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NFL: No official decision made

Hey all --

This is what we've written for the Journal concerning "camera-gate":

A spokesman for the National Football League Tuesday night denied ESPN and NFL Network reports from earlier in the day that the league had found the New England Patriots guilty of violating league rules by taping defensive signals during Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

Greg Aiello, NFL senior vice president of media relations, said there had been no official determination made and that the Patriots had not been notified of any decision, nor has head coach Bill Belichick been summoned to league offices in New York City for a Friday meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell.

“There’s no decision. When there is one, it will be communicated to everyone properly,” Aiello said.

Asked if the league had or will make a phone call to the team, Aiello replied, “I’m sure there’s been many. It’s standard procedure: if you’re looking into a matter, you have to (talk to) both sides.”

NFL security officials confiscated a video camera and tape from New England video assistant Matt Estrella during the game; Estrella was on the Patriots’ sidelines while he was taping New York’s signals.

League rules prohibit teams from using video recording devices in the coaches’ booths, on the field or in the locker room during a game.

Also Tuesday, NFL Network reported that “more evidence was pouring in” to link New England to videotaping signals.

Aiello said the league had nothing further to report when asked if more teams had leveled accusations against the Patriots.

Both the ESPN and NFLN reports said that Goodell was considering sanctions against the Patriots, which could include losing draft picks, fines and/or suspensions.
When the Patriots were contacted for comment on the reports Tuesday night, they deferred all calls to the league office in New York.

Former Houston Texans general manager and current CBS analyst Charley Casserly was the first to report on the Patriots’ alleged use of videotaping last season. In December, Casserly said on the network’s pregame show that the Pats had been warned by the league about having a team official in coaching gear standing on the sidelines with a video camera during one of their first four games of the season. He did not specify which game, though New England’s first four opponents last year were Buffalo, at the Jets, Denver and at Cincinnati.

When asked about Casserly’s December claim, Belichick replied, “Why don’t you go talk to Charley Casserly? He seems to have all the answers on everything, so why don’t you ask him?”

More recently, Green Bay has stepped forward and said that it removed a Patriots’ official – believed to be Estrella – from Lambeau Field during New England’s 35-0 November win over the Packers last year.

The Boston Herald wrote that a member of the Packers’ security staff saw the official videotaping Green Bay defensive signals and relaying them to the Pats’ staff using his own hand signals. The official was asked to leave the field, which he did, but allegedly continued to film and send signals from the tunnel. It was then that he was removed from the stadium.

Detroit and Buffalo have also reportedly complained about similar incidents in their games against New England last year. The Patriots won all three games (two against the Bills).

Estrella is in his third season as a full-time video assistant; the New Bedford native currently lives in Fall River. According to the Patriots’ media guide, his job is to assist video director Jimmy Dee and assistant video director Fernando Neto in editing game and practice tapes for use by team coaches, scouts and players.

A message left at Dee’s residence seeking comment was not returned.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Jim Donaldson: Accusations make you wonder about Bill Belichick

You have to wonder about Bill Belichick.

You have to wonder why he’s decided to go from being the second coming of Vince Lombardi to the second coming of Maxwell Smart.

Or Maxwell Dumb, as the case may be.

Because, if the Patriots did, as ESPN reports, violate NFL rules on Sunday when they videotaped defensive signals by the New York Jets’ coaches, that’s just plain stupid.
It’s also cheating. And dishonest. And disreputable. Also very disappointing.

And you have to wonder about all that, too.

You have to wonder what Robert Kraft, the Patriots’ image-conscious owner, will say if it turns out that Belichick not only studies film of opposing offenses, defenses, and special teams, but also of other coaches signaling to their players — footage taken in clear violation not only of the spirit, but also of the letter, of NFL rules.

You have to wonder how this latest episode will affect the until recently squeaky-clean image of the Patriots, which has become increasingly tarnished of late.

Last season, Belichick’s name was dragged through the tabloids when he was named as the “other man,” in a New Jersey divorce case in which the estranged husband claimed his wife, a former employee of the New York Giants when Belichick was a defensive assistant, had a long-running relationship with the coach.

It wasn’t long after that Pats’ fans found out that star quarterback Tom Brady, the all-American boy, had fathered a child out of wedlock with actress Bridget Moynihan, with whom he’d recently broken up — moving on to statuesque supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

That was followed this spring by the acquisition of talented but troublesome wide receiver Randy Moss.

