Did the pats even do anything illegal?

cmasspatsfan · Dec 13, 2019

BB said monday no filming of sidelines is allowed from anywhere.
The funny thing is these camera guys didnt know and offered to erase, this Russini chick is making it sound nefarious when it probably went like this: you guys aren't allowed to film the sidelines during a game, oh, didnt know that do you want us to erase it? Could have been a simple matter over and done with if not for the Cinci guys going for a " we caught the Patriots cheating" moment. Aholes, hope we win 40-0 Sunday.

Chris Stevenson · Dec 13, 2019

gitgronked82 said:
So the illegal people part was that the scout was there? If it were just the independent video team they could have recorded the sideline?

No. That's what advanced scouts do. The supposed "illegal" activity was executed by employees for Kraft Productions, not anyone on the team.

bormio · Dec 13, 2019

PatsDynastyX2 said:
No. That's what advanced scouts do. The supposed "illegal" activity was executed by employees for Kraft Productions, not anyone on the team.

They were there as reps of the Pats. The seating chart indicated that, the Pats asked the Browns etc. And no, the Pats reps do not get to professionally film the sideline. The Pats are about to find out how impermissible it was.

Chris Stevenson · Dec 13, 2019

bormio said:
They were there as reps of the Pats. The seating chart indicated that, the Pats asked the Browns etc. And no, the Pats reps do not get to professionally film the sideline. The Pats are about to find out how impermissible it was.

Umm, what? Kraft Productions has nothing to do with football ops. It's a TV production company.

sb1 · Dec 13, 2019

bormio said:
They were there as reps of the Pats. The seating chart indicated that, the Pats asked the Browns etc. And no, the Pats reps do not get to professionally film the sideline. The Pats are about to find out how impermissible it was.

When the league issues their penalty -and there will be one- I hope the league clarifies that it’s a penalty to the organization for not having the proper control in place to stop that- and they did not try to gain an advantage.

Otherwise we are going to see the resurrection of the “0 titles since Spygate” line

and that was completely avoidable

QuantumMechanic · Dec 13, 2019

richie021501 said:
I know there's already a topic on the allegations against the pats but I wanted to bring something up and I figured it would just get lost in the 100 page thread that already exists.

Did the pats really do anything illegal by filming the Bengals sidelines? I don't believe there is a rule in the NFL rulebook that stipulates that the sidelines can't be filmed.

According to Belichick himself in a WEEI interview earlier this week, what the Kraft Sports Productions video crew did was illegal.

mgteich · Dec 13, 2019

1) Of course not; no criminal laws were broken.

2) Yes, the patriots broke a league rule.

3) Yes, other teams break rules and don't get punished.

4) Yes, the patriots might get punched for violating a rule. Why not? There was a violation. It was called to league's attention. They could simply say that every breaks league rule, so they should be ignored. They could say that this violation won't be punished and the rule should be reviewed in the off-season.

BOTTOM LINE
Few care whether Kraft has to pay a $100K fine or not; it is part of doing business.

richie021501 said:
I know there's already a topic on the allegations against the pats but I wanted to bring something up and I figured it would just get lost in the 100 page thread that already exists.

Did the pats really do anything illegal by filming the Bengals sidelines? I don't believe there is a rule in the NFL rulebook that stipulates that the sidelines can't be filmed. In the past, the pats filmed opposing teams defensive signals from illegal locations but in this particular instance, the sidelines were filmed from the press box which I believe IS a legal location (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). Perhaps the fact that the pats weren't competing on the field that day when the filming was done actually adds another wrinkle to this regarding legality.

What do you guys think?

cmasspatsfan · Dec 14, 2019

mgteich said:
1) Of course not; no criminal laws were broken.

2) Yes, the patriots broke a league rule.

3) Yes, other teams break rules and don't get punished.

4) Yes, the patriots might get punched for violating a rule. Why not? There was a violation. It was called to league's attention. They could simply say that every breaks league rule, so they should be ignored. They could say that this violation won't be punished and the rule should be reviewed in the off-season.

