Thread: PAts Cheating

Cheaters never win. Winners never cheat.

For years brady has been the baby boy of the NFL. You can't say anything bad against him, his team or you will get flamed by the media..Now they are busted for what I have always thought they were doing. CHEATERING. I thought to my self and said self there going to go down now. Then you get this guy, that some how takes the lieing, cheating, filthy pig sucking jerks that they are and Oh don't blame them everybody does it. What are your views on this.



"The National Football League's greatest rogue philosopher offered the most succinct and enduring mission statement about the league and the game of football.

"Just win, baby," Oakland Raiders managing partner Al Davis always says, cutting to the chase like no one else.

There is no honor in the NFL. This is our most violent game, a cut-throat, all-out, win-at-all-costs sport where cheating – be it holding on the line, bumping in the secondary, or injecting a drug in the corner of a weight room – is, if not applauded, at the very least accepted.

Each sport has a culture and what people raise hell about in baseball, golf or basketball is mostly shrugged off in the NFL. That this is far and away our most popular sporting pursuit – the new national pastime – says as much about America as it does about the league's morals.

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So what to make of the NFL's present-day coaching deity, Bill Belichick, the one who has won three of the last six Super Bowls but now is embroiled in a cheating scandal?

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has "determined" that a New England Patriots employee videotaped the New York Jets defensive signals in a 38-14 victory Sunday, according to ESPN. The commissioner awaits the Pats' defense later this week.

So is Belichick the greatest Machiavellian mind in this ruthless game, one who just happened to get caught this time? Or is he just a lout and a cheat?

Is he an NFL problem or is he the NFL; a byproduct of a business where a coach that doesn't seek every last advantage is doomed to fail, like an honest politician?

"I think the Patriots actually live by the saying, 'If you're not cheating, you're not trying,' " said San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Here's the thing with Belichick: this charge fits perfectly with everything we know about him on and off the field. He's no angel, a lifetime of drama that ranged from backing out of contracts, feuding with mentors (Bill Parcells) and protégés (Eric Mangini) alike and even giving the tabloids plenty of fodder for his, ah, extracurricular behavior, if you will.

But it also fits with everything we know about the NFL. Don't coaches hide their mouths when they speak, use multiple sideline signalers and guard playbooks with their lives? Wouldn't they sell their soul to know what an opponent is thinking?

"Really, it's nothing new," said Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin about signal stealing. "When you see offensive coordinators covering their mouth – and that's been going on a long time – that's one of the reasons why that's done.

"You hear rumors of things of that nature," Tomlin said, noting it often comes from the "New England family." "In terms of confirming it, it's never been confirmed in any instance to my knowledge. But usually where there is smoke, there's fire. Those rumors are founded on something. So it's not totally shocking, no."

Not shocking, perhaps. But embarrassing? Absolutely. The Green Bay Packers claim they caught a Patriots employee videotaping their signals a year ago and complained to the NFL.

If New England's defense is as feeble as expected, then the franchise should be punished. The rules are the rules, no matter how often they are broken; no matter the base culture.

Goodell should take a draft pick or even suspend Belichick, who's iron-fisted leadership means no employee would dare try this without his knowledge. Stealing signals via the human eye is one thing. Having an employee use a video camera speaks to an operation that is both brazen and premeditated.

It also shows the depths these coaches will go for a competitive edge. When properly executed, the advantage would be considerable. But in this instance, the risk/reward variable seems painfully small since the Patriots are more than capable of whippin' the Jets all on their own.

Perhaps that's just football. Whether Belichick is actually worse (or better) than any other coach in the league is difficult to determine. All of these coaches are nuts. To be an NFL coach is to work endless 100-hour weeks, sleep in your office and go bleary-eyed looking for the slightest flaw in an opponents’ Tampa 2. Then you wind up losing because a kicker goes wide right.

They sacrifice everything in their lives in pursuit of victories. The casualties are easy to see: health, marriage, children, sanity. It's why NFL football coaches, despite being multimillionaires, are perhaps the single most miserable group of people you'll ever know.

