Brady Being Brady?

With word now coming down on the Patriots "punishment" for videotaping the Jets defensive signals its time for the NFL community to ask some very important questions.

Chief among those questions is how far back this cheating has occured. Obviously there has been broad speculation from Rams, Eagles, Panthers, Steelers, etc. fans about the chance that they were cheated out of playoff/Super Bowl games by the New England Patriots. Personally, I don't know if even the Pats are stupid enough to try this trick during a game that would be as scrutinized as a playoff game, but maybe they did. The organization's guilt brings into question every victory the team has had under Belichick unfortunately.

I recently talked to a player who has been retired and asked him about what he thought about the Patriots cheating and whether he ever noticed anything playing against the Pats. He responded that he hadn't thought about it until these accusations came about but could remember a specific game when his team was beating the Pats in the first half, but when the teams came out for the second half it was like they were in the defenses head. He specifically mentioned that everytime the defense blitzed the Pats ran a screen pass right past it. This game was played in 2001.

Another question that can only be answered on the field is if we've seen a Patriots offense, specifically a Tom Brady, that was a product of cheating or talent. When I say this can only be answered on the field I am assuming that the Patriots will no longer attempt to use this blatant form of cheating so if they have refrained from the cheating we should be able to see Brady without the aid of knowing the defenses coverage or blitz scheme. Will he look like a Super Bowl MVP or a 6th round draft pick?

The question that isn't being brought up alot yet but should be is whether this effects anybody related with this era of the Patriots chances of getting into the Hall of Fame? Does the Hall turn it's head when it comes to letting a known and blatant cheater into it hallowed halls like Belichick? This answer won't be known for many years, but this we do know. He was a losing coach until he came to New England and then had one of the greatest runs, if not the greatest, in NFL history. What changed? That's left to the fan and the voting committee to weigh in their own heads. Is it possible that this could hang over Brady's head as well when his call the Canton comes? Again, we won't know until five years after he is retired.

I want to know how wide spread this is. I want to know if this was learned behavoir from someone else. I hate to name names but does anyone else notice that Bill Parcells keeps telling everyone to leave his little prodigy alone? I hate to think that the two greatest coaches of our time could be involved in such blatant cheating, but it seems that it could be a question that we have to face.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

829 days ago

Score 1

One thing that changed between Cleveland and New England was that Belichick was allowed to have some control over personnel in New England, but not in Cleveland.

Here's the thing, every team tries to steal signs, every team has had some successes in stealing signs, the Patriots broke their rules by trying to steal signs in an illegal way. However, the logistics of disseminating videotape, comparing it to plays run by a team, and then applying that to the multiple signalers on the other sideline are probably too much to be done during an individual game. You get 12 minutes at half-time in a normal game. It'd be pretty tough to do anything with the information gathered in that time span.

I've heard a lot of people saying "This isn't the first time the Patriots did this." Well this isn't the first time that teams the Patriots have beaten have made excuses or whined.

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