Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis doesn’t want to talk about what he knows about the New England Patriots’ practice of taping its opponents’ signals while Weis was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator.
But one person who seems to think Weis should talk is Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who’s now an ESPN analyst. Young appeared on Dan Patrick’s radio show today, and he said he’s re-assessing his thoughts about Weis.
“I remember thinking to myself during some of the runs, ‘Charlie Weis is a genius,’” Young said. “I mean, I remember saying that to people: ‘This guy is uncanny, how he’s able to make these adjustments and just come out and dominate in the second half.’ What it’s left me to do is, well, I don’t know. Did it matter? I could see how it could matter if you put it all together. So it’s a tough one. I think that people earn it on the field, and I think you’ve got to move on and move forward and just recognize that it’s not a good thing at the time.”
When Patrick asked Young how big an advantage it would be to know what play the defense was about to run, Young answered, “The game would be over. If I knew what was coming, that’s the whole game.”
Young acknowledged that NFL teams always try to get an edge over their opponents, but he seemed to think the systematic way the Patriots collected tapes of opponents crossed a line.
“There’s gamesmanship all the time. In a game, you take whatever advantage you can get,” Young said.
Because of the kid-gloves treatment that Notre Dame’s program gets as the only school with its own TV network, Weis probably won’t have to answer a barrage of questions about Spygate. But the questions are out there.
_2.gif)





May 19th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’m tired of the Cheatriots making the same excuse that everyone tapes or taped signals at one point and relating the salary cap mishap the Broncos had to their cheating ways.. We’re talking apples and oranges.
Here’s a solution… Give Bellicheat a lie detector test! If he’s telling the truth there’s no better way to clear his name.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
spyboots, i firmly believe pats fans “get it”. what is going on is they are looking for loopholes just like their leader, belicheat did when he claimed it wasn’t against the rules.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
This is rucking fidiculous. Wanna know why Belicheat and the Pats never blew teams outta the water? Because why bring attention to your team when your cheating? If it’s so wide open to have coordinators waving at the camera and such, of course you’re gonna make sure to keep the score competitive. If Walsh can be coached not to cheat, why can’t BB coach a game to keep it close? If they win every game then it looks suspicious. And as for Young having anything to do with the 9ers salary cap scandal, last time I checked, he was never the GM or in charge of football operations. So I don’t see the relevence. No one accusing Brady of sh*t. Leave Steve alone. He’s more of a stand up guy then Brady will ever be!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hey insomniac let me refresh your memory post spygate. To say they didnt blow anybody out is ridiculous.
How about 52-7 against the Redskins.
How about 56-10 against the Bills.
How about 48-27 against the Cowboys.
Should I go on?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
To mikemboston:
1) Your assertion would be more respected if you didn’t just copy and paste from SI.com’s MMQB by Peter King.
2) The Braylon Edwards quote is ridiculous. It DID happen in New England. Do you think it’s a coincidence that they’re the ONLY team that got caught doing this? Do you know why it wouldn’t be a story for any other NFL franchise??? Because NO OTHER SUPERBOWL CHAMPION HAS BEEN CAUGHT CHEATING…let alone after being warned twice.
And as to the real issue I’ll say only this: if there was no advantage to be gained then why do it? Nobody has a good answer for that one.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
It’s funny how Young feels no need to explain why the very year that Brady loses this advantage that suppposedly makes such a difference as to be “the whole game,” he has one of the best seasons for any QB ever.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
To all those that claim this “scandal” shows that Weis was only a great playcaller because he cheated, please remember that he was the Jets off. coordinator with Parcells. During that time he had Vinny T at QB and arguably those were the only years Vinny lived up to his potential, not to mention that the Jets won 6 games in a row with Ray Lucas starting when Vinny was hurt. So unless the accusations are giong to include Parcells in spygate then I don’t see a reason to believe Young when he says cheating is how Weis became a great playcaller.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
“Steve young is acting like a whiny bitch like he did when he was the back-up to Montana”
If Tom Brady was the backup to Montana, he never would have gotten on the field. At least Steve Young looked so brilliant that he became the heir apparent to Montana, and eventually displaced Montana. It takes a lot of ability to displace a genius like Montana.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
weis,1st year almost undefeated,2nd year,less then 500.you think his opponents figured out to change their signals???
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
At what point in the interview did Dan Patrick tell Steve Young his Niners ring was tainted because they broke the salary cap rules? Oh, he didn’t? What a surprise!
