With everything that has been happening in the world of sports this year — Michael Vick’s dog fighting allegations, NBA referees charged with gambling, ongoing debates about steroid use in baseball — I probably shouldn’t be too surprised to find out that an NFL team may have violated league rules that ban videotaping of the opponents’ sidelines. I just never thought the New England Patriots, arguably one of the best teams in the NFL during the past decade, would be the culprit.
The NFL is investigating several reported incidents involving the New England Patriots’ use of video cameras to “steal” signals from opposing team coaches on the sidelines.
The most recent incident occurred Sunday when NFL security confiscated a video camera and tape from a Patriots’ employee during their game against the New York Jets. Last season, a similar incident occurred when the Green Bay Packers complained to the league when they noticed a man with a Patriots’ staff credential was carrying a video camera on their sideline.
Earlier this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell met with Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick about his “interpretation” of the league’s rules, and an ESPN.com reported that Goodell feels the Patriots did violate the videotaping ban. The NFL is expected to rule on the incident on Friday.
It’s understandable that any team or athlete would want to gain some kind of competitive advantage over his opponent, but a team as deeply talented as the Patriots shouldn’t need to resort to those tactics. Yet if these allegations are true, what do these actions say about their team and coaching staff? Are the Patriots insecure about the talent on their team or are they simply playing head games with the NFL and the other teams in the league?
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