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NFL Patriots coach BeliCHEAT officially a cheater


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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-g...ov=ap&type=lgns

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Sen. Arlen Specter, that New England Patriots coach, Belichick has been illegally taping opponent to gain defensive edge during all his victorious SuperBowl run. (Not counting his only lost in XLii)

Give back the St Louis RAMS the ring, no wonder why the patriots stop this powerful offense.

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This does raise a lot of questions for me.

First, is it a coincidence that Arlen Specter is making these acqusations, or is there a reason there (Eagles)? I myself am an Eagles fan, and I am wondering that.

Next, if there was a cover up, which it looks strongly like there was, how deep does it go? Did Goodell destroy the tapes so that this wouldn't come out and taint football? Was he afraid of what would happen if word got out, eg Steroids in Baseball?

If more information is uncovered, what will happen to Belichick? (I wouldn't mind seeing him canned!)

Anyhow, this should be interesting as this plays out.

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/foot...l.ap/index.html

Wow.

Goodell: Pats have taped since 2000

Belichick told NFL commish he thought it was OK to do

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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.

"There were a great many questions answered by Commissioner Goodell," Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters after the meeting. "I found a lot of questions unanswerable because of the tapes and notes had been destroyed."

Goodell said Belichick told him he believed the taping was legal; Goodell said he did not concur.

"He said that's always been his interpretation since he's been the head coach," the commissioner said. "We are going to agree to disagree on the facts."

Specter, from Pennsylvania, wants to talk to other league officials about what exactly was taped and which games may have been compromised.

"We have a right to have honest football games," he said.

Goodell noted that "we were the ones that disclosed" the Patriots' illegal taping of the New York Jets' defensive signals in Week 1 of last season. Further, Goodell said, they had an admission by Belichick.

"I have nothing to hide," Goodell said.

Goodell also told Specter that that he doesn't regret destroying the Spygate tapes or the notes.

"I think it was the right thing to do," Goodell said.

Still, Specter wants to know why penalties were imposed on Belichick before the full extent of the wrongdoing was known and the tapes destroyed in a two-week span. Asked if he thinks there was a coverup, Specter demurred.

"There was an enormous amount of haste," Specter said.

He scoffed at the reasons Goodell gave for destroying the tapes and notes, particularly about trying to keep them out of competitors' hands and because Belichick had admitted to the taping.

"What's that got to do with it? There's an admission of guilt, you preserve the evidence," Specter said. As for keeping the tapes out of the hands of others: "All you have to do is lock up the tapes."

Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 because of the Spygate incident. The Patriots also forfeited a first-round draft pick.

Specter has questioned the quality of the NFL's investigation into the matter and raised the possibility of congressional hearings if he wasn't satisfied with Goodell's answers. Specter also raised the threat of Congress canceling the league's antitrust exemption and reiterated that in the meeting with Goodell.

Goodell also said he has not heard from Matt Walsh, the former Patriots employee who performed some videotaping duties for the team.

Walsh told The Associated Press last week during the Pro Bowl in Hawaii that he couldn't talk about allegations that he taped a walkthrough practice by the St. Louis Rams before the 2002 Super Bowl. New England, a two-touchdown underdog, won that game 20-17.

Goodell said he has offered Walsh a deal whereby "he has to tell the truth and he has to return anything he took improperly" in return for indemnity. Specter said he, too, wanted to talk to Walsh and perhaps offer a different deal.

Goodell also said he reserves the right to reopen the investigation if more information is uncovered.

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Clearly the tapes were destroyed b/c of the simple fact that if the proof came out that all those games (including superbowls) were tainted, the NFL would lose a tremendous amount of "value" in fan's eyes. When a sport's fairness/legitamacy comes into question in the fans' eyes, that sport can be in SERIOUS trouble.

Obviously, the NFL comish (Goodell) wants all the information destroyed, because if it became known just how intrusive the cheating was, there would be uprisings from EVERY fan base outside of New England - wanting the results of those games reversed, etc...

...we're talking about people wanting the effects of New England erased from the last 8 years of football.

Individual players "cheat" in many ways every day - this is the sad reality in the rediclously under-enforced world of the NFL... Team-wide cheating is obviously okay according to Goodell... but if REAL evidence was available to all... it could ruin the game.

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RQ - isn't that an AP article, so it's the same?

Yes, sorry - when I first clicked on your link, all I got was a small summary of the article... but now the entire article is up. So yes, now the two links are of the same story.

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HAHA look whos hating on bill belichick...

oh yes the st. louis people and the new york people. surprise.

Way to completely look past the fact that he's been cheating for the last 9 years and got away with it until this year.

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