I attempted creating this sticky last week but it got buried in the avalanche of other threads. Hope this is useful...
Note - I didn't bother to include every journalist/story who is trying to slander us. But players - yes, I tried to include all because they should be knowing better.
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Sticky? BULLETIN MATERIAL FOR THE WHOLE YEAR
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Hopefully the players have this taped and read it every day: (Please add all you can!)
(1) "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
(2) Boston Globe: 9/13/07
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...s_to_patriots/
With spying accusations leveled this week against the Patriots, some of the Eagles left from the NFC title team are wondering if New England used bootleg film to their advantage in the Super Bowl. "Do I think about it? Mmm hmmm," said Brown, their starting cornerback.
"It's crazy. I just don't know how far back it goes. Something's not right about that." Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins found the accusations troublesome. "Now there's always going to be questions about the situation," Dawkins said Thursday. "Was it great adjustments at halftime or what?" "I was like, 'Man, I never saw that many screens," Brown said.
Brown wonders if it was normal playcalling from a team good enough to win three Super Bowls in four seasons, a Patriots team that used a strong scouting report to gain a fair edge, or was somebody picking up the Eagles defensive calls from a sideline camera
that deprived them of a fair shot?
(3) Boston Globe, 9/13/07
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...f_disapproval/
In Pittsburgh, Steelers receiver Hines Ward reflected on the AFC Championship game from the 2001 season, a 24-17 Patriots victory. Ward said he felt the Patriots had some unusual help in that game.
"Oh, they knew. They were calling our stuff out," he said. "They knew a lot of our calls. You would hope that during their run, when they were winning all their [three] Super Bowls, all that stuff wasn't going on. It seemed like they were a step ahead of us at all times, but those games are behind us. There's nothing we can do about it. You just look forward and see what the commissioner will do."
(4) Boston Globe, 9/13/07
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...f_disapproval/
Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, speaking on a conference call with Wisconsin reporters, had questions regarding the Patriots. "It just makes you wonder how long they've been doing this and did it really help them win some games," he said. "And
if they've been doing it in those games that they've won Super Bowls in or playoff [games]. That team has won some big games."
(5) Boston Globe, 9/13/07
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...f_disapproval/
Jacksonville defensive end Paul Spicer wasn't surprised at the investigation of the Patriots' alleged tactics. "This ain't news," he said. "I've heard it in the past. They finally got caught. The Patriots got caught. They're busted." Spicer added that commissioner Roger Goodell has "been hard on players; now let's see how hard he's going to be with a team." "They're the ones that have to pay the consequences for it," Spicer said. "If that's the way they feel like they have to get the upper hand, then so be it.
Everybody's been running around calling them geniuses for years. What are they going to say now?"
(6) ESPN, 9/13/07
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...fri&id=3017423
Turner told the players that their
playbooks would be locked up during their Saturday afternoon walk-through at Gillette Stadium. That was a guarantee. Normally, Turner might not be so overly paranoid about entering another team's stadium. But ever since news spread that the Patriots were videotaping the defensive signals of the New York Jets during New England's 38-14 win last Sunday, extra precautions were being made. "Norv wanted us to know that he was going to be careful," one Chargers player said. "We'd already heard a lot of things about the Patriots in the past. But what happened this week has made everybody a lot more cautious.
He was even talking about keeping Patriots employees from entering our hotel."
(7) ESPN, 9/13/07
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...fri&id=3017423
Added an NFC general manager: "The accusation far outweighs what is actually happening. This isn't rampant throughout the league. Now, the arrogance of thinking you could get away with it? That is the beauty of this. … It's the
height of arrogance." An AFC executive suggested that Belichick "probably got greedy and let whatever issues he has with [Jets coach Eric] Mangini get the best of him."
(8) ESPN, 9/11/07
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3017342
"It's a league issue, and they are handling it." -- Eric Mangini, New York Jets head coach
"Hopefully there's a harsh enough penalty that it's not worth it to try to cheat and try to get any advantage that you're not allowed to get. I hope the commissioner is just as harsh on them as he's been on individual players for making mistakes." -- Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback
"When you look back, it's scary. I think highly of their coaching staff and their personnel, but if that's the case, that's not right. I would consider it
cheating." -- Al Harris, Green Bay Packers cornerback
"
I think the Patriots actually live by the saying, 'If you're not cheating, you're not trying.' They live off that statement. Nothing surprises me really....You keep hearing the different stories about stuff that they do."
-- LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers running back