If you are willing to virtually abandon your wife and kids to win a game, what won't you do?

The NFL isn't alone here. Cheating is everywhere. And it can be confusing, each sport has a different culture. In golf, you can't improve your lie an inch, yet in soccer flopping is considered a skill. In baseball, cheating pitchers are colorful but corked-bat hitters are condemned. In NASCAR, a crew chief that isn't pushing the legal limits of engineering isn't doing his job. College sports is often hailed for its "purity," yet illegal recruiting is so prevalent former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian once surmised, "Nine out of 10 teams are cheating, the other is in last place."

So why expect anything less in the NFL? Fans want victories and nothing else. There are no illusions of purity here. They'll gladly cheer for players who can range from miscreant to felon. The players themselves will vote peers who have been busted taking performance enhancing drugs into the Pro Bowl.

Nobody cares. Nothing matters. If you're not cheating, you're not trying. Just win, baby.

That's the NFL. And that is the world that would lead someone such as Bill Belichick, someone with so much to lose, to insanely risk his reputation on the long shot that a small advantage might provide just one more victory he probably would have gotten anyway.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Originally Posted by topscribe

As I mentioned, the Patriots should lose their first-rounder next year and forfeit that game.

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Actually, they should be penalized like college teams and be banned from post season play. Give 'em their W/L record and maybe take away a draft pick but ban 'em from post season.

That just might get their (and everyone elses) attention. Cheating is not to be tolorated!

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

Hey Wookiee I love the cartoon sig.

Thanks.

So Harrison got suspended for 4 games for cheating....Patriot.

Hoodie should get suspended for 4 games also. If not, I like the idea of losing draft picks, forfeiting the game, or being banned from post season.

I think the Commisioner is either going to come down hard, or be intimidated by the Patriots and give in to a lesser punishment.

If a player cheats he gets suspended for games. The head coach should now get suspended for cheating.

A fine will not be the answer. Owners have more money then God. $50,000 or whatever the fine will be is not enough.

Originally Posted by Watchthemiddle

So Harrison got suspended for 4 games for cheating....Patriot.

Hoodie should get suspended for 4 games also. If not, I like the idea of losing draft picks, forfeiting the game, or being banned from post season.

I think the Commisioner is either going to come down hard, or be intimidated by the Patriots and give in to a lesser punishment.

If a player cheats he gets suspended for games. The head coach should now get suspended for cheating.

A fine will not be the answer. Owners have more money then God. $50,000 or whatever the fine will be is not enough.

somehow i get the feeling that goodell isn't easily intimidated. . . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

somehow i get the feeling that goodell isn't easily intimidated. . . .

I hope you are right...and come to think of it, he doesn't seem to get intimidated. Star player, scrub player, star franchise...he needs to suspend and has suspended them all.

I'm glad they were caught, and I'm glad Bellicheck looked like an idiot at his press conference.

I hope they lose their first, next year's second, and the year after's third.

Originally Posted by RunYouOver

I'm glad they were caught, and I'm glad Bellicheck looked like an idiot at his press conference.

I hope they lose their first, next year's second, and the year after's third.

I would love to see them lose draft picks, but there is also a possibility that they have traded draft picks away, which might not make that possible.

Originally Posted by Denver Native (Carol)

I would love to see them lose draft picks, but there is also a possibility that they have traded draft picks away, which might not make that possible.

The they lose the ones they have this year and next it is quite simple. Also the league could nullify the trades. Especially the OAK one.

Like I said before, I believe teams do it, and some coaches are even prepared for it.

Check out BaileytheBest's thread here, with a link to an article ....

http://broncosforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1500

Originally Posted by RunYouOver

I'm glad they were caught, and I'm glad Bellicheck looked like an idiot at his press conference.
I hope they lose their first, next year's second, and the year after's third.

I lost some respect for Belicheat for getting caught and I lost even more for his lame and pathetic press conference. I mean all he said was that he was concentrating on the Chargers......well no . I mean can't he be man enough to admit it and at least answer some of the questions because if he is just going to stand there and be an idiot than why have a conference at all.