The elephant in the stadium: Spygate's cloud of innuendo still dogs Patriots*

[stillers4me]

Mike Tomlin calls it the sticky Lombardi because of all the handprints that stick to the trophy after the NFL commissioner awards it to the new Super Bowl champions.

Many believe the three Lombardi Trophies previously won by the New England Patriots* remain sticky for other reasons and that perhaps Roger Goodell should have dusted them for fingerprints rather than destroy the evidence of wrongdoing that helped produce that cache.

Spygate, they called it. Coach Bill Belichick's Patriots* were caught redhanded in 2007 secretly taping opponents' coaches' hand signals and, presumably, matching them with video cutups of plays in order for New England's defense to know which offensive play was coming.

That violated NFL policy, and Goodell fined Belichick the maximum of $500,000, fined the Patriots* $250,000 and docked them a first-round draft choice in 2008. Then the commissioner destroyed the evidence, the tapes that prompted him to levy the punishment. One theory is that those tapes may have provided such clear evidence of cheating that to be made public would be to forever call in question New England's three Super Bowl victories. So Goodell pulled his Rosemary Woods and erased them...............


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036...#ixzz1lVwiPDT2

[suitanim]

I will never forget.

[fansince'76]

If they lose today, it will only strengthen the suspicions...

[Count Steeler]

For that main reason, I want them to lose today. I am so sick of their smugness and arrogance. Oh, if we were healthy.

[VTsteel]

Ward's opinions, like those of most Steelers involved in the 2001 and 2004 AFC championship games, are much stronger because they are convinced the Patriots won both of those games in Heinz Field because they cheated.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036...#ixzz1lWM82Dpc



Yeah, ya know it still boggles me that some Steelers faithful decide to disagree w/ Hines that the Cheats "victories" in those two games were not influenced by their cheating. For real?

Those asterisks will always stand next to those wins in my opinion.

Even if they win today (God forbid) . . . those 1st three trophies will always have the stench of their cheating all over them.

[tube517]

[Butch]

I will never forget.

AMEN!!! I still remember Hines words after the loss in the championship game where he stated "It was as if they knew our plays before we ran them."

I'm not saying we woulda won if they hadn't cheated, but the game will now forever be tainted. Because of this I will never ever pull for a belicheat team...lest we forget!!!

[salamander]

Roger Goodell forgot very quickly.

[smokin3000gt]

Like it was said, the evidence and video had to be so damning that it would have tainted not only the patriots* but the league too. NOTHING else has been swept under like this. Hell of a team, and as much as I hate brady, he is a hoffer for sure but I'll never think their SB rings were legit. Hell, after they got busted and lost all their tapes, their team stopped looking super-human and fell into mediocrity. Coincedence? I don't think so..

[silver & black]

I remember there were some Raiders players saying it was "like they knew what we were going to do" during the "tuck/snow job" game.

[Edman]

It probably wouldn't be held under such scrutiny if the Goodell didn't cover it up so quickly. The NFL likes to pretend it never exists, but it does.

It'll be called into scrutiny even more should New England lose today.

[The WH]

"The Steelers in the 70's used steroids".

That ladies and gentlemen is a New Englanders fallback defense 9 times out of 10.

To that I say "Really? Really? REALLY?" When THAT is your defense it basically means "yeah, I know, but I'm too stubborn to admit you're right"

I also say shame on the Rooney's and the 30 other league owners for NOT chasing this issue to the ends of the earth.

That stuff they destroyed must have been powerful enough to nearly destroy the whole league. OR quite possibly that Kraft had dirt on the league that if spoken would have destroyed the league. Either way.... it's still a load of horseshit. I don't say this as a Steelers fan, even, just someone that hates corruption.

[Count Steeler]

It probably wouldn't be held under such scrutiny if the Goodell didn't cover it up so quickly. The NFL likes to pretend it never exists, but it does.

It'll be called into scrutiny even more should New England lose today.

So it is in Goodell's best interest for the Pats* to win? Oh, oh.

[steelerdiva]

Even IF the Pats* win today, that still won't wash the stink off their other SB trophies as far as I'm concerned.

[T&B fan]

ck my signature , that is all

[Edman]

0-2 in Super Bowls since Spygate.

Suck on it, Patsies.

[salamander]

I am now officially convinced that the Patriots* can't win a Super Bowl without cheating

[steel striker]

I'm so glad the cheats lost and, maybe this will knock that smug look off Brady's face.

[Count Steeler]

I'm so glad the cheats lost and, maybe this will knock that smug look off Brady's face.

That smug look is permanently etched on that jerk offs face.

[Godfather]

A small sample of the Spygate tapes did get leaked. Saw them on TV a few years ago.

It was from a game against Cleveland. They showed Crennel and his assistants giving hand signals, then showed the formation from a wide angle, then the play. One of the commentators was a former football player and said he didn't know how serious that looked to a lay person, but it was a huge deal and anyone would love to have something like that to prepare for a game.

[Count Steeler]

Tom Terrific if he knows what the defense is doing.

Tom the crybaby pussy when the defense is not so obvious. Tom the crybaby pussy when he gets hit.

[ALLD]

"Tom is so competitive....he is possibly the greatest QB of all time." (That lost two SBs). Even elway is not considered in Montana's class.

[Count Steeler]

A small sample of the Spygate tapes did get leaked. Saw them on TV a few years ago.

It was from a game against Cleveland. They showed Crennel and his assistants giving hand signals, then showed the formation from a wide angle, then the play. One of the commentators was a former football player and said he didn't know how serious that looked to a lay person, but it was a huge deal and anyone would love to have something like that to prepare for a game.

Billicheat did get fined 1/2 million dollars. That tells you how severe the cheating was. Why it did not go further and have the Pats* vacate the SBs, I'll never know. I'd still love to know what Kraft has on Goodell.

[ALLD]

If they can win a SB without cheating they should prove it on thei field.

[Count Steeler]

The thing is, even knowing what was coming, they never won an SB by more than 3 points. Don't know if that was by design so as not to raise suspicion, but this team is just not as good as pundits keep saying.

[Bluecoat96]

I think that "elephant in the stadium" just took a shit on the Pats*.

[fansince'76]

The thing is, even knowing what was coming, they never won an SB by more than 3 points. Don't know if that was by design so as not to raise suspicion, but this team is just not as good as pundits keep saying.

I don't think it was a huge advantage for them, but it WAS an advantage, and even the slightest edge in the Salary Cap Era in the NFL could arguably be enough. It's being borne out more and more as time goes on, too.

[tube517]

0-2 in Super Bowls since Spygate.

Suck on it, Patsies.

When the Steelers don't win the Super Bowl, it's always nice to see:

The Ravens lose in heartbreaking fashion.
The Patriots * can't win without cheating.
The Cryboys can't even make it to the playoffs.

[Godfather]

The thing is, even knowing what was coming, they never won an SB by more than 3 points. Don't know if that was by design so as not to raise suspicion, but this team is just not as good as pundits keep saying.

Probably not by design. You don't want to keep it that close because an unlucky bounce or fluke play can beat you.

Plus in the Carolina game, Kasay shanked the kickoff out of bounds after they tied it.

[I-Want-Troy's-Hair]

[QUOTE=tube517;261273][/QUOTE

That * gets even bigger after tonight.