Perspective on the Patriots Camera

There are no words that can defend or absolve Bill Belichick in the midst of last week's video camera incident. There are, however, quite a few words to be said about the ridiculous and hypocritical assault by most of the country on Belichick, the Patriots, and at times, all things New England.

For those returning from a sabbatical in outer-space, here is a brief account of last week's happenings. The New England Patriots were caught violating a league rule by using a video camera to steal defensive signals during their game against the New York Jets to open the 2007 NFL season. Although it is rumored the Patriots have been warned about such practices in the past, this was the only official blemish on what has been a model, successful, community-oriented franchise over the last decade.

In summary, the Patriots were caught trying to use an illegal device to steal signals. Not to be overlooked when rushing to moral judgment is the universally known fact that every NFL team steals signals. Period. The catch is, not many do it with cinematographers; they simply steal the signals live during the game, a practice that is allowed and apparently condoned by the NFL.

However, the media, and many fans, are framing this issue as though Belichick's violation of a single rule is the sports equivalent of Watergate. It has received far more media attention than the Iraq quagmire this week – even FoxNews brought in resident experts to pontificate on the “cheating.” Quotes are necessary because rules are broken in sports, much like life, every day of the week. The media only refers to such violations as cheating when they either involve in a black man named Barry, or a successful coach in New England. What do both men have in common? They are two of the most successful people ever in the history of their respective professions, and they won't give the media the time of day.

I have reserved comment in this space on this incident because I assumed that the overblown reaction would quickly fade away in this what-happened-five-seconds-ago world of the Internet we live in. I assumed the Patriots would soundly crush the Chargers without any cameras present and we could return to discussing football. But the story seems to only grow, and now Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com has suggested that Belichick will be banned from the league within the year.

I sincerely apologize to those just returning from space if this story sounds too ludicrous to be true. You must be thinking: Surely all NFL coaches push the rules to the extreme, Stealing signs is stealing signs, what's the big deal?

Apparently, being at the pinnacle of your profession (coupled with a rocky relationship with the media) means everyone is quick to chop you down, regardless of the violation. Sure, deliberately breaking a rule, especially after being warned, is more severe than a holding penalty. But in terms of immoral acts, it is certainly quite harmless (more of a slap in the face to the league than anything else), and in terms of a competitive advantage, it falls somewhere between knowing an usher who saw the Jets practice and knowing a journalist who saw the Jets practice. As Sean Salisbury said – one of the few members of the media who has not lost his mind to righteous insanity – even if the Patriots could successfully decipher the signals at some point, the Jets could (and would) change them. Salisbury claims that many teams will often give false signals, as is the practice in baseball, to confuse sign thieves and prevent them from ever feeling comfortable with a read. Clearly this sounds like enough of a competitive edge to propel a 6-10 team to three Super Bowls and five division titles in six years!

And isn't an unfair competitive advantage what all the fuss is about from the media and the other 31 teams? If Arizona were caught doing this would anyone care? I don't recall anyone screaming for the Vikings to be thrown out of the league for two years because of the so-called “whizzinator” incident a few years back. Shawn Merriman is the highest profile NFL star to test positive for steroids, and there wasn't a single voice in the media last year demanding that the games San Diego won in which he played be forfeited. In fact, Merriman is still ogled at and revered for his game changing ability, as evidenced by his Nike commercial that ran 427 times on Sunday, and NBC's Sunday Night Coverage of the Chargers-Patriots game, in which countless references were made to the Patriots “cheating,” but when Merriman's transgression was recounted, Al Michael's referred to it as “violating” a “policy.”

How is video taping to steal signals, when everyone steals signals anyway, more of a competitive advantage than performance enhancing drugs? And it's not merely Merriman who uses special "vitamins;" only those naïve enough to believe bodybuilders are muscular from “hard work and nutrition” could also think that drugs aren't commonplace in the NFL. Every NFL team has, at the minimum, a handful of prominent drug users, and Belichick's Patriots are no exception.

Of course the violations in the NFL extend well beyond drugs. In the moral outrage category, Michael Vick will be joining many Cincinnati Bengals in jail. Ray Lewis obstructed justice in a murder trial. The Carolina Panthers ran an illegal drug ring in which their punter was involved (but the outcry this week is to strip the Patriots of their Super Bowl win over Carolina?).

As for the proverbial competitive advantage, “cheating” has been taking place for years. Herm Edwards used stick-um. The 49ers fudged the books to beat the salary cap. Mark Schlereth claims Vikings defensive lineman lubricated themselves so much they were like “Teflon baking sheets.” The Colts were even accused of playing supplemental crowd noise in the dome while on defense.

And scoring a ten on the ironic scale, the Jets have now been accused by Brian Billick of illegally simulating the snap count during the Ravens game, leading to three false start penalties. Where is the moral backlash? Why no “cheating” headlines for Coach Mangini? Why not revoke the Jets win in Super Bowl III?

As for Mangini, his comfortable position in New York – coincidentally home the National Football League headquarters – has allowed him to go unnoticed as Judas. He essentially owes his coaching position to the tutelage of Bill Belichick, and in a game of one-upmanship he ratted out Belichick like Donnie Brasco. Why isn't anyone wondering if Mangini knew what was going on because he used to partake in such behavior when he was a member of the Patriots and has he done it himself in New York?

Finally, the most egregious comepetitve advantage from this weekend was obtained in Denver when Mike Shanahan resorted to calling a timeout at the last possible second to stop a potential game-losing field goal, a practice he has resorted to numerous times in the past. For those who missed it, tied at 20 in overtime, the Raiders Sebastian Janikowski boomed a 52 yard field goal in for an Oakland win, only to have the play nullified because Shanahan purposefully called timeout at the last possible second before the play started, forcing Janikowski to make an incredibly difficult kick twice in a row.

Besides the obvious unsportsmanlike nature of the action, how is it possible for Shanahan to call timeout before the play starts, yet the play started anyway? What does he tell the official, “I want to call timeout right before this play after this play starts?” On TV, the whistles clearly blew after the play started, and the only official in view from the endzone raised his arms for a timeout well after the play commenced. Yet, the points were discredited, Janikowski predictably missed his second attempt, and Denver drove down the field to win the game.

But let us not forget, according to most Americans, Bill Belichick is a giant cheater and everything the Patriots, and maybe the entire state of Massachusetts has ever done successfully, is because of Belichick's horrible and morally reprehensible actions.

Hopefully at some point the holier-than-thou fans and media will put this camera issue to bed and focus on the Patriots for what they truly are: a great football team.