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NFL exec: Patriots force rule changes

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If a persistent problem is identified, the league's eight-member competition committee suggests changes to rules. In discussions of changes since 2000, one team, the New England Patriots, has surfaced more than any other, according to a longtime NFL team executive with direct knowledge of the meetings. The committee heard accusations that the Patriots had taped opposing coaches' signals, placed microphones on defensive players to steal quarterbacks' audible signals and manipulated clocks and coach-to-quarterback radio systems. The league has handled the complaints internally, finding no proof for all but one, which was lodged by the Jets last year, said its chief spokesman, Greg Aiello. Copies of the 2007 manual obtained by The Times show that many of the recent changes concern policies on the placement of cameras and microphones, among other tactics the Patriots have been accused of pressing to their advantage. The NFL team executive said the Patriots were the subject of most of the accusations discussed in the rules committee's deliberations. The team's recent success and tight-lipped approach, as personified by Bill Belichick, has played a role. "They were the only team, really," the executive said. "Clearly, they were the team mentioned far more than anybody else."

New York Times

Bill Belichick, AP Bill Belichick, AP
May 11, 2008  09:31 AM ET

You gotta love him. Make this guy our leader.

May 11, 2008  09:40 AM ET

this is where the concerns should be addressed. if something is wrong with the current system, fix it.

May 11, 2008  11:29 AM ET

You gotta love him. Make this guy our leader.

Outofshapeandinjured!

Huh? I thought the US was out to rid the world of this kind of guy. Saddam Hussein was effective in his role, too, you know.

May 11, 2008  01:01 PM ET

I agree, George W. Watson. But Bill isn't that bad for his surveillance sins. Um, if you take the bad guys of "Pirates of the Carribean" and add the cruelty of the kidnapping, murdering jerk in "Silence of the Lambs" and put some Kamikaze pilots who can't fly so they use cars and belts or fools as weapons in support of them, you have the cast of some of our enemies. Then you move them to an area with billions of barrels of a commodity that can put us in a world wide depression right under their feet.

May 11, 2008  03:31 PM ET

suspend the cheater!!!!!!

May 11, 2008  03:49 PM ET

this whole thing is really really stupid. there are so many bigger issues. get of the man's back for goodness sake. he lost a draft pick. people are just upset because he didn't get away with it. there are so many football teams that wish they could have the success the pats have had. nobody would be saying anything if the patriots consistently finished in last place.

May 11, 2008  06:14 PM ET

New England is dirty. They've been dirty for years. It amazes me that they aren't on a college level post season probation.

May 11, 2008  06:52 PM ET

This is just sick how a coach and an organization can blatantly disregard the rules and the spirit of the game. Trying to win is one thing, but going to the depths that they have has certainly tarnished what they have accomplished. Just like Barry Bonds, they won't like the fact that they are considered to have cheaten, despite what they may think.

May 11, 2008  08:11 PM ET

All you haters keep it up we love it! and this is just more typical NY times trash blah blah blah
All of your teams are just as bad and have yet to be caught so GFY

May 11, 2008  10:45 PM ET

Honestly I have lost some respect for thie Patriots; I still hate them, but not with respect.

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May 12, 2008  01:51 AM ET

Then why the fines and loss of draft pick?

May 12, 2008  03:36 AM ET

Well now ALL the other "cheating" teams are on the same level. Parity - Pete Rozelle's master plan !!!

May 12, 2008  10:16 AM ET

I agree, George W. Watson. But Bill isn't that bad for his surveillance sins. Um, if you take the bad guys of "Pirates of the Carribean" and add the cruelty of the kidnapping, murdering jerk in "Silence of the Lambs" and put some Kamikaze pilots who can't fly so they use cars and belts or fools as weapons in support of them, you have the cast of some of our enemies. Then you move them to an area with billions of barrels of a commodity that can put us in a world wide depression right under their feet.

Outofshapeandinjured! |

I think the common denominator is unscrupulousness. The last time we had a President of Bill's apparent ilk he was called Nixon. (Nero in Washington is to **** stupid to qualify.)

May 12, 2008  12:21 PM ET

That's fair...make rules to prevent every other team from doing this, but don't stop the Patriots

May 12, 2008  01:11 PM ET

Nope. I read that same NY Times article, and it also reported that many teams were the subject of accusations by many teams, and this is just the culture of the NFL.

Clearly, whoever runs this Truth & Rumors piece of SI.com also runs the blogs that daily report on how the DC Madam did not commit suicide and that Hillary Clinton can still win the nomination by changing the criteria to popular vote and by trying to seat MI and FL according to the results of the sham primaries.

May 12, 2008  03:47 PM ET

I'm not sure which comments are dumber. Comparing Bill Clinton to Richard Nixon is right up there with some of the all time dumbest things I ever heard. If you consider the run away gas prices and the state of the economy, the similarities between the Iraq and Viet Nam, the lies and the blatant disregard to basic civil rights, I'd say that George W. Bush is even worse than Nixon. However, living in Washington I've learned that it's mean to confuse a Republican with the facts, and I've seen George W. Watson's head blow up in these blogs if you give him too much information.

This NYT article was pretty dumb in that it suggests that New England has been the primary focus of violations and resulting rule changes by the NFL since Belichick became coach, but the only examples they give are the ones related to Spygate, which have only occurred in the past few months. However, these authors can be forgiven since their only embellishing their story. Another Patriot hating article written by Harvey Araton and published the same day in the NYT is where the real lies are. In "A Decade of Sins Deserves a Year Out," Araton suggests that the Walsh tapes provide new information about how long the taping had been going on. He even quotes one sports "ethicist" who paraphrases Belichick as having said, "We only did it this one time." LIes! Belichick admitted to taping since he became a head coach. He also admitted to taping both defensive AND offensive signals. He has, in fact, been fined for all of this already. I'm sure the New York sports writers would love to send the military into Gillette Stadium and kill everyone there, too. The problem is that the lie about having Weapons of Mass Destruction has already been used.

May 12, 2008  05:46 PM ET

Yo Patriots place...these people obviously struck a nerve with you....what do you do when someone flisp you off in the car...pull out a gun? I'm sure you been doin your share of smack talkin...I just hopeyou don't get high-blood pressure.

 
May 12, 2008  05:59 PM ET

Tomorrow should be an informative day as the Commish meets with Walsh. Should new information come to light I would expect Belichick becomes a word that will be forbidden in the NE area.

Rightfully so I might add!

Boots

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