OTL/ESPN Magazine: Pats sent team employees into opponent's locker room to steal play sheets + more

[Yankee Traveler]

The NFL could've had a public countdown clock until they released info about the Pats, that doesn't make the information released itself any less valid. You can attack the motive behind the release of this info all you want, but that doesn't make the literal evidence itself go away nor does it even dispute it.

Politicians make this same mistake over and over.

Fact is the NFL looks shitty and so do the Pats. Spamming a message board isn't gonna change that.

The fact that there is not any named or substanciated sources does not make it any more valid either.

A former Pats employee...

 

[SonnyCID]

Thanks for correcting me..

It must have worked because they didn't find anything.

They were up against some very experienced spies.

 

[Rock Strongo]

The fact that there is not any named or substanciated sources does not make it any more valid either.

A former Pats employee...

why dont these people get it?

 

[Yankee Traveler]

why dont these people get it?

Quite simply, my friend, they do not want to.

 

[Rock Strongo]

Quite simply, my friend, they do not want to.

that has to be it. i mean, i know SOME peole are dumb enough to fall for this media curtain the nfl is dropping to try and stalk their ex bpoyfriend and all...but really?

some people i normally think are intelligent, are proving easily fooled.

 

[Ojb81]

That was for OJB81.

Lol my bad

 

[Yankee Traveler]

that has to be it. i mean, i know SOME peole are dumb enough to fall for this media curtain the nfl is dropping to try and stalk their ex bpoyfriend and all...but really?

some people i normally think are intelligent, are proving easily fooled.

Love the Av.

And the sig.

 

[Iggloo]

What? If you read the article it says that Seattle posted extra guards around the stadium they were practicing at, posted people on any high point that could see into the stadium to make sure the Patriots were not spying from up above. They also checked hotel rooms, the locker room for bugs, and other things like that. It never says they actually spied on the Patriots.

Don't let facts get in the way of Chowdah-heads defending their team no matter what.

 

[CitySushi]

There's just one thing that doesn't really sit well with me about the article. If the league knew the Patriots were cheating, what opposing owner would let this go by? If they knew Patriots staff members were stealing information, why not set up a camera to catch them?

I highly doubt a team would go through such an elaborate plan as to plant a false play sheet, instead of simply video taping a guy stealing play sheet.

BTW: Interesting to see Pats fans so adamant about this being a non-issue. I'm a huge SF Giants fan and Barry Bonds was my favorite player for years. I still acknowledge the fact that he cheated.

 

[Malibu]

The Patriots will do anything to win which all of us already knew. Patriots fans will do anything to deflect and deny signs of cheating by the Patriots. Which means the Patriots and there fans are cowards. "Free Hernandez" right guys?" Win at all costs even defending a scum bag like Hernandez. Pathetic.

 

[HammerDown]

The NFL is about to launch a full investigation into the culture of rampant cheating within this organization and it'll likely end with the ouster of Robert Kraft.

Whether he faces federal corruption charges is pure speculation and would be irresponsible at this point.

 

[HammerDown]

There's just one thing that doesn't really sit well with me about the article. If the league knew the Patriots were cheating, what opposing owner would let this go by? If they knew Patriots staff members were stealing information, why not set up a camera to catch them?

I highly doubt a team would go through such an elaborate plan as to plant a false play sheet, instead of simply video taping a guy stealing play sheet.

BTW: Interesting to see Pats fans so adamant about this being a non-issue. I'm a huge SF Giants fan and Barry Bonds was my favorite player for years. I still acknowledge the fact that he cheated.

Their delusions know no bounds. It's truly astonishing.

 

[Rock Strongo]

There's just one thing that doesn't really sit well with me about the article. If the league knew the Patriots were cheating, what opposing owner would let this go by? If they knew Patriots staff members were stealing information, why not set up a camera to catch them?

I highly doubt a team would go through such an elaborate plan as to plant a false play sheet, instead of simply video taping a guy stealing play sheet.

