Next let’s look at the Rats’ own video taping practices.
Jets videotaped Patriots last season in Foxborough - NFL - ESPN
‘“The Jets were caught videotaping at Gillette Stadium last season and the Patriots had that New York employee removed from the area, according to published reports Wednesday. Jets coach Eric Mangini said his team received permission to film behind both end zones during the playoff game in January.
"We taped the game is what we taped, and we taped end-zone copy of the game, and we tape a double-end zone, which is standard operating procedure for us," Mangini said Wednesday. "We request that every single road game, and it's usually granted if physically it's possible. And when people request it from us, we do the same thing: We grant it."
Mangini maintained the Jets did nothing wrong and had filmed at New England during the regular season without incident. It was nothing like what the Patriots did earlier this season, when a New England employee was caught taping New York's defensive signals and punished by the league.
"We do it every time we go on the road," Mangini repeated. "We ask for permission to do it. It's within the league rules, and when people ask us to do it, we grant it, as well."
When asked why the Patriots stopped the Jets if they had already given them permission, Mangini just shrugged.
"I don't know," he said. "Really, it just was what it was. We had asked for permission, it was granted and then that changed, and we respect their decision. It's their stadium."
Mangini was also asked if the Jets were, at all, taping the Patriots' defensive signals.
"No," Mangini said.
He was then asked if the Patriots requested similar permission to have someone taping at various angles or end-zone angles. Again, Mangini replied simply: "No."
The Jets have not asked the undefeated Patriots if they can film from the end zones this Sunday at Foxborough.
"Just didn't look to get permission," Mangini said. "Didn't think it would be granted."
New England coach Bill Belichick refused to address the situation during his news conference with Patriots reporters.
"There's a lot of things that have happened in the past," Belichick said. "Really, the past is in the past."
Patriots players were also staying away from the issue, much as they did when Pittsburgh's Anthony Smith guaranteed a victory over New England last week.
"It just doesn't matter. Who cares?" safety Rodney Harrison said. "It has no impact whatsoever, just like when Smith made his comments. It has no impact. The game isn't won or lost through the media Monday through Saturday. It's won or lost on Sunday, 1 o'clock. It's whoever makes more plays."’
So the Pats once again take the high road, say that it doesn’t affect the game on the field, and don’t go running to the league complaining. BB DOES however, dispute Mangini’s claim that he had permission.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...s_never_a.html
‘Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Friday the Jets never requested permission to use an extra video camera in last season's playoff game in Foxborough, directly contradicting Eric Mangini's explanation of the events.
"I was never asked for permission nor was anyone in our video department asked for permission for a second end-zone camera," Belichick told NBCSports.com.
Evidently, someone isn't telling the truth.
Mangini, responding to published reports Wednesday that said a Jets cameraman was stopped from taping, said the team received approval from the Patriots to shoot from both end zones.
The Patriots never filed a complaint with the NFL about last January's incident, and the league isn't investigating the matter. Spokesman Greg Aiello said this week there are "no restrictions on shooting from both end-zone positions as long as the opportunity is provided to both teams." ‘
A couple more recent Rat issues: The Rats were reported for running an illegal training camp in the off-season. It wouldn’t be surprising if very few people know about this as the media has given this little coverage. Maybe Goodell is hoping that he can issue his ruling that no violation was committed on a weekend when no one is paying attention; as it appears very few people are.
New York Jets 2010 Schedule
“Earlier on Sunday, another report said that the NFL is also investigating the Jets for a possible violation of the league’s offseason training rules after an unidentified team told the league about Ryan and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s presence at an 8-player “Jets West Camp” organized by QB Mark Sanchez in July. The two coaches, who were in Anaheim for the MLB All-Star Game, showed up at Sanchez’s former Mission Viejo High School to observe a couple of skill-position workouts, which is a violation of guidelines for organized team activities.”
Does everyone remember the most recent charges against the Rats for tampering? I know they have been charged numerous times, and always acquitted, so we’ll just deal with the most recent one:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...crabtree-deal/
“As the storm of dust continues to settle regarding the decision of Michael Crabtree to show up unannounced in San Fran to work out a new deal, a source with knowledge of the situation believes that the wideout’s holdout ended suddenly not because Crabtree was ready to play football but because of the pending tampering case that the 49ers have filed against the Jets.
The source firmly believes that the investigation was beginning to uncover evidence that the Jets had indeed tampered with Crabtree through his agent, Eugene Parker. Indeed, it was Parker and G.M. Mike Tannenbaum who once worked together on an offer sheet that the Patriots would not be able to match when the Jets lured running back Curtis Martin from New England to New York. Per the source, Parker and Tannenbaum continue to have a close and productive working relationship
Moreover, 49ers owner Jed York recently told KNBR in San Francisco (via ESPN.com) that “it was clear there was some evidence that the Jets talked to [Crabtree],” which in and of itself would be proof of tampering.
The thinking is that, as Tannenbaum (and possibly Deion Sanders) began to feel the heat increasing, Tannenbaum (and possibly Deion Sanders) urged Parker to get a deal done.
Though we’ve been told repeatedly that the 49ers still intend to press the matter (after all, the league made an example out of the Niners for talking to agent Drew Rosenhaus about a long-term contract for linebacker Lance Briggs at a time when the Bears were talking to the Niners about a trade for Briggs), the source predicts that the league office will now nudge the 49ers to let it go.
The argument, the source believes, will be that it’s in the best interests of the league for the tampering allegation to go away, since a finding of such dirty deeds accomplished relatively inexpensively hurts the image of the entire league. The fact that this is all happening only a few weeks after the Jets were busted for cheating on the injury report makes an exoneration of the Jets this time around even more important.”
Naturally, the Rats announcing a sweetheart deal that they had acquired Braylon Edwards from Cleveland on the same day that the NFL cleared them of tampering with Michael Crabtree, was merely coincidental.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...rges-vs-jets/1
“The Jets' acquisition of Braylon Edwards and the 49ers' signing of holdout Michael Crabtree has not put an end to San Francisco's charges that the Jets' tampered with Crabtree.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...-edwards-deals
‘ Mike Moses asks via Facebook whether the Jets' acquisition of receiver Braylon Edwards might be linked from a timing standpoint to Michael Crabtree's new deal with the 49ers.
Mike Sando: The 49ers did accuse the Jets of tampering with Crabtree during the negotiations, but the timing of these transactions is probably a coincidence. NFL rules would prohibit the 49ers from trading Crabtree's rights before March. The Jets acquired Edwards with the 2009 season in mind.
Also, it's pretty clear those tampering charges would have made it impossible for the Jets to show any sort of interest in Crabtree now or in the future. For that reason, the Jets would not have been waiting to see what happened with Crabtree before deciding to pursue a deal with Edwards.’
So the Pats getting their resources and reputation hammered seems to hinge on who the Omissioner wants to believe, and he has consistently believed the Rats, but there sure seems to consistently be a lot more smoke around the Rats than the Pats. IMO it was also NO coincidence that it was the Rats who turned in the Pats for taping; they certainly weren’t having much luck competing against them otherwise.
Paranoid? Hardly.
