NFL fines Belichick, strips Patriots of draft pickAssociated Press
NEW YORK -- Roger Goodell's hard line on discipline, aimed so far at players, came down this time on a coach and a team.
New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 Thursday and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals. The commissioner also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs, and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't. If the Patriots lose their first-rounder next season they still will have a first-round pick, obtained from San Francisco in the deal that brought Moss from Oakland.
"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots. Reached at his home, Patriots owner Robert Kraft declined to comment.
The videotaping came to light after a camera was confiscated from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets' sideline during New England's 38-14 win last Sunday at Giants Stadium. The Jets issued a statement saying, "We support the commissioner and his findings. The focus of our organization remains on the upcoming game against Baltimore." The NFL said the camera was seized before the end of the first quarter and had no impact on the game. Goodell said he considered suspending Belichick but didn't "largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension."
...NFL rules state "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." They also say all video for coaching purposes must be shot from locations "enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead." That was re-emphasized in a memo sent Sept. 6 to NFL head coaches and general managers. In it, Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations wrote: "Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."
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But some of New England's past opponents wanted the penalty to be more harsh. "I think they should forfeit, man," said Reno Mahe, whose Philadelphia Eagles lost the 2005 Super Bowl to the Patriots. "We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it. I'm going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring."**********************************
I would love to see a Super Bowl ring reallocation ceremony, whereby Patriots hand their rings to Eagles players. Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens would be sitting side-by-side, with TO saying
"PASS IT TO ME!!!!!!"
Patriots Cheat Camera?
