Cowher, Jimmy Johnson comments - refereshing

[NYCPatsFan]

This is in the bottom of page 1 and continues in Page 2 in today's boston.com

Not sure how up-to-date the last section on our purpoted tampering of the Jesters communication system is. If true, happy that there will no further distraction on that issue.

http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...09/17/report_belichick_earns_new_deal/?page=2

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Rallying cries

Yesterday, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, now working as a studio host for CBS, said he didn't feel the Patriots' videotaping procedures had any impact on New England's playoff victories over his old club.

Steelers receiver Hines Ward said otherwise Wednesday, noting that during the 2001 AFC Championship game - a 24-17 Patriots win - "they knew a lot of our calls." The Patriots also beat the Steelers in the 2004 AFC Championship game, 41-27.

"The two AFC Championship games that we lost to the New England Patriots, I don't believe this had any factor in it," Cowher said during the pregame show. "I have too much respect for Tom Brady, for [Corey ] Dillon, for [Deion] Branch and also for Coach Belichick. I think he's still a good coach."

Yet Cowher does believe the Patriots crossed the line with their actions in New York.

"From a coach's perspective, trying to steal signals is part of the game. We understand that as a coach. You see walkie-talkies, tape recorders, but when you take the camera on the field, that's just arrogance," he said. "I think the penalty was stiff by the commissioner. I think it will be a good deterrent."

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports obtained portions of the videotape seized by the NFL. Fox aired portions of the tape, which focused on multiple Jets assistant coaches and their signals, before panning up to the scoreboard to indicate down and distance.

After seeing the footage, former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson - who works as a host on Fox's pregame show - said on the show: "This is exactly how I was told to do it 18 years ago by a Kansas City Chiefs scout. I tried it, but I didn't think it helped us."

Johnson added that "every team has got a file on the other team. I used to send an intern up to the opposing coach's box after the game and go through the trash. Because after the game, what do they do? They take their game plan and their scouting reports and throw them away. My intern would get all of that stuff and put it right in the file."

Johnson, who has fished with Belichick on the Florida Keys in recent years, defended the coach to a degree.

"Bill Belichick was wrong because he videotaped signals after a memo was sent out to all of the teams saying not to do it," he said. "But what irritates me is hearing some reactions from players and coaches. These players don't know what their coaches are doing. And some of the coaches have selective amnesia because I know for a fact there were various teams doing this. That's why the memo was sent to everybody. That doesn't make him [Belichick] right, but a lot of teams are doing this."

There were also audio irregularities cited during the game, but Goodell told Glazer the league investigated interference of the Jets' coach-to-quarterback communication system, but found no proof of any tampering by the Patriots.

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[Bella*chick]

Jimmy Johnson has got our back. He's awesome. Bill Cowher's comments are great as well. It's not like BB did nothing wrong, but some MAJOR perspective is needed here.

We need huge doses of Jimmy Johnson from here on out. He was a great coach and I always liked hearing his thoughts even before all of this.

 

[shmessy]

THAT LAST SENTENCE IN THE ARTICLE IS THE REAL BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

That was tucked in at the end, but that is a huge development.

 

[Bella*chick]

THAT LAST SENTENCE IN THE ARTICLE IS THE REAL BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

That was tucked in at the end, but that is a huge development.

I noticed that. Now, I assume that is different than this "miked defensive players" stuff Kramer was referring to last night?

How many different investigations do the Jets need? What a pathetic franchise.

 

[shmessy]

I noticed that. Now, I assume that is different than this "miked defensive players" stuff Kramer was referring to last night?

How many different investigations do the Jets need? What a pathetic franchise.

It is a separate issue, and there are several, but at least we can scratch that one off the list.

 

[Bella*chick]

It is a separate issue, and there are several, but at least we can scratch that one off the list.

I'm almost afraid to ask what else there is besides what Kramer said, and the tapes back to 2000 stuff we heard about yesterday.....

 

[shmessy]

BTW, the extending of this investigation, the unauthorized leaking by the competition committee of the Estrella tape and the timing of Goodell's grandstanding during the game all point to a concerted campaign at this point.

The initial situation through Thursday, I sided with the league in that BB was the offending party in breaking a clearly stated (new) league rule. (And I took alot of guff from many here for that).

However, the subsequent piling on, leaks and oddly timed Goodell threats against the Patriots are turning my overall opinion here.

I understand Goodell is still the new kid on the block and is under pressure from the other 31 teams - - we must appreciate the position he is in. However, the Patriots are now being piled upon and basically should tell Goodell "If you want a ****storm , we'll give you an uncontrollable ****storm by making public all the Polian, Mangini, etc. subterfuge that we have been keeping quiet about all along.

BB has kept quiet on what opponents have done. You don't think he knows about many, many instances like this?

The initial penalty and issue, IMHO, was fair. BB was stupid to do such a thing so openly and brazenly. This new stuff about going back to 2000 however may open a can of worms for the league that it may not want.

 

[dtbrks]

I read that article too, it's nice to hear Jimmy say that.

On the other hand, I despise Steve Marricci now. He was like "never heard it happen, never, ever, ever"....
what a tool. He is CYA because HE did it and wants to get another job in the NFL

 

[SteelersFan]

Thank you Cowher for being a Steelers representative that has some common sense about this. Maybe Bettis and Hines Ward are still too bitter (even though they have a SB ring already) to be sensible about this but I totally agree with Cowher - whatever was alleged had no ultimate impact in the outcome.

 

[Pedrorocks458]

BTW, the extending of this investigation, the unauthorized leaking by the competition committee of the Estrella tape and the timing of Goodell's grandstanding during the game all point to a concerted campaign at this point.

The initial situation through Thursday, I sided with the league in that BB was the offending party in breaking a clearly stated (new) league rule. (And I took alot of guff from many here for that).

