Originally Posted by PaulRevere

From the NFL Game Day Operations Manual states:

1. Page 105 of the Game Operations manual: "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." It later says: "All video shooting locations must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead."

By the way - it's not a rule book but a manual. It also covers things like the number of footballs the home team has to provide and appropriate clothing to be worn. It seems like after several complaints from teams about opponents taping (perhaps Green Bay about the Pats) a "clarifying" memo was sent out:

A memo from Ray Anderson, NFL head of football operations, to head coaches and GMs on Sept. 6, 2006 said: "Video taping 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."

Now a confusing this for me is, a team is allowed to film the game from various points in the stands if it has the other teams permission. This was the jets issue from a couple years ago. They were caught filming, claimed they had permission but the Pats disputed that. So, the "rule" is rather fungible in how it is applied.

At the end of the day this is not about rules or memos but a lazy and overzealous media feeding on the passions and ignorance of sports fans around the country and made worse by incompetent Commissioner. It was then co-opted by a head-line seeking politician.

Originally Posted by Sean Pa Patriot

You can bet tom when you read papers like the NY Daily news, and other papers , it will call for the end of Belichick and more punishment, because of offensive signals taped.. It makes no difference, and again if any more punishment is enforced and depending on what it is, I might be done as a fan of the nfl...

Originally Posted by JoeSixPat

If anyone is an ESPN "insider" I'd love to see what John Clayton has to say about signal stealing PRE Spygate when the Dolphins were caught using tape of Brady's offensive calls

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2696227



Without convening a congressional hearing or hiring an independent counsel to investigate the incident, the NFL has ruled that the Miami Dolphins violated no league rules in the Tapegate affair associated with the team's 21-0 victory over the New England Patriots last Sunday.

Quick Hits

Teams are always trying to steal signs and signals off other teams. That's just football.
• For more of John Clayton's analysis, click here.

The incident spawned considerable attention on Tuesday after some Dolphins players suggested to the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post that the team "purchased" tapes of the New England offense that provided audio of quarterback Tom Brady making audible and line-blocking calls.

Those players strongly hinted that the tapes were critical in preparing for the game and provided the Dolphins inside information about New England's offensive audible system.

"I've never seen [Brady] so flustered," middle linebacker Zach Thomas said.

The league's response? Pretty much a stifled yawn, since there is no rule prohibiting such film study.

"Reaction around the league office was, 'That's football,' " AFC spokesman Steve Alic said.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, speaking Wednesday at his news conference, doubted that Miami gained an advantage.

"I stand out on that field every day, as do our defensive players -- who are pretty smart players -- and I don't see it," Belichick said. "If I can't pick it up and our players can't pick it up, with what we know and the opportunity to see and work against each other, I have a hard time thinking somebody else [could]."

Even with the contentions of the Miami defenders, there remains uncertainty over just what measures the Dolphins took in their surveillance of the New England offense. While players said the team "purchased" the tape, coach Nick Saban said his club simply watched TV replays of Brady in an attempt to decipher the calls.

One Miami defender said it is common practice to take a TV tape of a game and enhance the volume to try to hear the quarterback's signals. The so-called "coaching" tapes supplied by the league to teams do not include audio. Television tapes often capture a quarterback's calls at the line of scrimmage because of the parabolic microphones used on the sideline.

Despite the attention garnered by the story, most league observers dismissed the importance of whatever the Dolphins did and chose to attribute the shutout victory to superior execution.

The Dolphins limited the Patriots to 12 first downs and 189 yards and held Brady to 78 passing yards and a passer rating of 55.1 while sacking him four times.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

Originally Posted by LuthierJr

Man.... when I think about it this way... we royally got ****ed in the ass.