BOTTOM LINE
Few care whether Kraft has to pay a $100K fine or not; it is part of doing business.

Make it a mill, RK has it and it ain't my money or cap space money.

fourhour · Dec 14, 2019

PatsDynastyX2 said:
What's maddening about this is really how Cincy might completely get away with THEM rolling their own film in the press box without notifying the Browns.

I am shocked this part hasn't been brought up,

I think this is what may be holding the issue up.

And any fine or punishment is another smear on the Patriots, regardless of which part of the organization gets penalized.

archstanton543 · Dec 14, 2019

cmasspatsfan said:
Make it a mill, RK has it and it ain't my money of cap space money.

Sure it is. If you've bought a ticket to a game, anything with a Patriots logo on it, visited Patriot Place or the Pats HOF, etc, it is your money.

Betterthanmost · Dec 14, 2019

PatsDynastyX2 said:
Umm, what? Kraft Productions has nothing to do with football ops. It's a TV production company.

BB is perceived to be more powerful than he actually is. When I see the reaction to this saga, it appears to me that people have no idea about the org structure of the Patriots and believe that everything the Patriots do, including the hiring of cheerleaders is run by BB.

gitgronked82 · Dec 14, 2019

mgteich said:
BOTTOM LINE
Few care whether Kraft has to pay a $100K fine or not; it is part of doing business.

I care. It is bad for the narrative. It's freaking annoying. In the eyes of every other fanbase (and much of our own), paid fine=got caught cheating

Brewskies · Dec 14, 2019

Legal or not legal the haters and there are many, say the Pats cheated and it was illegal. The NFL will probably fine Kraft a draft choice and $1 M because the story got to the press. All BS

Chris Stevenson · Dec 14, 2019

vuudu said:
BB is perceived to be more powerful than he actually is. When I see the reaction to this saga, it appears to me that people have no idea about the org structure of the Patriots and believe that everything the Patriots do, including the hiring of cheerleaders is run by BB.

I agree. People also hate facts.

This actually means morons think BB is sitting on tv production meetings and directing radio interviews during the week?

Heck, I’d bet money he rather have NONE of it going on. This is a guy who hates scoial media and barely puts up with other media aspects of the job.

It is disingenuous by the moron hater to claim these things, when they just don’t add up.

PatsWSB47 · Dec 14, 2019

bormio said:
They were there as reps of the Pats. The seating chart indicated that, the Pats asked the Browns etc. And no, the Pats reps do not get to professionally film the sideline. The Pats are about to find out how impermissible it was.

So sinister. Stop lumping the Pats team with Kraft Sports. It's a weak connection. You make it sound like ones a bank robber and the other is the driver in the get away car.

TinhWoodhead · Dec 14, 2019

Pats opening a new restaurant “Illegal Seafood”

NashuaPats · Dec 14, 2019

Yes, they did not properly prepare normal, sound minded people for the idiotic paranoia they were about to face when doing regular business with a league run by the galactically stupid.

TruthSeeker · Dec 14, 2019

Yes, the Patriots got permission from the Cleveland Browns for what they were doing but didn't inform/get permission from the League and the Cincinnati Bengals. That's the only infraction.

Of course, it's possible (but highly unlikely) that the League or the Bengals could have denied permission. But, the Bengals preferred to make it a League matter instead of just asking the Browns PR folks (where the filming was taking place) what was going on. That was their right, but I think they made a poor choice.

sb1 · Dec 14, 2019

gitgronked82 said:
I care. It is bad for the narrative. It's freaking annoying. In the eyes of every other fanbase (and much of our own), paid fine=got caught cheating

That’s why I hope the league makes it clear that no advantage was gained here nor was there an attempt to gain one.

cmasspatsfan · Dec 14, 2019

archstanton543 said:
Sure it is. If you've bought a ticket to a game, anything with a Patriots logo on it, visited Patriot Place or the Pats HOF, etc, it is your money.

If that will get this thing over and done with, fine, I'll dish out a couple extra bucks when I go to the game.

Did the pats even do anything illegal?

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