However, the subsequent piling on, leaks and oddly timed Goodell threats against the Patriots are turning my overall opinion here.

I understand Goodell is still the new kid on the block and is under pressure from the other 31 teams - - we must appreciate the position he is in. However, the Patriots are now being piled upon and basically should tell Goodell "If you want a ****storm , we'll give you an uncontrollable ****storm by making public all the Polian, Mangini, etc. subterfuge that we have been keeping quiet about all along.

BB has kept quiet on what opponents have done. You don't think he knows about many, many instances like this?

The initial penalty and issue, IMHO, was fair. BB was stupid to do such a thing so openly and brazenly. This new stuff about going back to 2000 however may open a can of worms for the league that it may not want.

I don't believe the tapes are part of a new investigation. It is simply an attempt to remove any future competitive advantage we may have gained with previous tapings.

 

[Bella*chick]

I don't believe the tapes are part of a new investigation. It is simply an attempt to remove any future competitive advantage we may have gained with previous tapings.

I think this is correct as well. No one really made it clear yesterday though.

 

[1976pats]

How many different investigations do the Jets need? What a pathetic franchise.

The Jets are devoting time, money and resources in an all-out effort to dig up something/anything to try and destroy BB. The hatred runs that deep. Maybe the Tubby Judas ought to spend some time trying to figure out how he doesn't end up with a 10 loss season.

 

[Pedrorocks458]

I think this is correct as well. No one really made it clear yesterday though.

Of course not. And they're running with it today but I believe it to be incorrect. If these were part of the investigation Goodell would have asked for them previously.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Thank you Cowher for being a Steelers representative that has some common sense about this. Maybe Bettis and Hines Ward are still too bitter (even though they have a SB ring already) to be sensible about this but I totally agree with Cowher - whatever was alleged had no ultimate impact in the outcome.

I look at Cowher's comments in a different way. He's basically saying that the Patriots stealing signals against the Steelers didn't contribute to the win right? There is no proof that this happened in any game, but week 1 against the Jets. They probably did it last year as well, but we dont' know yet.

Hearing the many former coaches saying that most teams do this and other things, are we to automatically assume that the Steeers are not one of those teams? Perhaps not. Just asking.

 

[Stop Being A Jerk]

Finally, some national exposure of the right point of view. BB was wrong and deserved to be punished and was. But the degree to which this has been overblown is literally laughable. Usually I'm quite sensitive to outside opinions (I'm trying to change that), but in this case it is so obvious that this is the right point of view that it doesn't even seem possible that anyone could see it otherwise. So it doesn't bother me in the least.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Two quick thoughts:

(1) I was under the impression that BB and many of the old timers are keeping mum in public because this is quite a widespread issue and so hoped that the league will find a better and mature way to tackle this. But after getting hit with unprecented fines and such a high draft pick - leave aside the public humiliation and slander that has tarnished our reputation - I am now less convinced.

(2) Request to the former and current players who talk to the press: before giving your 2 cents, why don't you chat with your former/current teams about what they did to pick up signals? And also, - this is specifically addressed to Mr. Bettis, Mr. Faulk and Mr. Ward who suggest that we benefitted in that CURRENT game due to signal pickups - given the various actions that precede before the snap (like the QB feed getting cut off etc), could you please evaluate if it is really practical/possible for any signal stealer to convey the current signal to the QB within seconds before the QB calls the play?

 

[gomezcat]

BTW, the extending of this investigation, the unauthorized leaking by the competition committee of the Estrella tape and the timing of Goodell's grandstanding during the game all point to a concerted campaign at this point.

The initial situation through Thursday, I sided with the league in that BB was the offending party in breaking a clearly stated (new) league rule. (And I took alot of guff from many here for that).

However, the subsequent piling on, leaks and oddly timed Goodell threats against the Patriots are turning my overall opinion here.

I understand Goodell is still the new kid on the block and is under pressure from the other 31 teams - - we must appreciate the position he is in. However, the Patriots are now being piled upon and basically should tell Goodell "If you want a ****storm , we'll give you an uncontrollable ****storm by making public all the Polian, Mangini, etc. subterfuge that we have been keeping quiet about all along.

BB has kept quiet on what opponents have done. You don't think he knows about many, many instances like this?

The initial penalty and issue, IMHO, was fair. BB was stupid to do such a thing so openly and brazenly. This new stuff about going back to 2000 however may open a can of worms for the league that it may not want.

Good post. I agree that there could be a bloodletting with a lot more stuff coming out about all teams. At that point, I suspect that Mangini would be looking for a new career.

The TV companies are going to be somewhat less than happy if the off the field stuff becomes the story and takes away from the Football. Can you imagine how advertisers are going to react to a major scandal? If I were the TV networks and advertisers, I would be having words....

 

[Return of the Nizz]

"From a coach's perspective, trying to steal signals is part of the game. We understand that as a coach. You see walkie-talkies, tape recorders, but when you take the camera on the field, that's just arrogance," he said. "I think the penalty was stiff by the commissioner. I think it will be a good deterrent."

See, this is the crap that is pissing me off. Walkie-talkies and tape recorders are okay but cameras are arrogant? What is the freakin difference? It's like saying it's okay to rob a bank with a knife but not with a gun. A gun would just be pure arrogance. This is all such hypocrisy.

 

[gomezcat]

See, this is the crap that is pissing me off. Walkie-talkies and tape recorders are okay but cameras are arrogant? What is the freakin difference? It's like saying it's okay to rob a bank with a knife but not with a gun. A gun would just be pure arrogance. This is all such hypocrisy.

I'm with you on that point. As much as I don't condone one over the other, I'm rather puzzled about the difference.

 

[Fixit]

Howie Long stepped up big, too.