way that it invited it's own problems regarding Branch. Enough already. Situation dead. Game-plan against their whining @sses already. Maybe they're scared of what they'll encounter this weekend? An "embarassment" perhaps? God Forbid!
In previous threads when it the offer was first made it was reported that possibly the agent asked mangini for a favor in asking them to make a sweet offer, basically to force the pats hand. Search the threads, I remember there being a few links with the allegations. If this is so, would this be considered tampering?
It's a smart move by the Pats' organization to throw some adversity Mangini's way while he's trying to gameplan against his old team. Nothing like the press do do your job of flustering your opponent the week of a game. It's all a big chess game to Belichik.
This is a bogus charge designed by Bob Kraft to tell Roger Goodell who's the boss. See my post on the other thread for details.
i don't know if this matters, but there is a new commissioner. he said he would crack down on the steroid testing; i wonder if he'll take this seriously too. cheers
They may have decided that having the Jets make an offer just before Seattle was suspicious given the way the Seahawks bailed us out in the JAbe sweepstakes. I still don't see how the Jets could get fined for it if they helped the Seahawks out and that was their only motive in the affair. They'd still need to have talked to Branch or his agents outside the window.
Mike Fluoride weighs in: POSTED 11:03 p.m. EDT, September 11, 2006 PATS FILE TAMPERING CHARGE AGAINST JETS Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that the New England Patriots filed tampering charges last week against the New York Jets. It's unclear whether the alleged tampering relates to conduct before or after the Pats granted Branch a one-week window to negotiate a new contract as part of a trade. The Jets are coached by former New England assistant coach Eric Mangini. There were reports that Pats coach Bill Belichick was trying to persuade Mangini not to take the Jets job due to concerns regarding the quality of the organization. Belichick was the Jets' coach for a day or so after Bill Parcells resigned in early 2000, before heading to New England. And it was Belichick's leap from New England to New York that started a recent trend of hard feelings between these two franchises, who coincidentally square off on Sunday. The Link
