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One issue that has been overlooked by many/most/all of the media, and of which a reader has reminded us recently, is the question of whether the Patriots used their videotaping system on the St. Louis Rams when the two teams met in the 2001 regular season, only a couple of months before Super Bowl XXXVI.
Even though we now know that the Pats didn’t videotape the Rams’ walk-through prior to the game, it doesn’t mean that there was no cheating on the biggest stage in sports.
It’s unclear whether the question has been asked, but it sure doesn’t appear to us that the question has been answered. And it’s a simple question — did the videotaping of defensive coaching signals include the November 18 prime-time game between the two teams, which the Rams won, 24-17?
May 19th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
what doesn’t the nfl and the crazy pats fans not understand. Cheating to win games is “cheating”. Knowing what your oppenent will do through very illegal means is like handing the cheating team the win. Every nfl player knows this. But the nfl heirchy and pats fan base is trying their best to over look this so very obvious fact.
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
JoeSixPack says:
May 19th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I’m not quite sure why there’s so much concern about pre-2006 taping - clearly the NFL’s rule was subject to differing interpretations at that time. Even the NFL admitted this in 2006 when they sought to clarify their own rule, effectively admitting it was unclear.
Hopefully the Commissioner learned an important lesson over the last year and will establish rules that can only be interpreted one way and don’t need “clarification.”
Everyone should understand you can’t penalize a 2001 team for violating a 2006 rule, but apparently some people can’t grasp that concept
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I am soooooooooooooooooooo tired of idiotic Pats fans who try to twist logic like this. What do you NOT GET ABOUT THIS?? Cheating is cheating. The NFL clarified what was considered cheating in 2006. THIS MEANS IT WAS CHEATING IN 2001 TOO!!! The “clarification” was exactly as follows: “just in case you did not think we were serious, taping during a game for use in ANY GAME is illegal. Please stop or we will be forced to disipline you.” The Pats and BB blatantly ignored this memo, which was warning shot fired by the NFL directly all teams who were cheating! BB admitted during his CBS interview that he and the Pats “taped more than half” of all games from the time of the 2006 memo up until being caught by the Jets in September 2007.
Take your head out of your ass and get your facts straight.
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May 19th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
man, the legacy protectors are getting irritated…i guess that means we should just leave this issue alone! lol.
nice work florio, i want to see the answer to this. i bet you anything they taped the rams.
that combined with walsh’s knoledge of faulk from the walkthrough…..
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May 19th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I’m already boycotting ESPN due their ridiculous Patriot witch hunt, do I have to do the same to this site? Ugh, let go. It’ll be alright. Just let it go. I promise there will be other stories in the NFL, soon.
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Rating: 3.25 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
One thing is certain about the Pats Rams Super Bowl, if Vermeil had still been coach the Rams would have won by 20 or more.
Marshal Faulk could have had about 200 yards rushing because the Pats were playing pass all the way. Whenever they did run. Faulk was ripping off easy yards each time.
BUT, if the Rams had won by running the ball, then Mike Martz would not have been hailed as a genius, and apparently, that was Martz’s real gameplan. He wanted to win with his “brilliant” passing attack.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
If this is so boring, why are there 4 trillion pats’ fans on here defending them? If you want to move on, stop reading/commenting on the stories. Some of us are still interested. If you’re not, stop reading.
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May 19th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Oh, and it wasn’t legal until 2006. Belichick claimed he thought it was legal until 2006. Big difference.
Keep it up, Florio.
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May 19th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
It’s like the Pats fans come out of the woodwork whenever there is a Spygate story on here. LOL!!!
I personally would like to know if they taped the signals during the regular season game too. I think it’s a fair question. I don’t think any dead horses are being beaten. Geez.
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May 20th, 2008 at 12:13 am
The game was in NE where they could tape from the booth. And back then the rules said nothing about taping signals being illegal. So, hell yes, they most likely taped them.
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May 20th, 2008 at 12:14 am
to any of you who think we needed to spy vs the Rams because they had beaten us on 11/18/01, I was in the building for that game, and NE would have won that time also if RB A.Smith hadnt fumbled the ball at the 2yd line, which the Rams recovered and took for a long drive for the TD…You dont need spying to get a RB to hold onto the ball better, and you also don need spying to kick the ball right towards the out of bounds line to M>Faulk when you see him come on the field to return a kick…Ous signal stealing had very little to do with our success, hence the 18wins in a row we collected this past yr without spying…Anybody who thinks BB only has rings because he cheated, explain why Asante Samuels dropped INT late in SBXLII is what stood between the NE Patriots and a 19-0 season.
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May 20th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Florio, I respect your writing, but take a break. We all need a vacation buddy.
