POSTED 1:14 p.m. EST, February 26, 2008 JETS TAMPERING WITH SAMUEL? Hey, kids . . . interested in a little irony? How about this one: The team that sparked all of this Spygate hoo-ha by nailing the Patriots for doing something to the Jets that, as Jimmy Johnson tells it, plenty of teams have been doing for a long time is now apparently doing something to the Pats that virtually every team does. Specifically, the Jets apparently are tampering with Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel. Consider this gem from Newsday: "I just spoke with Samuel's agent who (predictably) said that interest is mutual and high from both the Jets and Samuel. How high? 'The interest level is where it needs to be for them to either a) make a run at him or b) get him.'" But how does Samuel's agent know that the interest is mutual or high or both? The Jets aren't allowed to say or do anything that would demonstrate any interest while Samuel is still the property of the Patriots. And Samuel is still the property of the Patriots until midnight on February 29. Yeah, we know. Everyone tampers. But doesn't breaking the rules to secure dibs on a desired player potentially create a competitive advantage, just like taping defensive coaching signals does? If tampering wasn't useful, would the Jets or any other team do it? There's no dispute that the Patriots were stoopid and arrogant for continuing to engage in a practice that violated the rules at a time when it was clear that other teams were trying to nail them. Still, the failure of the league to do anything to address the issue of widespread tampering is creating the impression to the trained eye of a double standard. We're not saying the Patriots should get off the hook. We're only saying that those who might be tempted to pontificate about the Pats should think a little more broadly about the issue of compliance with the rules before doing so. http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
This article is garbage. Is the write a teenage girl? What straight man spells stupid - "stoopid". Pats fans are just crying because they don't want to have to buy merchandise with asterisk *** all over it. Cheaters.
First of all...This sounds like bitterness and nothing more to me... Secondly, for the millionth time, the jets ddid not tattle on the patriots!They caught them filming signals...jets security people asked for the tape...the Patriots wouldnt give it up...and an NFL official stepped in and demanded the tape!
At least it mentions Samuel. We need to have someone else in the secondary to add to DR. He's going to keep on getting better and if Samuel were to be on the other side of the field, it would be great for the JETS.
I honestly dont think we need samuel, he is a bit overrated, and cant make a tackle to save his life, and I firmly enjoyed when he got stiffed armed to his back about twice every game.
Sub out Jets, plug in Patriots, sub out Samuel, plug in any Jet player. The narrative changes. "OH NEW ENGLAND IS CHEATING AGAIN!!! THEY ARE TAMPERING!!!" The Jets probably are tampering with Asante Samuel, but this is common practice in my opinion. Teams let agents know they have interest, they may even throw figures out there.. this isn't a big deal to me even though I believe it.
You beat me to it. This article was written with the intent of being a sly "gotchya" kind of article, but the author discredits himself instantly with "stoopid". Oh well, whiners will be whiners.
This was written by the same guy that earlier today wrote that Samuel's agent had mentioned the Bucs in order to drum up interest in his client. Why would this not apply to the Jets?
PFT is the worst football related website on the internets. I don't understand why anyone still reads the crap.
PFT are known jets haters..........They blamed Mangini for what he did to his mentor and said he was a rat and shouldent have ''told''. Ignore any of their comments towards the Jets, because its carries some bias.
I don't think there should be many restrictions on who can start threads, but I do think if you spell stoopid you should be disqualified from the privilege.
It was not a thread it was an article on PFT don't shoot the messenger. Honestly I like reading anything about the jets this time of year even if it was written by a 12 year old girl with Tom Brady posters plastered on her walls.