Belicheat fined 500,000 and draft choices...*Merge*

[percyhoward]

Assuming this has been going on for years (the Dr. Z story says it dates back to at least 2000): They took 3 rings. All of them in narrow victories.

And all it cost them was $750,000 and a first-rounder.

 

[AdamJT13]

So the Patriots (probably) lose their own first-round draft pick. Big deal. They still have the 49ers' first-round pick, which (probably) will be much higher. And they can use the cap space saved by not having a first-round pick to sign another free agent.

So Belichick got fined $500,000. Big deal. Want to bet that Belichick gets a contract extension within the next 12 months, with a nice little pay raise attached?

So Robert Kraft got fined $250,000. Big deal. His team is worth $1.199 BILLION. He got fined LESS than the salary of a rookie long-snapper.

That's it -- the entire punishment. Goodell even stated that "This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field." In Wade Wilson's case, the NFL found that he DID NOT intentionally violate any rules and DID not gain any sort of advantage, and he (and the Cowboys) STILL got a much worse penalty.

Simply ridiculous.

 

[dogunwo]

D*mn straight...

We'd see to it that the Pats' first round pick went to the Cowboys, and that Billy B was castrated, preferably with a dull knife...

Do that just once, and I have a hunch you'd see this video cheating come to a screeching halt...

Draconian is what we do...

Thats very, "League of Shadow-esque". Are you tight with Ra's al Guhl?

 

[Kaika]

What first round pick do they lose??? Theirs or the one they got from the 49's????

 

[LandryFan]

It's my understanding, and i could be wrong, it was the nature in which he aquired the drugs. Go to a doctor and it's above board. Go to a dealer and it's not.

You are probably correct on that point, Dakota.

 

[lspain1]

Now my next question is does Tom Brady get a pass here? He was obviuosly involved in this. He is the one who has to make this work otherwise its useless information. Does the player who is knowingly using cheats aquired by his own coaching staff get a pass? I would say no. I understand that very few people would turn their own coach in but the issue still remains. Tom Brady knowingly cheated and he gets off scott free.

I think if you take this to its logical conclusion, all the players were complicit with the use of the information. You can't place it on one player...it goes back to the whole organization....and so you're back to draft picks.

However, I have to believe that this kind of thing came from the top down. The players would not have gone off and done this themselves...so they get a pass from me.

 

[Oh_Canada]

The commish knows how many teams were doing it and wants New England to take this punishment, shut up and have it all go away.

That's what i've been saying.

Well he also probably knows how many players are taking illegal substances and Wade STILL got five games for a LEGAL drug....this punishment makes no sense to me!!

 

[Everlastingxxx]

Horrible job by the commissioner. Pathetic. I emailed them.

 

[billyrags]

I wish the penalty was harsher as well, but if the shoe was on our foot... I would rather have our coach suspended a few games than lose my first round pick.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Well he also probably knows how many players are taking illegal substances and Wade STILL got five games for a LEGAL drug....this punishment makes no sense to me!!

Yeah the... eh, hem...."interpretation" of the coaches fine is a little fuzzy to me when concerning Wade

 

[Big Dakota]

Well he also probably knows how many players are taking illegal substances and Wade STILL got five games for a LEGAL drug....this punishment makes no sense to me!!

They still have to deal with a union and privacy rights. They said today, and i didn't catch if it was the NFL or MLB, but one was considering an HGH test next year but is worried about the implications of players rights. Personally, i think they should test every player in every sport every single month of their season, but it won't happen.

 

[Kaika]

Don't they have two first round picks next year??????

 

[percyhoward]

There's an irony in the punishment being forfeiture of draft pcks.

The competitive advantage they've had by cheating all these years is probably one of the main reasons they've been able to trade down and stockpile future picks.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

They still have the draft pick that counts: Frisco's. They should have been forced to forfeit whichever pick turned out to be lowest.

You mean the lowest numerically, not the latter of the two, right?

Looks like I'll be rooting for the 9ers some this year. Never thought I'd be saying that.

Anyway... Funny, I never expected a suspension. But I was hoping for more draft picks to get yanked.

 

[ZeroClub]

This is setting up to be a horrific season.

The Patriots are one of the best teams in the NFL. They'll make the playoffs. They've got an excellent chance of making it to the Super Bowl.

So NFL fans everywhere are going to watch the "cheaters prosper."

What a crappy theme for a season.....

Goodell should have suspended as many of those guilty coaches as possible for at least half a season.

Basically, Goodell should have fixed it so that the Patriots would have a very difficult time making it to the playoffs this year. THAT would have been in the best interest of the game.

The alternative is for the nation to watch these cheaters continue to win games week in and week out.

It is disgusting.

 

[AdamJT13]

Don't they have two first round picks next year??????

Yes, still have the 49ers' first-round pick, which (probably) will be much higher. And they can use the cap space saved by not having a first-round pick to sign another free agent.

The league should have at least reduced their 2008 cap room by the amount that would have been used on their first-round pick. Otherwise, they're not really being penalized that much.

 

[juck]

NEW YORK (AP) -- New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 Thursday and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals.
Commissioner Roger Goodell also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't.
"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots.
The videotaping came to light after a camera was confiscated from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets' sideline during New England's 38-14 win last Sunday at Giants Stadium. Goodell will not change the outcome of the game.
Goodell said he had considered suspending Belichick but didn't "largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension."
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NFL rules state "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game" and that all video or coaching purposes must be shot from locations "enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead."
That was re-emphasized in a memo sent Sept. 6 to NFL head coaches and general managers. In it, Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations wrote: "Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."
The NFL statement said Goodell believed Patriots owner Robert Kraft was unaware of Belichick's actions.
But it said the commissioner believed penalties should be imposed on the club because "Coach Belichick not only serves as the head coach but also has substantial control over all aspects of New England's football operations. His actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club."
NFL coaches long have suspected opponents of spying. In the early 1970s, the late George Allen, coach of the Washington Commanders, routinely would send a security man into the woods surrounding the team's practice facility because he suspected there were spies from other teams there.
And coaches like Seattle's Mike Holmgren and Philadelphia's Andy Reid, among others, always cover their mouths when calling plays from the sideline because they fear other teams have lip readers trying to determine their calls.
The action against Belichick is the latest in a series of harsh disciplinary actions taken by Goodell, who took office last Sept. 1, succeeding Paul Tagliabue.
The most notable were the indefinite suspension of Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick after he pleaded guilty to a federal dogfighting conspiracy and the one-year suspension of Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones after numerous run-ins with police.


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Updated on Thursday, Sep 13, 2007 9:02 pm, EDT​

 

[Beast_from_East]

Assuming this has been going on for years (the Dr. Z story says it dates back to at least 2000): They took 3 rings. All of them in narrow victories.

And all it cost them was $750,000 and a first-rounder.

This is total horse crap

They freaking steal everybody's playbook literaly and get a freaking slap on the hand..........

***:bang2:

 

[Oh_Canada]

Horrible job by the commissioner. Pathetic. I emailed them.

What's his email address?

 

[The30YardSlant]

Bullcrap

You're telling me that Wade Wilson gets 5 games for taking something that was medically necessary, but Belicheck gets NONE for cheating, however minor it may have been?

I dont think suspending him is the right thing to do, but Goodell has already set a precident, and he must follow through