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Spygate stench sticks to Belichick
This week's campaign coverage:
- Hench: Spygate scandal a year later
- Marvez: NFL's power brokers
- Czar: Who has juice?
- Schein: Campaign spoilers
- Hasenmayer: Swing votes
- Schrager: This year's dark horses
Previously on the trail:
- Hench: Parcells vs. Cheney?
- Schein: Leaving office behind
- Hench: NFL's first ladies
- Schrager: Fantasy campaign planning
- Fantasy: 2008 electoral math
- Marvez: No Spin zone
- Czar: Liberals vs. conservatives
- Schrager: Running mates
- Hill: Party platforms/trends
- Bleacher: Best fan bases
Debates:
There's the opaque Iran-Contra kind of scandal, where people aren't exactly sure what the malfeasance is or if they even disapprove of the wrongdoing in the first place.
That's Alex Karras and Paul Hornung being suspended for a year for gambling on NFL games, though it was never suggested that they shaved points. Karras and Hornung were welcomed back to their teams after serving their suspensions and neither legacy was seriously damaged.
Then there's the Monica Lewinsky type of scandal, the salacious story where everyone is perfectly clear on the bad acts that transpired but few believe the scandal itself was germane to the president's job performance.
This is the Lake Minnetonka Love Boat saga. Sure, Fred Smoot and the gang had a wild night on the water, but nobody thinks a friction dance — or any of the other alleged menu items — has any bearing on the integrity of the NFL.
And then there's Watergate, the scandal so great it gave us the "-gate" suffix. The Committee to Re-elect the President was funding a criminal conspiracy and they got caught red-handed. The integrity of the presidency and the people's confidence in their government were badly wounded.
In football, this is Spygate. If Richard Nixon carried the shame of Watergate and impeachment to his grave, so, too, will Bill Belichick drag this scandal behind him like a ball and chain for the rest of his life.
The irony is that Belichick's taping probably had as little bearing on his success as C.R.E.E.P.'s crimes had on Nixon's 49-state re-election victory in 1972. But like Nixon, Belichick was looking for any edge he could get.
It wasn't just that Bill Belichick did a bad thing. He did a bad thing that every football fan could easily grasp and he got caught. Belichick cheated in an easily understandable way that clearly compromised the integrity of the game and called into question his previous accomplishments.
Still, even after the scandal broke, Belichick might have escaped the indelible stain on his legacy.
When the allegations of defensive sign-stealing surfaced, amid some selective outrage, there was also a collective everybody-does-it-but-they-got-caught shrug. Belichick and the team were fined and the Patriots forfeited a first-round pick.
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| Will Bill Belichick be respected for his five Super Bowl rings or be branded forever as a cheater because of Spygate? (Jim Rogash / Getty Images) |
In some ways the scandal only confirmed the Belichick doctrine that had made him so successful: Win by whatever means you have at your disposal.
The cost was steep ($500,000 for Belichick, $250,000 for the team), but the Pats wouldn't have to forfeit any games and their brilliant coach would not be suspended. It hardly seemed like a threat to his mighty legacy.
But the story had clamped down on Belichick's leg and would not let go.
First it came out that the Patriots had been videotaping opposing defensive signals as standard operating procedure since Belichick had arrived. He didn't even deny it, lamely suggesting that his interpretation of the explicit NFL rule prohibiting the use of video cameras during games only meant he couldn't use what was on those tapes during the game. It was pure weasel.
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Then NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took the extraordinary step of destroying all the tapes Belichick had compiled over his years violating the NFL ban on video. This led to all kinds of speculation. Was Goodell protecting Belichick by destroying the tapes? Was there material in that tape collection that might cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Patriots' three Super Bowl victories?
As the 2007 season wore on, Belichick and his team masterfully kept the blinders on, banding together and focusing only on the opponent in front of them.
The team won its first 18 games to reach the Super Bowl. But in the week leading up to the game, Spygate was rekindled.
Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh claimed to have taped the Rams walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. The lighter fluid had been sprayed and the story burst into flames again.
Walsh seemed like a sketchy character. But nobody, not even disgruntled former employees, had less credibility on the issue than Belichick. As Walsh was making grandiose demands of immunity from prosecution if he were to violate a confidentiality clause in his contract with the Patriots, Belichick could do little more than take it and mutter "it's a league matter" over and over again.
Three days before Super Bowl XLII, with all eyes on Phoenix/Glendale, Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter barged onto the scene, sending a letter to Goodell, stating "I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes."