Only last week it was learned that popular safety Rodney Harrison would miss the first four games of the season after admitting he had taken HGH, a banned, performance-enhancing substance.

And now, it appears, the Patriots have a spy-cam.

So you have to wonder.

You have to wonder if, when Belichick wasn’t drawing up plays while growing up in Annapolis as an only child, he was watching Candid Camera.

You have to wonder why, instead of having David Halberstam write a book about him, Belichick didn’t opt for John Le Carre, author of such best-sellers as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Although Belichick claims to be a big fan of Bon Jovi, you have to wonder if his favorite song isn’t Johnny Cash’s “Secret Agent Man.”

You have to wonder if, when he isn’t watching game film, Belichick’s favorite movie is The Spy Who Loved Me.

Speaking of which — do you suppose one of the Patriots will be changing his jersey number to 007 for Sunday night’s game against the Chargers?

And what are the chances that, given his apparent proclivity for undercover operations, Belichick now will forsake his frayed, graey hoodie for a trench coat trenchcoat and felt hat?

One thing you most certainly do not have to wonder about is that the coach knew all about what was going on.

It’ll be interesting, at today’s press news conference at Gillette Stadium, to see if Belichick pleads the fifth, or whether he plays the Sgt. Schultz role and insists: “I know nothing.”

Which would be disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst.

Because it’s all but impossible to believe that Belichick was ignorant of what, according to ESPN, citing league sources, Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella was doing Sunday at the Meadowlands.

Estrella is described in the Patriots media guide as being “in his fourth season with the Patriots and his third year as a full-time video assistant. In his current position, he assists Jimmy Dee and Fernando Neto in editing game and practice tapes for use by the coaches, scouts, and players.”

Believing Estrella was acting on his own initiative is tantamount to believing that Matt Guitierrez Guttierez gets to call his own plays.

It’s hard to believe that anything even remotely related to football takes place in the Patriots organization without the knowledge — and stamp of approval — of Belichick.
If film was being shot of the Jets’ coaches along the sidelines — and ESPN is reporting that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that evidence indicates such was, indeed, the case — then it almost certainly had to be at Belichick’s behest.

You have to wonder why he’d do that, why he’d go from X’s and O’s to cloak and dagger. Why, when blessed with the most talented team he has had in his eight seasons in New England, he would stoop to such surreptitious and slimy skullduggery.

And this isn’t the first time either. The Patriots were accused of similar activity last year at Green Bay.

Now you have to wonder what highly principled owner Bob Kraft will say about this latest incident.

You have to wonder when the Patriots morphed into the Oakland Raiders, when they veered off the high road, on to the low.

-- JIM DONALDSON

Posted by Art Martone  at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments 13

Report: NFL determines Pats broke rules

ESPN is currently reporting -- though it has not been officially confirmed -- that the NFL's investigation into "camera-gate" has led to a decision that New England did break league rules during their season-opening win over the Jets.

This is a breaking story, and we will keep you updated when we find out more.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 2

LT strikes again

Hey all --

Remember after the San Diego playoff game, when LaDainian Tomlinson said the Patriots' shenanigans after their playoff win over the Chargers "start with their coach"? Of course you do.

Well, LT and Coach Bill supposedly kissed and made up at the Pro Bowl this year, where Belichick led the AFC squad.

Apparently, Tomlinson either forgot about the truce or just wants to start another beef with the Patriots.

During a press conference yesterday, Tomlinson was asked about the Jets' charge that New England was trying to steal defensive signals, and he said...

"I think the Patriots live by the saying, 'if you're not cheating, you're not trying.' I think they live off that statement and nothing surprises me really. I'm not surprised because you keep hearing the different stories (and) people complaining about the stuff that they do. You know, so I’m not surprised."

So, basically, LT is saying he's not surprised. We got that.

While at times it is infuriating for us media types who cover the Pats to hear a steady stream of "they're a good team, we respect them, blah, blah, blah," before every game, these are times when we see why that tactic is used. If you say the same thing about every opponent -- whether they be 1-0, 11-2 or 2-9 -- no one can be insulted or find bulletin-board material.

And on a personal not, I'd like to thank Tomlinson for providing me with my "dope of the week."

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments 2