Eric Mangini wants to be Bill's friend again.

One-Be-Lo said:

That was the narrative we tried to establish on the ESPN boards at the time.. Of course it went on deaf ears as the hoards of haters cried cheater cheater cheater.

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I was an AOLe at the time and the same was true there. Plenty of fans saw it for what it was. The Thomasy fake walkthrough story didn't come up until months later, during SB week.

As for Mangini, he took a job that any young man in his position would have taken. He would have been a fool to turn that offer down at the time.

I'm also a bit skeptical of any stories that originated here which put Mangini in a bad light after he left. I'm sure the Pats were behind some of that propaganda.

One-Be-Lo said:

That was the narrative we tried to establish on the ESPN boards at the time.. Of course it went on deaf ears as the hoards of haters cried cheater cheater cheater.

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Yep. Not to mention that the ESPN Patriots board was usually unreadable anyway from the trolls trashing it and it was poorly moderated especially near the end.

I miss a lot of the regulars there but as for the board LOL no.

borisman said:

I don't see why this hasn't happened already. Why can't one of the beat writers that cover the Pats do an exclusive with Mangini and make him confess, come clean or whatever he needs to do to tell more his side of the story and how he f'd up. I know he admitted to some things but this still lingers and even though he has no shot at reconciliation with BB at least he can throw himself under the bus and some of old NYJ employees with him. It might earn him a little respect back, even though he's dead to a lot of people. It's never too late to Psalm 23:4

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Maybe he already did that but it was the Globe that he opened up to......

TB_Helmet said:

Thanks! So I'm sure that was the case in the media. What about among Pats fans specifically? Do you remember it coming up in any discussion you had about it?

Just seems like I never heard about camera placement being the letter of the law until a couple years after 2007.

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Vast majority of fans just followed along with Bob Kraft's lead, blindly accepting Goodell's opinion and ruling. It's amazing that through everything that happened in those fateful seven months, he never wavered in his respect for and faith in Goodell and the league.

As for me, immediately when it happened in September I smelled a rat. Bill Belichick would never do anything to jeopardize all the hard work he, his fellow coaches and players put in all year...in fact, he's the last guy to do it.

All the media blathering about arrogance etc. is and was total bullsh*t.

I'm surprised Goodell didn't steal the picks and the money just for us listing Tom on the injury report a thousand weeks in a row for his shoulder.

Yeah, I want a Supermodel.

BaconGrundleCandy said:

I've always thought Mangini feels guilty. He could have handled it 100 different ways but ultimately made the worse decision he could have on the matter.

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I think he's as much as said so

In fairness Mangini had NO idea that Goodell would take this and turn it into a complete media circus

In some ways Spygate was a bigger fabrication than Framegate - sure the Pats broke a new and obscure rule put into place the year before in the first half of the first game of the season.

But jealous fans were hungry for a scandal and Goodell is always happy to take attention off of his incompetence on everything from Domestic Violence to the Definition of "what a pass" is

Mangini lit the fuse but likely expected a slap on the wrist as he rightly sought to prevent Belichick from filming his signal calling from the sidelines.

I think Belichick probably is pissed off that Mangini defected to the NYJ in the first place, as Belichick also knows all that I just rambled off better than any of us.

supafly said:

I was just coming into the thread to say how much his appearance on the Sopranos still pisses me off.

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I always thought it was so ironic that Fredo had a cameo on the Sopranos.

The fact that he thinks forgiveness is possible is clear indication that he is not a well person.

I can empathize with Mangini. Bill doesn't return my calls nor texts. At least Bill hasn't unfriended me on myface.

Mangina made a decision, he should live with it and quit trying to use BB and the Patriots to get face time. what a db.

The best he can hope for, and something he should dread, is a kiss.