Suddenly the Patriots were back in the Spygate echo chamber. Only this time they weren't preparing for a Week 2 home game against the Chargers. They were trying to prepare to make NFL history.
If the distractions in the lead-up to the game contributed to New England's poor execution in the 17-14 loss to the Giants, the Patriots shouldn't hold their breath waiting for sympathy from around the league.
They are reviled, the league's villains, coached by a crook. When the Giants upset the Patriots, cheers went up across the NFL, not just in Eric Mangini's den.
Goodell met with Matt Walsh in the spring and came away satisfied that no further punishment was necessary. Specter, too, met with Walsh and for now is reserving the right for future grandstanding.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Spygate, NFL fans casually refer to "Bill Beli-cheat."
His lock induction into Canton may now be in jeopardy.
Coaches can now communicate via headset with a player in the defensive huddle, a simple change that would have precluded the whole scandal had it been implemented prior to last season.
Bill Belichick engineered two of the greatest defensive achievements in Super Bowl history, holding the 1990 Bills and the 2001 Rams to a total of four touchdowns in two historic upsets.
He has five Super Bowl rings.
But his legacy will be burdened by the millstone of one word, and a made-up word at that.
Spygate.
Member Comments
The rule about not using video equipment isn't as explicit as this editorial makes out. All 32 teams use video equipment to film games. The league even has two pages of rules on how teams should go about taping in Volume II, the game operations volume, of their Policy Manual for Member Clubs. So how does the NFL reconcile Article IX with rules allowing every team to make game film? It interprets Article IX to mean that teams can film during games, but they can't use the recording to help them during the games, only between games. By punishing Belichick, Goodell has essentially ruled that the Article IX Interpretation applies to Sections B,C, E, and most of D of the videotaping rules in the Policy Manual, but not to Section A and the first Guideline in Section D. Say what you will, but Belichick's interpretation was more consistent.<br /><br />The NFL has long promoted parity, punishing successful teams and rewarding the weak. The rules are set up this way. Start with the draft. The Super Bowl winner gets assigned the last pick in each round. The worst team gets the first pick in each round. There are free agency rules and salary cap rules that make it hard for teams to keep too many big name players. Sooner or later a team has to let some of them go. This is a league that loves parity and hates dominance.With the passing of dynasties like the Steelers of the 70s, the 49ers of the 80s, and the Cowboys of the 90s, the league changed rules to make it harder for new dynasties to emerge. By the beginning of this decade, it had reached a point where people thought it was impossible for there to be any more dynasties. Then along came the Patriots to win 3 Super Bowls. So the league stepped in with trumped up charges early in a season when it seemed the Patriots had a strong shot at a 4th. The media which hates Belichick because he won't kiss their butts jumped on the bandwagon, and of course fans of other teams brought up in today's "everybody's a winner culture" were incensed that one team was winning multiple Super Bowls while their own teams only got one or none during the decade. That's what this is all about. The "everyone's a winner crowd" punishing the truly successful.
kmacalp9/26/2008 13:01:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
does any one wonder because of belicheat the defensegot those radios. if he does get in to canton there should be a big * on his plate.
carl63529/21/2008 14:35:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
While the fans grumble. And the earth will rumble. As the Cowboys turn your cheers to a mumble.
BigDinTN9/5/2008 20:10:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Let me finish that limerick for ya....my extra beers are kicking in. Watch your defense crack and crumble, your offensive line takes a steep tumble, and into the playoffs you will stumble. All while knowing in the end pats will bumble!
BigDinTN9/5/2008 20:08:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Belichick is a pompous jerk, and deserves every bit of venom and disgust normally reserved for baby-killers and Al-Qaida terrorists. Oh yeah, and the team is falling apart. Watch your defense crack and crumble, your offensive line takes a steep tumble, taking with it any and all hope of ever returning to the Big Game.<br />Oh yeah. Joe Montana is, was, and always will be the BEST QB OF ALL TIME! And the COWBOYS ARE AMERICA'S TEAM and WILL WIN THE SUPER BOWL SEVERAL MORE TIMES OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS. Count on it. <br /><br />Hate tha game, Luv to tha playa!!
BigDinTN9/5/2008 20:06:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Pity the Patriots position as perpetual targets of hate. No matter how they rationalize and say oh please please spygate please go away its here its there its everywhere around the country in the air. No matter how good no matter how great any Belichick team must live with its fate. He cheated they cheated their foes cannot wait to paint them as cheaters no matter how late.<br /><br />coo coo ca choo
BlueWalrus9/5/2008 3:45:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
-dcrintaunton-<br />Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.......