BTW: Interesting to see Pats fans so adamant about this being a non-issue. I'm a huge SF Giants fan and Barry Bonds was my favorite player for years. I still acknowledge the fact that he cheated.

most of us acknowledge the fact that brady had a role in this (see my poll).

but the rest of your post...a pats fans dream. common sense. enlightened. you thought for yourself.

well done.

 

[SteelersPride]

Unreal how shit follows the pats only

 

[Beaker]

No matter the scandle, no matter the outcome, Goodell always ends up looking like a fucking moron.

Oh god, how I love it.

 

[Sportsguy9695]

just when you think the nfl found everything against the pats. this comes up. I love it. always had a hatred toward the pats

 

[PatsFan2003]

Unreal how shit follows the pats only

This article just confirms what a lot of people already knew, that many NFL teams are very pissed at the Patriots, for Spygate or whatever. And that Deflategate was just an excuse to make them pay. i.e. it had little to do with inflated footballs.

It certainly explains the NFL's stupidity in trying to railroad that through.

But I'm a biased Patriots fan talking about witchhunts..

 

[Fencer]

As Dan Wetzel and others have pointed out -- if this happened, it would have been easy to catch the Pats in the act.

 

[wildturkey]

Read over the report and some excerpts and I don't really know what to make of it. The report drudges up quite a bit of information that was already known about Spygate and tries to spin a narrative how it is linked to this current situation. I have a couple of questions with this aspect of it. First, if the Spygate stuff was that bad, why did all the other NFL owners act all cool with the way Goodell handled it? The narrative in this and in other pieces over the last month is pretty much every team knows the Patriots push the envelope on everything to the point where some of it is outright cheating so it makes no sense why they wouldn't be more adamant about punishment at the time. Which brings me to why would the owners continue to support Goodell over the years if all this is true? If their pissed the Pats cheated and Goodell bailed them out over Spygate, just fire Goodell. It's not like its the first time he's fucked shit up. He screwed up the Saints situation so bad the old commish had to come in and fix it! Anyone can make money for them so why keep supporting Goodell? And then if all of this is true in the report and everyone is so upset about it, why won't people put their names to it? Look, I get how unnamed sources work in journalism and fully understand their value, but if all the NFL is truly upset with the Pats over the years, someone somewhere should be able to put their name to a quote and say "Yep, they did this. Here's how I know".

That brings me to ESPN. The report seems pretty self-serving to me. They've worked on this awhile obviously gathering information. They're trying to craft a narrative that its all related using tons of unnamed sources and the conveniently decide to publish it 2 days before the NFL starts, whose first game just so happens to be the Patriots. And also they just so happened to get Roger Goodell to do an interview on this day and then spring the report on him. Read the tea leaves. ESPN planned this out to get eyes on them at the start of the NFL season. That doesn't sit well with me. I'm conflicted though because normally the OTL wing of the company usually does fair work but this is also the same company that has pimped false information for the NFL in the past and has also gone into business for themselves by generating stories out of nothing.

The conclusion I draw from all of this over the last several months is this. Between the Patriots and cheating, the NFL's leadership and incompetence, and certain media members at ESPN and those outside it, this whole situation is the longest version of The Aristocrats joke that I have ever seen.

 

[williewilliejuan]

There's just one thing that doesn't really sit well with me about the article. If the league knew the Patriots were cheating, what opposing owner would let this go by? If they knew Patriots staff members were stealing information, why not set up a camera to catch them?

I highly doubt a team would go through such an elaborate plan as to plant a false play sheet, instead of simply video taping a guy stealing play sheet.

BTW: Interesting to see Pats fans so adamant about this being a non-issue. I'm a huge SF Giants fan and Barry Bonds was my favorite player for years. I still acknowledge the fact that he cheated.

Perhaps the other owners saw how the Patriots got away with cheating without significant punishment and figured their best bet was to take steps to prevent cheating instead of catching them.