Spygate continues to spin

Dan Rooney is a stand-up guy. Props to him for, in effect, telling that idiot Arlen Specter to take a hike.

good. everyone needs to lay the blame somewhere. won't change the fact that the pats kicked the crap out of the rams.

The rams have been a non-factor for years so they gotta do something! This is a witch hunt by a hack Senator who has an ax to grind because the Pats always beat the poop out of the Steelers and Eagles. A total waste of money and I feel terrible for the Fraft family who are such class acts.

Lastly, ALL the teams tape and cheat and by placing a blanket and blame on the Pats is callous.

This ‘spygate’ crap is going to make Pandora’s box look like a box of chocolates. Do you all think Goodall is a complete idiot???? He has an IQ that borders genius. Why do you spygate lovers/Patriot haters think he levied such a fine and punishment against the Patriots. He was sending a message to all the clubs to knock off what he knew that most of them were doing. And to end it all there. But the press and all the Patriot haters wouldn’t let it die there. Now look where we are. We have had how many coaches acknowledge that ‘ they did it too’. (Jimmy Johnson, Jim Mora, Al Davis, Bill Parcells (where do you think Belichick got it) and others. And if that idiot Specter continues this foolishness the weasels (Matt Walshes) from all ther teams will be coming come out of the woodwork looking for their 15 minutes of fame/notoriety. Jimmy Johnson admitted he did it. Are his Super Bowls tainted? Are the others records tainted?? Now we’ll get the ridicules argument that that was before last years memo (even though the actual rule has been in effect for years). Careful what you wish for people. Our teams dirty laundry is about to get aired. It is becoming a circus and all the teams will suffer from it.

Puhlease!!!!!!!

I think it is a matter of time before there is a Senate investigation for "the band is on the field" When will this end?

seriously get over it. in basketball we knew what play the other team wqs running. they called it out in the half court set. man up and stop the other guy or man up and blow right past them. These so called "professionals" are acting like third graders.

Can we please just move on?!

If we are going to continue this rediculous witch hunt, then why don't they do a complete investigation and name all of the coaches that have ever video taped signals. The list would definately include a certain doughboy who is now coaching
the Jets.

I would think some creative writer could come up without having to attach gate onto every issue that come down the pike. The sign stealing caper is a big farce . How does anyone “spy” in front of 30,000 people? Goodell had just made the ruling of where filming could be done, so if the guy felt he was doing anything against the rules wouldn’t you think he would have been a little sneakier? I think Goodell just used this issue as an excuse to line the coffers of the NFL, and now that he's destroyed the videos it makes it appear more suspicious than ever.

Dan Rooney should feel he has an issue. Hines Ward was quoted after the loss to the Patriots in the 2002 AFC Championship game as saying something to the tune of: "Its as if they knew everything we were going to do".
Maybe the commish has notified all NFL owners that what happens in the NFL stays in the NFL.
Looks like the league's integrity is headed for the toilet.

Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous! What do you suppose some other nitwits will do when it occurs to them that this is essentially the same thing as suing MLB because of players using steriods? Talk about Pandora's box!! Some people have WAY too much time on their hands.

This is like getting your butt whipped on the playground and then running home to mommy. These cowards need to move on ... jealousy gets you no where in life!

H. Milliron, the Pats said the same thing about the Giants D this year during the SB. Does that mean they were "spying"?? Maybe it just means they did great film work during the week and made great adjustments from their previous game. Spying and stealing signals has been going on in sports forever, please with this integrity and toilet garbage.

Forget the Patriots, forget Clemens, Specter needs to pay attention to the real issues - gun totiing nutbags on college campuses - does he need anymore evidence that background checks would be a GOOD thing?? How about the mortgage mess, a looming recession, and the war in Iraq. Surely there is more to worry about than "spygate" and steroids...

Uh oh, looks like another ticket price increase to pay for all the lawsuits

Hines Ward is on the offense. the Pats taped the defense. the pats knew what their offense was doing because it was so vanallia.