GrewUpOnGrogan9/4/2008 14:03:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I'll preface my remarks by saying that I'm a Pats fan.<br />That cheating thing is a dead issue. Drop it. Forgive or not, forget or hold the bitterness to yourself. Last season is behind us. The Pats paid a price for their transgressions. Let it rest.<br /> From those who still carry on ... I get a sense of envy. Without appearing to gloat, Bill is still way ahead of the pack. Yes, he is conceited and boorish and always comes across as a tight-lipped sob, but he is brilliant. Head and shoulders above the rest and belongs to New England.
dcrintaunton9/4/2008 13:30:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
So cool to hear someone else talk some sense about this whole matter. It is old and not sure why HENCH feels it has to be brought back. ANYWAY, have a great regular season everybody, best of luck to you all....
GrewUpOnGrogan9/4/2008 12:57:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
The fact of the matter is Patriots fans will always love Belichick, and the other 31 teams fans will always be jealous of...I mean hate Belichick. This spygate thing is way too old now. Get over it. Yeah, video taping was cheating, and so is holding, pass interferance, 12 men on the field etc...thats why you get a penalty.
9/4/2008 11:46:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Vetster you a disgrace to chat sites, right along with Coolslayer2
GrewUpOnGrogan9/4/2008 11:21:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Belichick is and always will be an arrogant and obnoxious cheater. He is a disgrace to the game of football......
vetster9/4/2008 10:31:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
WOW Coolslayer2, you sound like a real quality individual. Nice mouth your mother installed in you, since we are talking about mothers. You must have been hatched from an egg.<br /> Since you do not read all to well either, Grogan is who I grew up watching. The best QB to current date is Tom Brady, that is a fact. I do not discredit the accomplishments Montana achieved, but that era is gone and this is the here and now.<br /> Have a nice life Neanderthal...........
GrewUpOnGrogan9/4/2008 7:57:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Not jealous of anything Mr. name copy. Just wait for the ass beating the 9ers will get all year again and again. In fact the other team I have always liked besides the Pats is the 9ers. Just can not stand fans like you. So it makes it fun to verbally assault you when we get the chance. And the best QB ever is from the same area as your 9ers. Chew on that one Mr. name copy.
GrewUpOnGrogan9/3/2008 14:49:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
The Whiners can only win a wild card spot if lucky, how about just earning a playoff berth with out wishing for a wild card spot on pure strength and talent. How long has it been??? Seems you are getting your info from outside sources who say this and that. How about this, what have they done for you lately Mr. so called Wingman. Get your own name dork. Like 2WC I have been a Pats fan for over 20 years through the good and bad. This is no different than what I have heard for years from all of you Patriots haters. Pure talent baby... pure talent.
GrewUpOnGrogan9/3/2008 14:31:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
oh ya...wingman,be your own man....lose the name,as far as i can tell...your a wingman to an a$$$$$$$$$.
9/3/2008 14:27:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
All these predictions about how bad great teams(pats) are going to be,and how good lousy teams(9ners) or going to be.its silly really. pats 3 bowls,an undefeated reg season,and a hall of fame QB and coach...how about a little credid where its due.as for the 9ners,it cool to support your team,thats what ita all about,but what have they done for you lately,besides lose....go ahead,respond with spygate,i expect nothing else,what else have you got? oh ya, a lousy team
9/3/2008 14:24:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Cool! Seriously? The Pats have been in, and winning in the AFC playoffs!!! What have the 49ers been playing? The NFC??? You know you are just a pathetic fan of a lame team, you've invested a part ofyour life on a lame team and now you're cranky about it. "Gold rush"? "Old Rush" maybe? P.S. I've been a Pats fan for 28 years, good and bad. Belichick/Brady are FOOTBALL GODS Face it! You don't have to love it but drink a nice tall glass of shut the F@#k up and live with it.
2WC9/3/2008 12:07:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Regardless of any foul practice, the game still has to be played. AND, those tapes were for studying afterwords, not during the game. <br /><br />Coolslayer, your a joke. And apparently have nothing better to do but bash, OHHH by the way who are you a fan of? Have you won a SB at all? We are the best and still the best to beat, with the best Coach and Best Ever QB. Grow up longhair.......
GrewUpOnGrogan9/3/2008 9:45:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
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