Bill Belichick has been illegally taping opponents’ defensive signals since he became the New England Patriots’ coach in 2000, according to Sen. Arlen Specter, who said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told him that during a meeting Wednesday.
“There was confirmation that there has been taping since 2000, when Coach Belichick took over,” Specter said.
Specter said Goodell gave him that information during the 1-hour, 40-minute meeting, which was requested by Specter so the commissioner could explain his reasons for destroying the Spygate tapes and notes.
Brazen cheater.
I really want to make a t-shirt with Eli holding the trophy on the front and Belichick on the back looking dejected with a caption saying “cheaters never win.”
Actually, if they’ve been cheating since 2000, they do win–three times since then. I’m still not sure why that’s any particular business of Arlen Specter, however.
Oooohhhhh, time for another silly Congressional investigation into pro sports, rather than addressing the country’s real problems.
The NFL needs to kick Belichick out. Forever. Now. Publicly.
[blockquote] Specter said Goodell gave him that information during the 1-hour, 40-minute meeting, which was requested by Specter so the commissioner could explain his reasons for destroying the Spygate tapes and notes. [/blockquote]
It’s obvious, really. No tapes – no tangible evidence. No tangible evidence – no story. No story – no threat to the integrity of the league. People can speculate all they want. But there won’t be tangible proof. The NFL had to insure this outcome – especially if a super bowl outcome was involved.
You can bet the league cleared the destruction with NFL lawyers before the fact. Those lawyers probably said to destroy the tapes as soon as possible to avoid any complications involving obstruction of justice. As soon as the expectation of an investigation is reasonable, they would have had to be preserved. The NFL will get slapped around by Spectre, et. al, but this will go away for lack of evidence other than “He said, she said”. And the NFL lawyers will have earned their money for protecting the league.
carl
What business is this of the U.S. Congress? Same thing for Roger Clemens and steroid use. Let the NFL and MLB deal with their credibility.
#7 Katherine – You are right. Why is the Senate of the United States – [b] [i] the Senate of the United States! [/i] [/b] – investigating cheating in a football game? Don’t they have more important stuff to do?
The more time they spend on this tripe, the less time they have to legislate. Hmmm….never mind, maybe this is a good thing.
Apparently Spector sees a new precedent in our evolving constitution – a right to honest football games. [ from the WSJ ]