Too many lawyers, not enough work. That's what we've got here. This is the biggest piece of crap to one might which to attach bill'able hours.

If taping the other team's signals doesn't give you an edge, as Patriots fans keep repeating in an effort to convince themselves, then why did Bill Belichick do it? He never does ANYTHING unless he's certain it benefits the team. This is a guy who doesn't belong to the NFL Coaches Association because he doesn't think membership will give him an edge, and therefore is "a waste of time."

Why did Goodall levy such stiff punishment? Because he had specifically and repeatedly warned teams not to vidoetape in that manner, after receiving earlier complaints about the Patriots violating the rules. Belichick simply ignored Goodall because he's an arrogant jerk and thought he could get away with it. Apparently he had before.

I don't blame Goodall in the least. Bob Kraft may be a nice guy, but the Patriots under Belichick were a rogue organization that had to be brought to heel. That mission was accomplished, but unfortunately, the league is so PR-conscious it's now trying to cover up what I suspect will turnout to be a boatload of previous Patriot sins. Perhaps none of them will be smoking guns, but the sleaze factor alone will tarnish the team and the league.

Ask yourself this...Does any of this really change your life?

I just moved to Pittsburgh from Boston (please hold the remarks) and they're having a field day with this here. There's no love loss here for the Pats, but it's a much bigger deal than you guys think. This isn't going away any time soon. Goodell did the right thing and destroyed the tapes. There wasn't porn on those tapes for crying out loud. We saw the one that got out and it was pretty mundane to the common man, but probably not to any NFL coach.
What we do know ifs that there haven't been any formeer players or coaching staff that have come forward to complain about what Belichick has been doing. Those coaches that have said something, probably never figured out the advantages of doing such a thing in the first place and if you look at their record, it's probably not very good. This ain't over. Spector is an a..ss and I hear Leahy has jumped in. If Vermont gets involved, we're all in trouble.

This franchise is screwed from the front office to the coach to the history books. Deservedly so, I admit.

Move on. Just move on. Nothing more to see here.

Last year the Dolphins were caught audiotaping Bradys audibles and Dolphin beat Pats. Don't remember any whining from Pats or any Congressional hearings.How about an investigation into the integrity of our Senators. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Being from Pennsylvania, I agree that it is a massive waste of time and money for Arlen Specter to pursue the Pats/Krafts. However, you are only showing yourself to be ignorant to refer to Specter as a hack senator. Prior to this fiasco (which WE New Englanders created) he was a respectable 27 year republican senator that most of the liberal people here loved (pro-choice/gay rights). It's ridiculous for him to create a witch hunt, but do any of you know why this falls to the US gov't? The NFL gets antitrust exemption allowing them to make massive amounts of money without competition. The integrity of the game must therefore be protected. It's fine for New Englanders to support the Patriots. Just realize the rest of the country thinks our coach/commish are dirtballs who deserve to get cut down on the issue.

(Spoken in a southern drawl in the Senate Hearing Room)

"Would you like another glass of water, Mr. Belichick?"

It's gonna happen. And it's a travesty.

All you hateriot fans are nervous because the truth is going to be exposed. Bellacheat may have won no super bowls if he had any class.

As a Red Sox season ticket holder, can I not file a lawsuit against the the fraudulent, doped up 1996-2003 New York Yankees??? Can we now officially sprinkle asterisks all over that "dynasty".

Did any Patriots fans bring a lawsuit against the NFL for the officiating in that Broncos/Pats playoff game??

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

To Ben, yeah it's like getting your butt whipped and then running home to your Momma, just like Belichoke did after gagging up Super Bowl 42. His cheating didn't work this time, and not even the league helping him out by destroying the evidence is going to change the fact that everyone knows what a crock he is. Give the trophies back, give the money back, and sit out a 3 year suspension. Goodell is a co-conspirator because he knows the league and the bookies in Vegas, which is what their integrity is all about, would take too much of a hit if it turns out the whole thing is rigged worse than professional wrestling. That's what Belichick did for the sport. Thanks a lot Bill, have another hoodie. PS you still lost 17-14 when they wouldn't let you cheat.

