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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.I sort of got the sense from listening to what Goodell was saying during the interview that once the patriots offered their "interpretation" as the defense, he assumed they had not just come up with it for one game. It was reported (by Kraft himself, I believe) that when Belichick made his presentation, the commissioner asked a number of probing questions, and I imagine that this very issue came up and was taken into account in the imposition of the sanction.
The reality is that once Belichick offered his "interpretation" defense, they were kind of stuck having to ride that train to the end of the track. We'll probably never know what happened during the discussion, but I doubt seriously Goodell didn't ask, "how long have you been doing it that way?" Once the patriots decided to go with their interpretation defense, I'm sure the answer was "for a while." And once Goodell asked that question, he surely decided -- legitimately and reasonably in my opinion -- that the tapes should be rounded up and taken from the patriots. Both to deprive the patriots of the tapes and to do exactly what the NFL spokesman said they were doing -- to educate the rest of the league on what was permitted.
I also think, though, that the commissioner was not that bothered by pre-2007 misinterpretations of the rule. I think the entire reason he sent out a memo in the first place was the fact that it was a well-understood fact that people were misinterpreting the rule. I belive that's why he punished the patriots the way he did. He went to the trouble of putting out a memo, and here it was, the first game after that, and the patriots were not complying.
I imagine that Belichick, Kraft, the team's lawyers, and everyone involved understood during the presentation to the NFL last week that candid accurate answers were absolutely required, and I'm sure they were given -- just as I'm extremely confident -- as I sit here right now that if the patriots certified they gave over all tapes, they did exactly that.
But if you want to truly understand this story, stop listening to fans or reporters. Just read the NFL's words -- the statement, the commissioner's interview, the e-mail to Reiss, and the three Aeilo comments from last week. They really tell you every thing you need to know about what this is, and has always, been about -- and it's nothing remotely close to what's been reported.
Just want to second what He Ban Me just said. That was a very intelligent analysis from PatsfaninAZ.
I knew they didn't want that stuff to get more junk on us. It made no sense and is almost impossible to do. they just didn't want us to maintain any edge we may have gotten through the videotaping.