New England Patriots fined $1.1 million, lose draft pick in film crew fallout

[SDGuy73]

Sources: Pats fined $1.1M, lose pick over TV crew

The NFL fined the New England Patriots $1.1 million and took away a a third-round pick in the 2021 draft among punishments for their television crew filming the field and sideline during a Dec. 8 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, league sources said.

 

[cheerupcharlie]

Damn. I was hoping the NFL forgot about that.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Third round pick for a non-football violation is absurd.

 

[Upinthe North]

 

[YankeeRebel]

Should have been more. I know I am about to piss off the absolute homers but all this cheating shit under BB needs to end and he does not seem to be getting the message. People can say he or the organization was unaware all they want, but that crew worked for this organization PERIOD!

 

[nefansince75]

Should have been more. I know I am about to piss off the absolute homers but all this cheating shit under BB needs to end and he does not seem to be getting the message. People can say he or the organization was unaware all they want, but that crew worked for this organization PERIOD!

That one just didn't seem like an attempt to cheat. I know I might be naive on this, but the benefit seems to small (gaining an advantage over Cinci) to make it worth the time never alone the risk of being caught.

 

[YankeeRebel]

That one just didn't seem like an attempt to cheat. I know I might be naive on this, but the benefit seems to small (gaining an advantage over Cinci) to make it worth the time never alone the risk of being caught.

In the end we won't know but because there is a history of this happening in this organization. I know there will be those that defend that history and I am not going to debate them on that. But because of that history under no circumstance should this have occurred. Part of BBs and the Pats legacy will be they cheated to win this just adds another layer to that shit sandwich.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

What’s there to know? If Bill had been involved in this, you can bet your sweet ass he would’ve directed the film crew not to leave the camera unattended. And, y’know, actually film the sideline of the team they were going to be playing FROM THE FRONT.

 

[Carnzo]

The third round pick hurts.
The organization has to learn they are on a very short leash.
Bummer.

 

[nefansince75]

In the end we won't know but because there is a history of this happening in this organization. I know there will be those that defend that history and I am not going to debate them on that. But because of that history under no circumstance should this have occurred. Part of BBs and the Pats legacy will be they cheated to win this just adds another layer to that shit sandwich.

Your not going to like this response and it will seem like a rationalization, which I freely admit it is.

Any action or result, good or bad, needs to be compared to create a standard. The actions that have been described as cheating by the Pats have been compared to strict rules interpretations and often against fictitious rules. By those standards the team has acted dastardly.

If instead the team is judged against actions of other teams, and in some cases the real rules, their actions seem less egregious. Was the spygate I infraction about filming signals or filming anything from the wrong location? If it were presented as legal filming from an illegal location then we'd have stopped hearing about it a long time ago. Also if all the infractions from other teams were scrutinized the deflategate type stuff wouldn't move a needle much.

I'm not saying this stuff does not matter and I'm not saying since everyone does it then it is ok. I'm saying the competetive advantage is minimal in a landscape were everyone does "something" for an advantage.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Word. Bill’s most egregious offenses are allowing fuckclowns like Jastremski, McNally, Mangini, Matt Walsh and this goober cameraman (and whomever should’ve gotten the Bengals’ permission to film if it wasn’t him) to have any gainful employment associated with the Patriots organization.

 

[sharkymcwrath]

Should have been more. I know I am about to piss off the absolute homers but all this cheating shit under BB needs to end and he does not seem to be getting the message. People can say he or the organization was unaware all they want, but that crew worked for this organization PERIOD!

You're not pissing me off but I do think you're wrong. There's no way Belichick was involved in this latest filming operation. It was a documentary that involved watching the other teams sidelines. Makes sense to film it.

Spygate was a media driven bs scandal. Other teams did it, it wasn't a big deal, and the NFL should've said so instead of letting the media run with the cheating narrative. But it was the Patriots so they let it go.

Tom Brady told the ball boy to let some air out of the balls. Once again, not a big deal, but ya this is the only "scandal" that has legs in my opinion, regardless of how minor and infraction.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Let’s not propagate the false narratives ourselves...Brady never directed Jastremski to let air out of the balls. He told him to make sure they were set at the bottom of the allowable range. Once again Brady’s primary failing was in incorrectly assuming Jastremski wasn’t a complete fucking moron.

 

[YankeeRebel]

Let’s not propagate the false narratives ourselves...Brady never directed Jastremski to let air out of the balls. He told him to make sure they were set at the bottom of the allowable range. Once again Brady’s primary failing was in incorrectly assuming Jastremski wasn’t a complete fucking moron.

Actually none of know WTF Brady told him to do, we know what he told the press, the media, the NFL but one on one we don't know. And the ball were below spec, I can't absolve TB in this, not a chance.

 

[nefansince75]

Let’s not propagate the false narratives ourselves...Brady never directed Jastremski to let air out of the balls. He told him to make sure they were set at the bottom of the allowable range. Once again Brady’s primary failing was in incorrectly assuming Jastremski wasn’t a complete fucking moron.

The best rumor I heard was the officials had inflated the balls during the Jets game earlier that year. The deflating was in response to that. Would Tom think illegally deflating balls that were inflated against protocol could be rationalized? Was he adapting to set the balls to a legally allowed level more to his liking? Was he completely innocent and were balls ever actually deflated?

 

[YankeeRebel]

The best rumor I heard was the officials had inflated the balls during the Jets game earlier that year. The deflating was in response to that. Would Tom think illegally deflating balls that were inflated against protocol could be rationalized? Was he adapting to set the balls to a legally allowed level more to his liking? Was he completely innocent and were balls ever actually deflated?

Yes they were

 

[nefansince75]

Actually none of know WTF Brady told him to do, we know what he told the press, the media, the NFL but one on one we don't know. And the ball were below spec, I can't absolve TB in this, not a chance.

You can't absolve Tom without proof Tom did nothing, but you are willing to hold him accountable without proof anything even happened? Interesting.

With the level of nonsense and incompetence involved, any reasonable court would have dismissed charges based on the procedural flaws alone. The fact they had no understanding that air in a football contracts in cold air, and that measurements were taken of the colts balls and the pats balls at different times all add up to flaws.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

The best rumor I heard was the officials had inflated the balls during the Jets game earlier that year. The deflating was in response to that. Would Tom think illegally deflating balls that were inflated against protocol could be rationalized? Was he adapting to set the balls to a legally allowed level more to his liking? Was he completely innocent and were balls ever actually deflated?

I am confident from a plain reading of the Wells report that the balls were intentionally deflated by Jastremski.

I am also confident from the same plain reading of the Wells report that Brady did not direct him to do so.

 

[YankeeRebel]

You can't absolve Tom without proof Tom did nothing, but you are willing to hold him accountable without proof anything even happened? Interesting.

I am willing to think he was not innocent in this sure am, so was the league good enough for me. Do I think TB is capable of cheating? Yes, because he has a win at all cost mentality so yes I am very comfortable thinking cheating is in his wheel house.

 

[BigKen]

And the ball were below spec

Which ball? The ball that the Colts illegally removed from the field? The ball that the Colts person who had a "ball air gauge" who had possession of said ball?

No other ball tested that had been used or not used in the game was under or over inflated. NFL admitted that after balls had been tested and retested several times by an independent testing facility.