Under the Federal Rules a lawyer is required to make a reasonable investigation into both the factual and legal basis for any claim he files. According to the other Boston newspaper, one of the attorneys has stated that he has no first hand knowledge about whether the Patriots taped the Rams walk through and is just going on media reports. Since those media reports amount to one unidentified source, and the guy believed to be that source, Matt Walsh, reportedly is declining to speak to NFL investigators unless they promise to indemnify him regardless of whether he tells the truth, I'd say those attorneys might just end up being the ones paying money in this thing.

I think the congress should concentrate on what is going on in this country and not who is taping who.... Lets focus on the war that our soldiers are getting killed in.

char

I am looking ahead at the next presidential election and what our future president might be able to do for us as a country...this is what our senators should also be doing. The thing that has me bugged the most is with all the issues this country is facing like Iraq, immigration, the housing market, the stock market, etc. all I see on TV and read in the newspapers lately are about the Patriots and Roger Clemens... Why are the senators in our government even involved in spygate and steriods instead of fighting for the things that matter to most americans like the issues I mentioned above? Trust that the Commissioners of the NFL and MLB do their jobs as they were hired to do...we may not like the outcome but it is their job and business...

When will someone finally investigate Specter for his role in the JFK assassination cover up?

Specter doesn't need to waste time and taxpayer dollars on this, but it's it's now apparent that Belicheck is a cheater, much like like Roger Clemens . His Patriots can't win the big one without stealing signals. The Patriots loss, and the new light shed on multiple signal stealing during the superbowl years has downgraded the Patriots from a potential dynasty to "Spynasty". Go Sox.

Dan Rooney should feel he has an issue. Hines Ward was quoted after the loss to the Patriots in the 2002 AFC Championship game as saying something to the tune of: "Its as if they knew everything we were going to do".

You see this is the most ridiculous thing that comes out of this...Hines Ward thinking they knew their plays...ughh...last time I checked the OFFENSIVE PLAYS are called into the QB's helmet...now how in the world are the Pats supposed to hear their offensive plays...

you know what Hines and all you Steeler cry babies the reason we knew everything you were going to do was because we were better prepared to face you...your team was making plans for the SuperBowl and we were concentrating on beating you

Don't be blinded by your fondness for the Pats. They've been doing this since 2000 according to what Goodell told Specter. It's slimy, it's sleazy, it's wrong. To cap if off, Goodell and the NFL turned a blind eye to it and let it go on for years.

Bellichick should have his cheating butt thrown out for at least a year. The Pats should have to start every game down 14 points. Maybe then they adn the rest of the league will get the idea that cheaters should never prosper.

It is unfortunately an issue that needs to be dealt with head on. The allegations are serious enough that the foundation of the game could be undermined, even if it is a blatant attempt to discredit the Patriots.

The Patriots should release Matt Walsh from his confidentiality agreement and deal with the consequences.

I think it would all depend wether evidence is produced. If there is evidence to prove that the Pats illegally videotaped another team's practice the Pats will be in real trouble.

Other teams may video other teams. But I have never heard of ant team taping another team practices. I used to work for the stadium and if I was walking on the causeway to do something they would quickly approach me and tell me to keep walking and told not to look. I thought that was strange.

Maybe you Boston Marys don't understand what's at stake here - you probably don't, since you've all only followed the NFL for about eight years now. This isn't just a mean old senator bringing down the hammer because he's jealous of the Pats. The NFL is a multi-gajillion dollar business, and thousands upon thousands of livelihoods depend on its success. Its success is based on the customers' assumption that everything is above board. Your coach has pooped all over that assumption. The NFL is its only watchdog - if the league can't monitor itself (Goodell destroying evidence), who else but Congress can step in?

Your Pats will join the 1919 White Sox at the top of the sleazy sports heap. Wicked!

