“The New England Patriots, 3 time NFL world Champions, 16-0 record, most TD passes in a season etc etc” These are the accolades which often go hand in hand with the New England Patriots. As they have proven over and over again they are a team to be taken seriously, and demand the up most attention of whomever they play. Thus when a story leaks out calling for the suspension of one of the most admired coaches in the league people start to take notice of what exactly transpired in Spy gate.
The story of Spy gate involves the Patriots stealing signals (with a video camera) during the game. Then reviewing these signals during and after games for better preparation when refacing the opponent. This type of signal stealing is considered illegal and a violation of NFL policies. Thus when the Patriots were caught for this type of misconduct they were punished with a 1st round pick and 500,000 fine for Bill Belichick and 250,000 for the Patriots.
This brings the situation to the present, with one recorder (Walsh claiming to have more evidence of this type of on going recording occurring for the past 8 seasons). EIGHT seasons of signal stealing, how MIND boggling is that??!! This begs the question of how can a team get away with signal stealing for that long and what type of impact did it have on the teams success? This type of impact is immeasurable as well as unknown due to the nature of the game that is football.
Thus with all this new evidence, a senate investigation is being called for by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania who was notified by Walsh that he was told to “avoid detection and use cover stories if asked why he was taping”. If the Patriots are instructing their personal to bend the rules, and cheat and lie to gain the ultimate point in the W column then what is the point in suspending players whom run into the law (Ricky Williams, Pac-man Jones) when this type of dishonesty is occurring on the field. This leads one to question if the type of punishment that was served to Bill Belichick was truly enough for the type of crime committed.
The impact of the tapes can not be measured, and those wins and championships still should be accounted for. But letting the culprit who was behind this dishonest act walk away with nothing more then a slap on the wrist is unfair and shows to the world ” Go ahead, cheat and lie, no one will punish you.” This type of message is one that needs to be altered, with the NFL in particular Goodell coming down with a hammer on Belichick. The hammer being a suspension of some kind, a season, half a season. Anything to let the rest of the league and the impressionable children who watch every Sunday, cheaters do not win.
The suspension suites the crime, shown in the article below:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080517&sportCat=nfl
shows no remorse except “I made a mistake. I was wrong.” If that constitues an apology, then let me be the first person to say its not acceptable as Commisioner Goodell has stated. A harsher punishment is the only way the league will send a message to its Coach staff; regardless of where you are on the playing field coach or player ingrity is a requirement to play in this league.
