PonyExpress

IMO certain statements from Goodell's press conference have gotten wide dissemination, others not so much. For example, Goodell said the following:

"I'm not sure there is a coach in the league that doesn't expect that their signals are being interpreted by opposing teams. That's why they go to great lengths," Goodell said. "I think it was Coach [Bill] Parcells earlier this season who said, 'Any coach that doesn't expect his signals to be stolen is stupid.' It's pretty simple but teams understand that it's a risk and they prepare for that. I don't believe it affected the outcome of any games."

He also said the following:

"I think as far as the actual effectiveness of taping signals from opposing football teams or other sports is something that's done, and done quite widely, and teams prepare for that."

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...got_destroyed/

So the Commissioner stated that taping of signals from opposing football teams is done "widely" and other teams "prepare" for that; that any coach who is unprepared is "stupid"; and that it "didn't affect the outcome of any games".

Where's the story?

Additional thoughts:

1. The Tomase story:
Assuming the Tomase story is factual:

a. Is there anything covered in NFL rules governing the taping of opposing practices? George Allen was an advocate of this with the Redskins in the 1970s, and people still laugh about it.

"we should take a look back at the most famous spy in league history, the late Rams and Redskins head coach George Allen.

Allen basically convinced everyone in the league he was spying on them even though no one ever truly nailed him. I've often heard former Cowboys director of personnel Gil Brandt allude to evidence, but he's hesitant to produce any. I know for a fact that the Cowboys used to rent out the second floor of a Dallas hotel because it offered views of the club's old practice facility and they didn't want Rams "spies" to take advantage.

Hall of Famer Bob Lilly once told me that a helicopter flying over practice might cause head coach Tom Landry to send his players home early. Former Cowboys and Patriots scout Bucko Kilroy, who died recently, was at the center of one of Allen's favorite stories.

In 1967, Landry credited some of Allen's antics for helping the Rams rout the Cowboys, 35-13.

"It was early in the season, and we were working out over at a high school in Dallas," Landry told The Dallas Morning News. "We noticed that there was a car there every day. Finally, we got somebody to check it out, and we found out it was a rented car. We traced it down, and it ended up that one of the LA Rams scouts was watching practice.

"Everybody got excited about it. George just said the only reason he did it was because Bucko Kilroy was watching his practice. Bucko was one of our scouts. He was a big guy, about 260 or 270. [Allen] said he caught Bucko up a tree watching the Rams' practice. We just laughed because Bucko could never get up a tree.

"It was so important in the newspapers all week, we ended up getting beat. We were thinking about the scouting more than the game."

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/hashmarks...A-Cheater.html

George Allen is revered as a coaching saint in football circles. We know Paul Brown secretly introduced radio sideline communications, and it only became widespread in the NFL when it was accidentally discovered. We know George Halas bugged opposing locker rooms, and according to Steve Sabol, sent fraudulent game film to opposing teams to damage their preparations vs the Bears. We understand that George Allen had a predilection for spying. According to Jimmy Johnson, when he took over from Shula in Miami, the staff told him not to worry about the 15 second communication cut off between sideline and Qb prior to offensive snaps, because "they had a way to circumvent that talking to Marino". ["I'll tell you the comments that Jimmy Johnson had about it yesterday kind of opened my eyes. I don't condone the actions, but I think this goes on a lot more than we, myself included, realized. Jimmy said that when he got to the Miami Dolphins, they told him they had a way to circumvent the 15-second cut-off for coach-to-quarterback communication. That's a huge advantage" http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...at_transcript/] So Shula had some technique that circumvented offensive communications rules. We know that Jimmy Johnson said he used video of opposing signals when he was coaching. We know Parcells has alluded to similar practices. Johnson also stated that he learned his techniques from Schottenheimer, who employed the current Colts O-line coach, Howard Mudd, to do those things.

So here is a brief list of coaches who participated in these hijinks:

George Halas
Paul Brown
George Allen
Jimmy Johnson
Don Shula
Marty Schottenheimer
BB

That's the Mt. Rushmore of the NFL, folks.

RhodyPatriot

Not only taping a practice but doing so out in the open where everyone can see. The NFL is the sports equivalent to war games. Spying has gone on, does go on, will go on. It goes on with the Patriots and it goes on against the Patriots. I have no problem with it. Football is a man's game. Take no prisoners. The whining going on now with today's media is symptomatic of the femanization and wussification of American culture.

mosi

I think John Borges, I mean John Tomase should be fired for this. To publish a story like this, about your hometown team before the superbowl, is reason enough. If something illegal was done, that is one thing, but this is just silly.

NYCPatsFan

PonyExpress - did you consider sending this to Reiss or Young? If no, please do so.

Why can't any credible national reporter point out these??

Can't believe that I am fuming about this on the eve of SB instead of getting pumped up about the game...

mac

In part, the Pats run of Super Bowls has helped Tomase"s career--more money, more exposure etc. To print allegations or innuendo on the eve of the Super Bowl strikes me as hypocritical--and disloyal. He surely seems to be cutting his ties in terms of future access.

Smoke Eater

I'd love to see the Pat's just pack up and go home giving a big F#CK YOU to the media and everyone involved with this BS.

Think about the dead air Sunday. The loss in ad revenues. The Giants would have a worthless trophy and everyone would know the Pats are the real champs.

Someone needs to step up and stop this mess with the media. Goodell isn't doing much.

JDP111

Thats the worst idea ever. EVER.

BradyFTW!

Agreed. Wow, that's just a terrible, terrible idea.

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BelichickFan

Paul Brown's a cheater :

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/...e-Radio-Helmet

"During an exhibition game against the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns ran plays like clockwork. Shortly before halftime, a suspicious Lions' coach noticed that Paul Brown was not using player substitutions for play calling. When a Lions' assistant spotted a radio transmitter hidden behind a post on the Browns' sidelines, word spread like wildfire. The rest of the league scrambled to create their own radio helmets, but none were as effective as the Sarles-Campbell device. Although the Cleveland Browns used the radio helmet in three more games, NLF Commissioner Bert Bell soon outlawed all such communication systems."

Fencer

It's only cheating if it's against the rules or against the law.

Until that point it's just clever.