Sounds like the senator is using a "magic bullet" to shoot himself in the foot and his butt with one shot... no wonder taxes are so high... there are so many things wrong in America today and this is how he plans to focus his energy? Well if ther are going to have all these meetings and a big investigation maybe he can do it along the border with MEXICO and stop a few illegals from crossing at the same time he is protecting AMERICA from those "evil-doers" in the NFL !

Hey Arlen, Halloween is over in case you forgot to take your rubber mask off. Give it up you old geezer. Keep calling in to your Eagles talk show - what a 2 face hack.

How ironic for Boston fans that the taint on Roger Clemens achievements that they reveled in, has now descended over their football team.
The Patriots claim they have always taped the games as their "genius" coach didnt understand it was against the rules. If that were true logic would dictate he would have taped the Rams as he didn't think it was wrong.
Keep scrubbing, whining, complaining, (bringing up issues like gun control & people unable to pay their mortgage?!) but the fact of the matter is the taint is there and it wont wash out.

This is staying in the news because new things keep coming out -- like Coach B has been pulling this crap since 2000. Coach B may get results, but what a classless jerk he is.

Former Rams players suing for fraud? What a freakin joke. They should probably sue Mike Martz for impersonating a head coach, with his great game plan. And Arlen Specter, what a clown. He helped screw up the Warren Report with his now famous single "magic bullet" theory, now he feels it's his duty to screw up Football. Time to retire Arlen. Youv'e wasted more than your share of tax payers money.

You think only Patriots cheated? Check out the following link. The officials and Giants also cheated Patriots in Superbowl XLII.

http://www.giantscheated.com/GiantsCheated.htm

Do teams honestly use "hand signals", I thought they were only used to confound the opposition. Most teams have figured out the other team is trying to figure out signals which is why they use clipboards etc. to cover their mouths. Talk about a tempest in a teapot!

Although I must eventually reconcile myself to the outcome, the non-called penalties on the play in which Tyree made THE catch still haunt me. Thanks to SBJ in post #44 for providing photo confirmation for the cause of my screaming during that play. My viewing partners thought I had gone off the deep end when I went ballistic. Now if SBJ could document via film the errors in the clock work in the last 2:32 minutes by the officials, I believe I could finally put the outcome to rest.

The silence of other coaches on the use of video taping is deafening.

You know, I sure do wish our elected officials would spend their time on trying to run our country and getting us out of two wars rather than spending my tax dollars chasing down sports issues.

Bob & others,
I know the loss was a hard one to come to terms with. However, given the perspective that time allows, you will come to see that this was the best thing to have happened to the Pats in the situation they faced, once Spygate(sic) reasserted it's ugly head, and the Globe and Mayor's office jinxed the hometown team. Perfection, in the long run, would have proved an unbearable cross.
In years to come we will learn what happened to TB between the Jax and Bolts games. A player of his caliber doesn't go from near-perfection (26-28 with two drops) to back-to-back ugly - for him - performances. Unlike any other of the big four sports, Football begins and ends with the play of the QB. That goes for both sides of the ball.
He will get his fourth ring, and join the ranks of Bradshaw and Montana, but it will take another attempt or maybe two. Enjoy the ride!
As for Specter...he is a pinhead in the history of U.S. Politics. From his slander of Anita Hill to his particiaption in the coverup of JFK's murder, his has been a career marked by ignominy and self-serving grandstanding. His failure to swear-in Abu Gonzales as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee is a case in point.
In the vernacular of a fan: his teams suck. Ours are all great. (Well, maybe not the Bruins so much.) Non New England fans can continue eating their collective livers.
Boston rules!

