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NY Daily News: Belicheat Apologists Have Signals Crossed

Apparantly Myers saw the tide turning and is now doing his best to turn it back.

Quote:

Bill Belichick, the master of deceptive defenses, has somehow come up with the greatest game plan of his career. He's found a way to turn himself into a martyr.

Thanks to some creative spinning by Belichick apologists, Eric Mangini is being portrayed as the bad guy/rat for turning in his one-time mentor and friend for cheating against him in the season opener.

To suggest Mangini is ungrateful and should have ignored his former boss blatantly cheating against him in his own house is ludicrous. "This is obviously a competitive league and you're talking about someone in the same division," one head coach said yesterday. "I don't think the football coaching world looks at it as if Eric turned his back on Belichick. The football world looks at it like the Patriots got busted."

Mangini is no saint. He was on Belichick's staff in New England, and if the Patriots benefitted by Belichick cheating - why else would he continue to do it? - that means Mangini benefitted as well, even if stealing defensive signals didn't help Mangini, a defensive coach. If New England didn't win three Super Bowls, would the Jets have hired Mangini as their head coach before he even turned 35?

But when Mangini's job changed, so did his allegiance.

There was a Belichick lovefest in Foxboro the other night. He was given a standing ovation when he ran onto the field before the victory over the Chargers, his players hugged him after the game and Belichick even waved to the fans. In an emotional locker room, Pats owner Robert Kraft incredibly presented Belichick with the game ball. This was after Belichick got Kraft fined $250,000 as part of Roger Goodell's punishment. More could be on the way as the investigation continues.

But now this story has turned into Mangini being disloyal to the man who got him into the business, which supposedly has made Mangini an outcast, even a target, in the coaching fraternity by breaking some kind of code.

What is that code? Let a guy with three Super Bowls rings get a fourth?

"I feel very comfortable with the people that I've known and know throughout the league," Mangini said. "I feel very comfortable with the situation."

His relationship with Belichick deteriorated last year when the Patriots filed tampering charges against the Jets - in essence, accusing the Jets of cheating, of all things - in the Deion Branch case. Goodell cleared the Jets of any wrongdoing in February. So, the relationship was too far gone for Mangini to call Belichick this summer during training camp and give him a friendly warning to cut out the video spying in the opener or he would turn him in.

Mangini's loyalty is to the Jets, not Belichick. If Belichick had the audacity to cheat against someone who was onto him, then he deserved to get caught. Mangini owed it to his players to prevent Belichick from gaining an edge that violated the rules.

Although Jets owner Woody Johnson was not available for comment yesterday, a source close to him said he unconditionally backs Mangini and the actions of the Jets security staff in the SypGate scandal.

"I don't think the coaching fraternity is turning on Eric," one head coach said. "The guy is trying to win the game and he owes it to the organization to take care of his team. The biggest thing is you don't want it to happen to you."

When Brian Billick said the Jets were disrupting the Ravens' offensive signals last week, it was viewed as anti-Mangini backlash. But in talking to the Daily News on Tuesday night, Billick was emphatic that he was criticizing the officials for not penalizing the Jets, not criticizing the Jets for doing it. He said he was not piling on Mangini. Besides, he says, he coaches his defensive players to bark out signals.

Clearly, the Belichick-Mangini relationship is destroyed beyond repair.

"Belichick isn't the warmest, cuddliest guy. He's constantly flaunting his influence," one NFC assistant coach said. "Here's an example: (San Francisco's) Mike Nolan wants to wear a suit on the sideline, a real classy thing for the league, but they won't let him because it's not Reebok apparel. Belichick, he goes against the norm. He wears this dirty, hooded sweatshirt, with the sleeves cut off, but he gets away with it because it's Reebok. He looks like a slob, but he doesn't care because no one can say anything."

One head coach is sure Belichick's video spying helped the Patriots, because his own team was able to steal defensive signals visually and legally. "Here's how the play sounds," he said. "You're the quarterback and you have a headset. I'm going to hit this button and say, 'Green right, fox 2, wide ram.' Then end it with, 'Heads up for Cover 2.' It can be beneficial."

Belichick was punished by Goodell. Belichick never confirmed he was a cheater. He never denied it either. We do know he's now a martyr.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...ls_crosse.html