NEW ARTICLE: Another ESPN Patriots Spygate Report is a Reminder of How Ridiculous that Story Remains

[PatsFans.com Article]

Another ESPN Patriots Spygate Report is a Reminder of How Ridiculous that Story Remains
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ESPN report of Trump trying to pay Arlen Specter to drop his investigation against the Patriots doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

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[Steve102]

Specter then raised his quixotic inquiry into the Spygate scandal, a source of great frustration because, for one thing, he wondered whether the Patriots cheated to beat his beloved Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005.

Jesus, they tanked the Super Bowl vs Philadelphia the second time with the Butler benching. Give it a rest already.

@Ian I get that this will likely turn into political bashing, I hate it as much as you. I think you need to let this go a bit and see. Just my opinion

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Playing to the masses getting the double dip of hate pandering

Can't blame ESPN. Most people hate Trump and most people hate the Pats just put em together and rake in the clicks

 

[ralmat55]

Corporate media has finally hit the bottom of the barrel. It’s been a longtime coming.

 

[Koma]

Have Wickersham and Van Atta ever written a positive or evenhanded piece about Belichick or the Patriots? They may have better credentials and are viewed as more legitimate journalists, but they're basically Rob Parker when it comes to covering New England.

Also, you know when the late senator Specter should have told this story? 10 or 11 years ago, when he was still alive and the sideline taping incident was only a few years old. It only would have helped his claim that the league covered things up. What did he have to lose by speaking out in 2010?

 

[borg]

Imagine offering campaign donations with strings attached....

What a novel idea!

Someone should tell Zuckerberg
I believe he can be reached at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue weekdays from 9-9:45am, before pudding and nap time




PS....Always nice to have a billionaire Friend of the Program willing to go that extra mile for a buddy in need

 

[DarrylS]

Hearsay information, a new "lowlight" from the media..

Must have been a boring news day for ESPN...

 

[Ivan]

Why is this thread still open?

 

[tasmlab]

The offseason is really long when it effectively begins in October.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The bombshell report is that Arlen Specter’s son has gone from saying he’s nearly certain that Trump offered campaign donations to his father for a wink nod on Spygate, after years of saying he’s pretty sure it was Trump.

Once again no mention (at least to the point I stopped reading) that the mysterious tapes were played at a press conference, and that the list of games Belichick turned over by league request is well known.

It’s one thing to have an opinion about the extent of competitive advantage gained and quite another to purposely bury actual facts - reported at the time - with the assumption that most readers won’t recall or weren’t aware of these things.

But it was funny thar Bobby Kraft was still furious three years later about Spygate and then got caught in his own Spygate last year.

 

[Ian]

As I wrote, I just don't understand the point of this piece, aside from trying to tarnish Robert Kraft/the Patriots. They act as though this is some big revelation and have apparently been investigating this angle since 2017. The "a reporter" (third party) mention is also a little silly.

This entire topic really annoys me anyway...any of us who were around on here back then remembers what a fiasco that weekend was leading up to the game and the frustration that went along with it. I still feel strongly that it didn't help their chances and was most likely a distraction, and the fact it all turned out to be not true only made it that much more irritating.

 

[Ian]

It’s one thing to have an opinion about the extent of competitive advantage gained and quite another to purposely bury actual facts - reported at the time - with the assumption that most readers won’t recall or weren’t aware of these things.

That's the worst part. Talk to any non-Patriots fan and ask them what it was really about and they'll mention all the falsehoods not realizing (or caring) that none of what they're saying is accurate.

 

[VectorPrime]

Isn’t the news here in this article specifically that Spector DID NOT accept the bribe and told his son how insulted he was that it was even offered? So...nothing actually happened then to change his behavior regarding the pats.

 

[Rusty Coupe]

I think it means they don't expect the Patriots to repeat being 7-9 again. What would be the purpose of running a hit piece on a losing team otherwise?

 

[tuckeverlasting]

That's the worst part. Talk to any non-Patriots fan and ask them what it was really about and they'll mention all the falsehoods not realizing (or caring) that none of what they're saying is accurate.

yeah..willfull ignorance.

so the empire state propaganda network has a report that the scumbag arlen specter, from the single bullet cover up, took a bribe while a senator. shocking !!

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Isn’t the news here in this article specifically that Spector DID NOT accept the bribe and told his son how insulted he was that it was even offered? So...nothing actually happened then to change his behavior regarding the pats.

Agree.

Frankly, I think Specter had a pretty good point all along, which is that the NFL is an anti-trust organization and requires some oversight...and the league did not handle the investigation properly at all. It's hard to argue against that. Unfortunately, Specter is a politician, and this cause could have been taken up by another public figure who wasn't also interested in grandstanding and ugly personal gain. The way Clown Goodell handled this by having NFL employees literally destroy tapes, notes, etc. was a terrible approach and just makes things look worse in the end. All the evidence was there...and it was exactly as it was described...as Belichick described how he'd match up signals. There was nothing new or nefarious. Belichick complied with the investigation immediately.

This was actually the investigation that should have happened and not the PSI fiasco, but it should have been a league-wide investigation. It should have included allegations that the Jets did the same thing the previous game; it was obvious that many in the league were doing the same thing, as many admitted it.

I'd be fine with the Patriots getting a major fine/draft pick loss and being made an example, provided that the investigation is about sign stealing in the NFL. I said the same thing about the Houston Astros too, and I feel the same way about many NCAA investigations. It should be an open investigation into a specific type of rule breaking, wherever that make take you. Employees of the Patriots came from other organizations and go to other organizations. Sports "scandals" and sanctions are always comical in that investigators build cases by talking to other dirty organizations and people with axes to grind, in order to take down one team or one player while sweeping under the rug all off the dirt and grime that comes up by claiming it "isn't part of the scope" as if there were some grand jury indictment.

 

[sb1]

From the report:

"My father told me that Trump was acting as a messenger for Kraft," Shanin Specter says. "But I'm equally sure the reference to money in Palm Beach was campaign contributions, not cash. The offer was Kraft assistance with campaign contributions. ... My father said it was Kraft's offer, not someone else's."

"He was pissed," Shanin Specter says about his father. "He told me about the call in the wake of the conversation and his anger about it. ... My father was upset when [such overtures] would happen because he felt as if it were tantamount to a bribe solicitation, though the case law on this subject says it isn't. ... He would tell me these things when they occurred. We were very close

This right here looks like a good reason to call BS on this whole story.

If Specter really felt it was a bribe and he was that angry about it why would he not discuss this with a lot more important people at the time than his son? I am 100% sure we would have heard about this a long time before now if this really happened..

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Isn’t the news here in this article specifically that Spector DID NOT accept the bribe and told his son how insulted he was that it was even offered? So...nothing actually happened then to change his behavior regarding the pats.

i believe he took the bribe because the investigation stopped with the pats and we know all teams were doing it. that's why coaches have been covering their mouths when calling in plays since the 60's and 70's.

 

[Joey007]

It’s been so long. I don’t care anymore lol

 

[Ryan]

I was waiting for the Patriots/Trump crossover "news" story.