If this is so bad that the foundation of the game itself is being shaken why is it legal to videotape defensive signals when you are surrounded by three walls and a roof as per the NFL rule?? So if I understand this correctly the Patriots only rule violation here is the position of the camera man on the field?? Can someone please explain and is this what Goodell was referring to when he said "They may have collected it within the rules, but we couldn't determine that. So we felt that it should be destroyed."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0201goodell.html

Nice read below for those of you who think "spying" is something Belichick invented, like I have previously posted this type of stuff has been going on in this league quite some time now. For some reason though, maybe the media's disdane for Belichick, this seems to have created a frenzy this time around. Maybe Goodell handled it poorly in the beginning by handing out such a huge punishment. I don't the answer but I do know this has been blown way out of proportion and allowed leaches to latch on for their 5 mins of fame and possibly $$ as well.

http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport...ug-nflspy.html

Spector should let this "spygate" issue go. It is obvious that he is not a Patriot fan and now that most embarrassing lose by any team in Super Bowl history has happened he should let this rest. Who cares if the Patriots filmed other teams, they will go down in history as the "ONLY" team to go undefeated in the regular season and "NOT" win a Super Bowl. That's punishment enough.

I was at a Pats game in 04 and ordered popcorn. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a full bag, and then when I decided to file a complaint later that year, I was told the Pats threw the bag away right after the game. I'm pretty sure something is up, and am planning to ask Specter to look into it.

I'm asking my legal team to do some research for me on this most important question:

"Are there federal laws on the books designed to prevent video assistants from taping defensive coordinators?" Specter must know of at least one.

Maybe there is something in the various anti-stalking statutes. Maybe what we need is a restraining order to protect the rest of the league. No Patriots assistants with cameras allowed within 500 feet of opposing defensive coordinators or 100 feet of their cars.

The suffix of "Spy GATE" comes from the infamous Nixon scandal "Water GATE". Its almost ironic how similiar they are, from the denials, to the missing tapes to the mantra "Everyone does it".

Everyone may have done it but only Nixon and the Patriots were caught. We all know what happened to Nixon.

The Patriots have admitted to doing it, the tapes have been destroyed now all that remains is for Gerald Ford to pardon them all.

Just as it took the American public decades to trust the White House again, unless there is a Congressional investigation, the integruty of the NFL will always be questioned.

For those curious as to Specter's real reasons for harrassing Goodell and the Patriots.,they should google his name. Google disclosed that among other things, Specter has an interest in hurting the NFL. He received$153,600 in donations from Comcast, its officers and empoyees and its RAC committee. Even more troubling is that he also received $358,453 from Blank Rome LLP, a Washington based law firm/lobbyist who gave Spector that amount from its empoyees and RAC. The same time Blank Rome LLP received $600,000 in fees from Comcast. We may be all dumb but we aren't stupid.

Except WaterGate is a place so to attach a "gate" to every issue is ridiculous and shows no creativity of issues at hand, also no similarity at all. There is no law against video taping your opponents signals, I haven't heard an outcry from other coaches on the issue, either.

Spygate is the proof of the biggest hoax known to man - the Patriots success since 2001 - for all those Boston fans who want to look at the world through Patriot-colored glasses, Sean Salisbury said it best - if this does not provide a competitive advantage, than why do it in the first place??

Actually, the Patriots had one of their best seasons this year, and after the video caper was exposed by the Jets. How critical it was to read the jets signals? I'm thinking, not much at all, because the Patriots are a very talented team, period.

Why all the protesting if there's nothing to hide? Let the process play out & see what is found. After all, I have no doubt that the Patriots will be vinicated. Don't you agree?

Spector is an admitted Eagles fan and season ticket holder. To my mind, what he is doing is abusing his powers of office to do as he would like as a fan. As a fan, he should have no more right to question Goodell than any one of us. He is wasting taxpayer money while potentially forever damaging a sport he loves in the name of his poor Rodney Dangerfield like Eagles.

I want to see him censored for abusing his powers that way!

Peace, BD

Too bad Goodell destroyed the tapes since he was the one who made the rule, now we only have his word on what was on the videos. People can go wild on what they imagine was recorded. Wonder who is next on Goodell's fine list? He fines the players at will for any thing he sees as a violation of his rules, he should be fired.