Seth Wickersham: Most compelling teams: 2007 Patriots

[Ian]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9355518/nfl-2007-pats-wonder-been

Aside from the "cheating" comments in the opening paragraph, some of the player quotes I thought were interesting.

Loved this one:

Rosevelt Colvin (linebacker): When I first got to the Patriots, I thought Brady was ****y, thought he was a little overrated. I found out he was a competitor. The quarterbacks do a drill where they have a net and four squares, and they throw to different spots. He's in there throwing, and he's pretty close. I say, "If you're supposed to be as good as you say ..." He laughed and said, "If you think you can do it, let's make a bet. Step up." It's a 35-yard throw, and I sunk it. We bet $100, and he paid me in all $1 bills."

Brady: When I lose, I make it a little difficult.

 

[mgcolby]

Thanks for pointing that article out. That was a very interesting read.

 

[JMC00]

The fact that they've gone 76-20, been two plays away from having 2 more SB titles, been to 3 AFC championship games, only year they missed the playoffs is when they went 11-5 without Brady, really just shows how some of the media likes to grind the axe when they get a chance to bring up the cheating, especially when Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cowher both SB winning coaches said almost everyone did it.

The hilarious thing about the taping is had the same stuff been done in the designated areas it isn't "cheating"

 

[Bella*chick]

That was an AWESOME article, well deserving of its own thread.

I wish it went on and on.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Excellent article.

 

[tonyto3690]

Izzo: Bill was saying, "I don't want to hear anything about [the 1972 Dolphins]." I did a radio interview and the whole talk was about the 1972 Dolphins. … So I'm doing this interview, Wes [Welker] is with me in the car. I said something that I shouldn't have about the 1972 Dolphins. I hang up and say to Wes, "Dude, should I have said that?" Wes said, "No big deal." So after practice Bill brings this up. "I told you earlier I didn't want to hear anything about this. I don't want to hear about the Dolphins." He's looking right at me with these cold eyes. How did he know? I'm freaking out. I was so mentally f---ed up. You don't want to be the guy who brought something up and that's the reason you lose. I'm rattled. Tom finally noticed that it was affecting me and said, "Buddy, relax. He's just f---ing with you." Wes had gone with Tom and told [Belichick] to f--- with me. It was all a big hoax.

Love Bill.

 

[tonyto3690]

The fact that they've gone 76-20, been two plays away from having 2 more SB titles, been to 3 AFC championship games, only year they missed the playoffs is when they went 11-5 without Brady, really just shows how some of the media likes to grind the axe when they get a chance to bring up the cheating, especially when Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cowher both SB winning coaches said almost everyone did it.

The hilarious thing about the taping is had the same stuff been done in the designated areas it isn't "cheating"

Don't forget Madden, Shannahan, Walsh, and Reid iirc.

Also don't forget the 04 Dolphins and 07 Jets... whole lot of good it did them.

Faulk / Carter seem to not realize that there is a designated taping spot, and what the Patriots did that was against the rules was tape from the sidelines (which had previously been legal) instead of the designated taping spot.

Furthermore, it doesn't take much common sense to see how little it matters. I could sit at home and watch on CBS and record signals. That's why when you see OC's talking to quarterbacks about plays they use the playsheet to cover their mouths.

Don't want to make this a Spygate thread because there was a lot of interesting and insightful bits about it. But it still boggles the mind how people think it was relevant.

 

[Modest]

Don't forget Madden, Shannahan, Walsh, and Reid iirc.

Also don't forget the 04 Dolphins and 07 Jets... whole lot of good it did them.

Faulk / Carter seem to not realize that there is a designated taping spot, and what the Patriots did that was against the rules was tape from the sideline (which had previously been legal) instead of the designated taping spot.

Furthermore, it doesn't take much common sense to see how little it matters. I could sit at home and watch on CBS and record signals. That's why when you see OC's talking to quarterbacks about plays they use the playsheet to cover their mouths.

Don't want to make this a Spygate thread because there was a lot of interesting and insightful bits about it. But it still boggles the mind how people think it was relevant.

I've seen this quite a bit. Does anyone have a source stating that it was a recent rule change that made this illegal?

 

[patsfan13]

Very good article.

Nobody mentions Brady's ankle in the article. Good job by the players there, no excuses.

I still love that team.

 

[Bella*chick]

Everyone needs to read this article. I wish someone would write a book about the season, with player quotes just like the ones in the article. I could read a book like this about every season.

 

[Gumby]

awesome read. was sceptical before I clicked; but great quotes and insight on the team.

TB - leg blood red up to the hip.

SB The game that should have been. - brady remorseful over a missed screen pass.

Do you think the guy who picked out that hotel lost his job??????

