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ESPN: "Spygate to Deflategate: Inside what split the NFL and Patriots apart"

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chadskin

Member
Super-lengthy recap from Spygate to Deflategate: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13533995/split-nfl-new-england-patriots-apart

And some new dirt on the Cheatriots:

a year before Spygate
In November 2006, Green Bay Packers security officials caught Matt Estrella shooting unauthorized footage at Lambeau Field. When asked what he was doing, according to notes from the Senate investigation of Spygate that had not previously been disclosed, Estrella said he was with Kraft Productions and was taping panoramic shots of the stadium. He was removed by Packers security. That same year, according to former Colts GM Bill Polian, who served for years on the competition committee and is now an analyst for ESPN, several teams complained that the Patriots had videotaped signals of their coaches. And so the Patriots -- and the rest of the NFL -- were warned again, in writing, before the 2007 season, sources say.

NFL investigation into Spygate
What happened next has never been made public: The league officials interviewed Belichick, Adams and Dee, says Glaser, the Patriots' club counsel. Once again, nobody asked how many games had been recorded or attempted to determine whether a game was ever swayed by the spying, sources say. The Patriots staffers insisted that the spying had a limited impact on games. Then the Patriots told the league officials they possessed eight tapes containing game footage along with a half-inch-thick stack of notes of signals and other scouting information belonging to Adams, Glaser says. The league officials watched portions of the tapes. Goodell was contacted, and he ordered the tapes and notes to be destroyed, but the Patriots didn't want any of it to leave the building, arguing that some of it was obtained legally and thus was proprietary. So in a stadium conference room, Pash and the other NFL executives stomped the videotapes into small pieces and fed Adams' notes into a shredder, Glaser says. She recalls picking up the shards of plastic from the smashed Beta tapes off the floor and throwing them away.

The Patriots turned over what they turned over, and the NFL accepted it. Sources with knowledge of the investigation insist that the Patriots were "borderline noncompliant." And a former high-level Patriots employee agrees, saying, "The way the Patriots tried to approach it, they tried to cover up everything," although he refused to specify how. Glaser adamantly denies that assertion, saying all the Patriots' evidence of stolen signals was turned over to the league that day. On Sept. 20, Glaser says the team signed a certification letter promising the league that the only evidence of the videotaping of illegal signals had been destroyed two days earlier and that no other tapes or notes of stolen signals were in the team's possession. The letter does not detail the games that were recorded or itemize the notes that were shredded.

And that was it. The inquiry was over, with only Belichick and Adams knowing the true scope of the taping. (After the season, Belichick would acknowledge the Patriots taped a "significant number" of games, and according to documents and sources, they recorded signals in at least 40 games during the Spygate era.) The quick resolution mollified some owners and executives, who say they admired the speed -- and limited transparency -- in which Goodell carried out the investigation. "This is the way things should be done ... the way they were done under Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue," a former executive now says. "Keep the dirty laundry in the family."

Stealiots
In fact, many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn't even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team's offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.) Numerous former employees say the Patriots would have someone rummage through the visiting team hotel for playbooks or scouting reports. Walsh later told investigators that he was once instructed to remove the labels and erase tapes of a Patriots practice because the team had illegally used a player on injured reserve.

At Gillette Stadium, the scrambling and jamming of the opponents' coach-to-quarterback radio line -- "small s---" that many teams do, according to a former Pats assistant coach -- occurred so often that one team asked a league official to sit in the coaches' box during the game and wait for it to happen. Sure enough, on a key third down, the headset went out.
 

bigkrev

Member
The league officials watched portions of the tapes. Goodell was contacted, and he ordered the tapes and notes to be destroyed, but the Patriots didn't want any of it to leave the building, arguing that some of it was obtained legally and thus was proprietary. So in a stadium conference room, Pash and the other NFL executives stomped the videotapes into small pieces and fed Adams' notes into a shredder, Glaser says. She recalls picking up the shards of plastic from the smashed Beta tapes off the floor and throwing them away.

LOL, when Goodell says he destroyed the tapes, he wasn't kidding!
 

Clearos

Member
Those poor video tapes had it coming.

5143180652_3f23fe8d95.jpg
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Guess I'm not seeing what's new.

