Arena League seems ahead of NFL on Spygate
The Washington Post says it has acquired a copy of a memo from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that says he wants simpler rules on cheating that will help avoid future SpyGate scandals. On its web site, the newspaper said the league also will consider making unannounced inspections of locker rooms, press boxes and in-game communications equipment.
Emulating the Arena Football League might be a simpler approach.
In season-opening games last weekend, the AFL allowed teams to have a defensive player wear a wireless communications device in his helmet, like the ones quarterbacks long have worn in the NFL and AFL.
That communications system eliminates the need for defensive coaches to use hand signals -- the action the New England Patriots were found to be filming, against NFL rules, that set off Spygate.
"There's no signal-stealing,'' says Shy Anderson, Chief Operating Officer of the Dallas Desperados and head of the Arena League's competition committee. "It was a matter of making it fair on both sides."
Anderson says the innovation wasn't inspired solely by Spygate. The AFL previously had considered it, but was put off by the expense -- about $25,000 per helmet.
"I was dumbfounded,'' says Anderson, who was an executive for 14 years with telecommunications giant ALLTEL. "I was like, let's just give them a cell phone and get on with it."
The AFL also had incentive to ease defensive communication issues, because coaching staffs work from different locations at each game, depending on the logistics at each stadium.
Anderson says his father-in-law, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, didn't play any role in encouraging him to test the defensive helmet. But Anderson he won't be surprised if the NFL adopts the change, "when they see the ease of doing this."
NFL owners considered making the change last season, but a proposal fell two votes short of passage. That proposal is expected to resurface soon.
One element of the Arena change the NFL is certain to ignore is letting broadcasters hear what's being said during helmet communications. But Anderson says that allows play-by-play announcers to better set the stage for each play, knowing where the offense is going, and what set the defense will use.
"It's a lot more exciting if you know what's going to happen," Anderson says.
One thing the helmet won't do, apparently, is end all hand-gesturing by defensive coaches. In season-opening games, Anderson says, some coaches still were flashing signals the traditional way.
"Old habits die hard, no question about it," Anderson says. "They just talk with their hands."
Posted by Tom Weir at 10:52 AM/ET, March 07, 2008 in NFL | Permalink
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