 

[Shockt327]

The hilarious thing about the taping is had the same stuff been done in the designated areas it isn't "cheating"

...there is a designated taping spot, and what the Patriots did that was against the rules was tape from the sidelines (which had previously been legal) instead of the designated taping spot.

It always annoys me to hear people try and make this rationalization; it's like an urban legend.

Guys, taping in the designated zone does not permit you to film signals. It never did. You can only film the game itself. If NE got caught focusing their camera on signals, even in the proper zone, it's still illegal. It has always been illegal, too.

Also, I specifically remember Mike Reiss answering fan questions in the paper on this very topic of filming within the designated area; it was at some sort of league conference in the season after spygate. He could ask the officials or competition committee, about this very topic. I'm paraphrasing but "the rule has been around forever." Yeah.

 

[Efstratios]

Don't forget Madden, Shannahan, Walsh, and Reid iirc.

Also don't forget the 04 Dolphins and 07 Jets... whole lot of good it did them.

Faulk / Carter seem to not realize that there is a designated taping spot, and what the Patriots did that was against the rules was tape from the sidelines (which had previously been legal) instead of the designated taping spot.

Furthermore, it doesn't take much common sense to see how little it matters. I could sit at home and watch on CBS and record signals. That's why when you see OC's talking to quarterbacks about plays they use the playsheet to cover their mouths.

Don't want to make this a Spygate thread because there was a lot of interesting and insightful bits about it. But it still boggles the mind how people think it was relevant.

I'll state the obvious, but in the case of Marshall Faulk, I'm sure he realizes what the Pats were actually penalized for.. Problem is, he's constantly doing mental gymnastics in order to convince himself that his team wasn't outplayed and legitimately bested on that Sunday night. He knows the truth, he's just convinced himself that the Pats are a bunch of cheating cheaters who perpetually cheat. With the whole camera boondoogle, he saw an excuse and he's latched on to it ever since.

 

[nabwong]

Could this be the best patriots article I've ever read? Definitely top 3.

 

[Mountain_Commando]

Anyone know the genesis of this article? How did they get so many quotes together? Is this a transcript for some interview with all those players from the '07 team?

 

[patriot1136]

Awesome! Gonna read it again

 

[Kontradiction]

Stallworth: First meeting of the year, right after the draft, Belichick said, "We're all losers. None of you were on the Colts." And then the first play he shows is Brady throwing an incomplete pass. He says, "Johnny from Foxborough High could hit that pass." I was sitting next to Randy, kind of slouched over. We both sat up straight.

BOOM.

 

[FibSeq13478]

It always annoys me to hear people try and make this rationalization; it's like an urban legend.

Guys, taping in the designated zone does not permit you to film signals. It never did. You can only film the game itself. If NE got caught focusing their camera on signals, even in the proper zone, it's still illegal. It has always been illegal, too.

Also, I specifically remember Mike Reiss answering fan questions in the paper on this very topic of filming within the designated area; it was at some sort of league conference in the season after spygate. He could ask the officials or competition committee, about this very topic. I'm paraphrasing but "the rule has been around forever." Yeah.

You are making sh*t up about focusing the camera on the signals.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

It always annoys me to hear people try and make this rationalization; it's like an urban legend.

Guys, taping in the designated zone does not permit you to film signals. It never did. You can only film the game itself. If NE got caught focusing their camera on signals, even in the proper zone, it's still illegal. It has always been illegal, too.

Also, I specifically remember Mike Reiss answering fan questions in the paper on this very topic of filming within the designated area; it was at some sort of league conference in the season after spygate. He could ask the officials or competition committee, about this very topic. I'm paraphrasing but "the rule has been around forever." Yeah.

Belichick, please shut this man down:

“Look, that's a whole 'nother discussion but, the guy's giving signals out in front of 80,000 people, OK? So we filmed him taping signals in front of 80,000 people like there were a lot of other teams doing at that time – forget about that – if we were wrong, then we've been disciplined for that... the guy's in front of 80,000 people, 80,000 people saw it. Everybody sees our guy in front of 80,000 people. There he is. It was wrong, we were disciplined for it. That's it. We never did it again. We're never going to do it again. And anything else that's close, we're not going to do either... anything that's even remotely close, we're on the side of caution.... [And] it's been that way now for many years. "

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

It always annoys me to hear people try and make this rationalization; it's like an urban legend.

Guys, taping in the designated zone does not permit you to film signals. It never did. You can only film the game itself. If NE got caught focusing their camera on signals, even in the proper zone, it's still illegal. It has always been illegal, too.

Also, I specifically remember Mike Reiss answering fan questions in the paper on this very topic of filming within the designated area; it was at some sort of league conference in the season after spygate. He could ask the officials or competition committee, about this very topic. I'm paraphrasing but "the rule has been around forever." Yeah.

Do you have a link to this? If true I would like to read it. Thanks