1. We all know the Patriots recorded those tapes and cheated whenever they could.

2. Even with this, delusional Patriots fans will continue to deny that it ever happened.
 

Kite

Member
Texans fan here.. lol let it go man, this obsession with one team is weird as hell. I don't care, show what you got on the field.
 
Texans fan here.. lol let it go man, this obsession with one team is weird as hell. I don't care, show what you got on the field.

Hard to do when the other team has recorded your practices, stolen your plays, scouting reports, and signals, scramble your radios, and then deflate the balls.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Texans fan here.. lol let it go man, this obsession with one team is weird as hell. I don't care, show what you got on the field.

They won numerous Super Bowls while cheating. It's hard to ignore.

I mean, they had people literally stealing plays. Come on.
 

braves01

Banned
There's going to be a great ESPN 30:30 or whatever the hell those movies are called about the Patriots dynasty. Some of the interviews with opposing teams players will be great.
 
I always thought they somehow gained access to the Colts playbook and that's why they did so well. I never thought they actually deflated footballs. I mean don't they use tablets as playbooks in the NFL? Those devices aren't exactly unhackable.
 

BigAT

Member
Texans fan here.. lol let it go man, this obsession with one team is weird as hell. I don't care, show what you got on the field.

A single team completely compromised the integrity of the nation's biggest sport for over a decade and went virtually unpunished. You don't think that is deserving of extra attention?
 

PillarEN

Member
You're only making the Pats have a bigger chip on their shoulder man. They will go for touchdowns with under two minutes left while leading by 20 again.
 
So much salt from the NFL. Using ESPN to dredge up old scandals to direct attention away from their latest bungle doesn't surprise me at all.
 

Branduil

Member
Can't wait for the "everyone was doing it, you're just jealous because they were way better(at cheating)" from the P****ots stans.
 

Clearos

Member
If you believe they cheated or not the whole situation is over and focus needs to put on the NFL as a whole.

The patriots, packers, dolphins, and chargers (not sure on the other teams) are all 0-0 this year right now. Win games and let the record speak.
 

OSHAN

Member
This comes after ESPN just apologized for a false report on the Patriots.

Ha, yeah. I was just thinking about it. I'm sure they will apologize about this at 2:00 a.m. Sunday night.

Anyway, what a coincidence--the timing of this article. Very good, Mr. Goodell. Very good.
 

vikki

Member
Can anyone comment on the validity of this article? The NFL and ESPN have been made to look like fools these last couple months. I don't know how much I should trust their sources.
 

garath

Member
Anyone that thinks the other teams weren't doing things like this are delusional. Pats probably did more than other teams or maybe they are the only ones that got caught due to the high profile of winning so much.

There's big money in winning football. Teams are going to do whatever they can that's not specifically outlawed to get an edge.
 

Greg

Member
If you believe they cheated or not the whole situation is over and focus needs to put on the NFL as a whole.

The patriots, packers, dolphins, and chargers (not sure on the other teams) are all 0-0 this year right now. Win games and let the record speak.
belichicklaugh.tiff
 

vikki

Member
If teams know the Pats are stealing their plays, why not leave a fake playbook lying about? They could label it "this is the real playbook."

The NFL loves the Patriots. Shocked they even attempted the whole deflategate thing.

The NFL needs a good Shawn Michaels.
 

kingslunk

Member
You're part of the problem, friend. Stop being part of the problem.

We know how that story ends though. It's one of my favorites ever told.

10225383-large.jpg

Tom+Brady+Michael+Strahan+Super+Bowl+XLII+dlv9n6BO-T2l.jpg

the-catch-eli-manning-to-david-tyree-super-bowl-xlii-part-2.gif

eli42.jpeg

Eli Manning stopping the patriots perfect season.

What a perfect god damn ending.

Thanks Eli. You're the real mvp.
 
a friend visited boston this weekend.

he tried to talk to pats fans objectively at a sports bar near the stadium after seeing the sox.

almost had to shoot his way out, the idiot.
 
You're part of the problem, friend. Stop being part of the problem.
Trust me after the first couple of Super Bowls I wanted everyone to like the Pats, Brady and especially Pat Patriot, now I can't get enough of the hate. Feels good. Nobody hates the Browns. Hmmmm?

lol

Your posts always make me smile. Your meltdown after the super bowl was incredible.
Boy I'd love a link.
 
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