NFL Destroyed Patriots Cheating Tapes - To cover up playoff offenses?

[bedir than average]

Questions Linger About Why N.F.L. Destroyed Patriots’ Tapes - New York Times

The N.F.L. later clarified that the penalty was for the Patriots’ “totality of conduct” and not only for their actions against the Jets. The league never explained what totality of conduct meant. Presumably, the evidence was on the tapes.

Questions remain: How many tapes showed evidence of cheating? In what games? In the playoffs? In the Super Bowl? By other teams?

The Jets (3-10) and the Patriots (13-0), who will meet Sunday in Foxborough, Mass., declined to comment last week, referring to the matter as a “league issue.” The N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail message, “We’ve addressed this matter, and we’re not going to readdress it this week.”

Greg Wilson, a crisis counselor and senior vice president at Levick Strategic Communications in Washington, said: “They’re rolling the dice that the whole thing is just going to go away. And here’s the thing — a lot of this could be avoided.”

Wilson sees a crisis that requires managing, a “clear-cut case of all the parties needing to rip off the Band-Aid as soon as possible.” The goal of managing any crisis, he said, is to acknowledge the black eye and compress the time it lasts.

By destroying the tapes they continue to damage their own credibility. When they reference that the penalty was due to more than just the Jets game, we know for certain that something bigger happened.

There is a stain on the Patriots reputation, and now the NFL will make it impossible to be removed.

[John F]

There is also a thread on the Rams forum suggesting the Pats stole their super bowl win against St. Louis...

[Habsfan84]

Its all BS. The Patriots are the best and its just to bad that it will be tainted.

[FiveStars]

They are the ones that tainted themselves. We like to tell our children that cheaters never win. That's obviously not the case, however. Cheaters do win, and they are cheered.

I also believe that the Patriots are the best team in the NFL until someone can prove otherwise. However, they should not have an undefeated record right now. They should have had to forfeit at least one game this season. Why do "the best" have to cheat?

[lorentrook]

Originally Posted by Habsfan84

Its all BS. The Patriots are the best and its just to bad that it will be tainted.

You know thats the same reasoning people use with Barry " big head" Bonds. I don't care how good you are you cheat, you are a cheater.

[Zen653]

I don't care how good you are you cheat, you are a cheater.

Do you really think that the Patriots are the only team in the league that videotaped defensive signal calling? And do you think that New England's success on the field can predominantly be attributed to this practice, which hardly confers any advantage, given the reality that teams change their signal calling from one year to the next?

New England cheated. New England got caught. New England got punished (to the tune of a significant fine and losing a first round draft pick.) It's time to move on and appreciate the talent on the field. Tom Brady is not a great quarterback because of videotaped signal calling. Nor is Randy Moss a great wide receiver for that reason. The whining sounds more to me like sour grapes jealousy.

[lorentrook]

Yeah Everybody is cheating? That is a incitement on your morals, not what is going on in the NFL.
I'm not "whining" either.
Just because they are good, they can cheat to be great?
How is that fair in your book? The other teams that play by the rules don't have a chance in hell.

[Zen653]

Just because they are good, they can cheat to be great?

Did you miss that the Patriots were caught and punished? What more do you want? Should they be contracted from the league? Do you want Bill Belichick to commit hara-kiri?

No one said that it's okay to cheat. But the Patriots served their sentence and stopped videotaping defensive play calls. It's time to let them back into society and leave them alone. The constant complaints really do amount to whining, seeing how the Patriots were actually punished unlike the many teams who cheat with impunity.

[bedir than average]

Zen, the punishment was meaningless. It was the equivelent of a traffic ticket for a millionaire.

I think there are strong indications that it was more than one game and taping of signals with the coverup that has occurred.

Shame on the NFL.

[lorentrook]

Originally Posted by Zen653

Did you miss that the Patriots were caught and punished? What more do you want? Should they be contracted from the league? Do you want Bill Belichick to commit hara-kiri?

No one said that it's okay to cheat. But the Patriots served their sentence and stopped videotaping defensive play calls. It's time to let them back into society and leave them alone. The constant complaints really do amount to whining, seeing how the Patriots were actually punished unlike the many teams who cheat with impunity.

That sounds more like whining," they cheated too "
I never said they needed to be punished more! At the same time I will not celebrate their "greatness" because some of that came from Cheating. By the way if Belicheat is such a great coach, why the need to cheat?
Look you like them, cool, I don't. Never did, long before they became good, then "great"