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May 20th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Good Lord! You are sure digging! Keep it up! I am sure there is some spygate crumb you missed under the banana peel in the corner!
1. What if they did? There were months of separation. There is no information on the tape you can’t get with some hard work on regular legal footage.
2. If the Rams didn’t change their signals for the biggest game of the year against an opponent they already played they are IDIOTS.
3. You still haven’t mentioned the New York Times report that the NFL officials and the Patriots discovered someone spying on their practices. REAL practices, not some meaningless walk-through! Oh wait, that would indicate that someone other than the Patriots does underhanded things, and we all know here that only the Pats do things like that.
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Why blame Florio??? It is Bill Belichick and Roger Goodell you should be pissed at.
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:15 am
“Definitely not time to move onto football-related subjects.
Nope. ”
Let me see. What usually happens this time every year. I’m trying to remember. Ummmmm…nuttin happens this time every year. Even the June 1 cuts are mellowdramatic under the new CBA. Soo, nope…there’s nuttin else to discuss anyway…so Belichick’s cheatin’ still gets the headlines.
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:21 am
It wasn’t cheating prior to 2006….if it was, then the Cowboys titles are tainted.
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:34 am
The Rams lost this game because they turned it over 3x and Martz refused to run the ball when Faulk was averaging 5 yds/carry(with 90 yards) in the 4th qtr.
70s Dolphins**(tampering), 79s Steelers****(mass steroids), 80s/90s 49ers**(cap tampering), 90s Broncos**(cap tampering), 00s Pats***.
If one gets it, they ALL get it!!!
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:42 am
LOL. Of course we’ve asked ourselves these questions…..especially considering that more than a few times the Pats met up with teams in the playoffs and got the win after losing to them in the regular season. I hope Spygate never goes away. The Pats and their fans deserve this. The Pats deserve it for the cheating and smug behavior of their head coach, and the fans deserve it for all the constant bragging over the last 7 years. That’s karma coming back around boys! How’s it feel?!!!!!!!
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May 20th, 2008 at 1:55 am
If Belicheat can pull out tapes from his previous jobs to use in his first game as a Patriots coach vs. Tampa, then odds are he improved the techniques over time and cheated every chance he had.
The whole franchise is an embarrassment.
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May 20th, 2008 at 2:06 am
It’s not mentioned in Goodell’s transcript, but Walsh told the NY Times that he filmed the regular-season game.
This question is asked immediately after Walsh answered the question “The regular-season game against the Rams in 2001, what were your duties?” so they are talking about that same game.
Q. And what did you do during the game?
A. Filmed, to the best of my recollection. I can’t specifically say I remember the details of what I filmed.
That sounds to me that the 2001 regular game was taped by Walsh.
(If Goodell asked him about it and/or if Walsh to him he taped it, Goodell, again, did not say during the press conference after his metting with Walsh–just as he didn’t tell the public back in September about the AFC game filming.)
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May 20th, 2008 at 6:31 am
One point that I think You overlooked Mike is the fact that Mike martz was so arrogant back then ,he probably would have had The rams smile for the camera.If Mike martz doesn’t care than neither should You.This topic is old news.
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May 20th, 2008 at 6:35 am
The NFL could have very easily cleareed the whole thing up a long time ago by explicitly saying, “Filming opposing coaches for any purpose during a game is prohibited.” The rule and the “clarifying” memo was ambiguous.
Again, I call for a complete outside investigation that includes all 32 teams and goes beyond simpling filiming practices to look at all aspects of “cheating.” I want all the staff, coaches and team management past and present to give sworn testimony under penalties of purjury. If we are going to try to destroy one team and one coach we might as well destroy the whole thing. It’s become the American way.
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May 20th, 2008 at 6:56 am
If the Patriots stole the Rams signals, Tom Brady must suck. he had less than 70 yards passing before the last drive. The Patriots offense scored 10 points, both drives were less than 50 yards for scores.
Stealing those signals really helped the Pats offense.
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May 20th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I know for a fact that several Patriot players regularly leave the toilet seat up. Matt Walsh has the tapes.
Please let it go. They went 18-1 this season. Obviously they win on talent and coaching. Your relentless pursuit to denigrate their achievements is becoming irritating and embarassing.
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May 20th, 2008 at 7:16 am
A) Nobody cares anymore!!!!!
2) The Patriots defense won the game by beating up the Rams. How would taping defensive signals prevent the prolific Rams offense from moving the ball all day long?
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May 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Florio, I for one, am not tired of this subject.
Only whe the truth comes out will this topic be dead and we have not yet found the truth. As always it takes some serious digging. NE is a good team but the dynasty got kickstarted by cheating. To what degree remains the question.
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