The Patriots aren’t my team, and it’s still gamesmanship. There is no cheating in the NFL. It’s billionaires playing football with all sorts of nefarious schemes for winning.
I’m sure there’s no hypocrisy here and that Jimmy Johnson will get fined any day now.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I love it. Bring it Pat haters. You called down the thunder well now you got it.
You think the Pats ran the score up last year? Wait till this year. They will leave no doubt.
Oh what a great time to live in Boston. Pats, Celts, Sox. How many of you can honeslty say your team is the favorite to win it all?
“Brady to Moss… Touchdown” mmm sweet sounds
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.15 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
“Steve Young is an ALL TIME GREAT”
hahaha funny! Maybe somebody should ask Steve Young about the extent of the 49ers’ cheating in the 90’s.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
hey bandit 27, you said:
2) The Braylon Edwards quote is ridiculous. It DID happen in New England. Do you think it’s a coincidence that they’re the ONLY team that got caught doing this? Do you know why it wouldn’t be a story for any other NFL franchise??? Because NO OTHER SUPERBOWL CHAMPION HAS BEEN CAUGHT CHEATING…let alone after being warned twice
Buddy, please be better prepared when coming to a site like this, your quote above shows how much you really know about this:
here’s a short list for you:
The 72 undefeated Dolphins were docked a 1st round pick for illegally grabbing their coach Don Shula (they were champs that year for people not understanding the theme)
The 98-98 2 time defending champ Broncos were fined almost 2 million dollars and a 3rd round draft pick for circumnavigating the cap, which directly led to the signing of future HOF shannon sharpe (way bigger crime than video signals!)
The list goes on but I’m not going to spend any time researching it for all the idiots out there; how about the dynastic 49ers, I believe their owner or GM, not sure which, had to step down after cheating.
What’s wrong with copying and pasting, I didn’t say I created the quote, hence the quotes, if someone questioned where they were from I would gladly respond, I’m not a reporter, just trying to prove to all you bozo’s that you’re being used in this stupid game.
It’s the most overblown story in the history of sports media, period!!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
i guess if my coach knew all the plays like the “great tom brady”,i could be great also. give me a break, we’ll see how the next few years play out now that the cheating has stopped(?).
agreed on genius at new england, not a genius at notre dame. hmmmm any correlation between the two??
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
“It’s funny how Young feels no need to explain why the very year that Brady loses this advantage that suppposedly makes such a difference as to be “the whole game,” he has one of the best seasons for any QB ever.”
I’ll take “Randy Moss” for $1000, Alex.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
That early post by “deckman” is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read on here.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
“During that time he had Vinny T at QB and arguably those were the only years Vinny lived up to his potential”
Geat real, Vinny’s passer rating was above the 70’s exactly twice in that 6 year span. His rating was 137.5 in 2006 though. Guess who he played for that year? That’s right. The Patriots!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I hate how these whiney Pats fans are crying about ESPN analysts who are saying they cheated. I’ve had to endure several years of ESPN kissing the pats ass..
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thanks Mike,
I do enjoy yet another thread of the same old BS of insults. I think I am getting off the ride. This message board hasn’t changed from the first one about Spygate. The same old arguments and insults on both sides.
Since you are desperate to keep posting stories because you enjoy the traffic, I will direct you to some material.
1.) Peter King wrote a long story on Spygate and why he felt Belichick’s reputation is tarnished
2.) Gregg Easterbrook called for Belichick to get a lifetime ban over at ESPN
3.) It is only a matter of time before the ESPN Ombudsman issues a story with Easterbrook’s agenda (which she questioned in February in his byline on the Mike Fish piece on Walsh) in the fact that he had already written an article on February 3rd saying that videotaping signals was a minor crime and now it is worthy of a lifetime spension.
4.) Mark Bowden wrote an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times yesterday talking about how the Colts and Giants spied on each other’s practices prior to the League Championship game in the 1958 season.
That should give you enough vitriol on both sides of the argument to keep the traffic rolling in.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
3efin says:
May 19th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Steve Young was nothing but a product of the Bill Walsh offensive system. He did nothing at Tampa, and he couldn’t beat out Montana.
I changed my mind… THIS is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read on here. SHAME on Young for not beating out Montana…
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
ummm didn’t even walsh admit they didn’t use tapes for the 2nd halves…they would use it for opponents they would meet later. Plus in the superbowls the pats arguably did WORSE in the 2nd halves…
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
SmokeCrackDog,
red sox: legit
patriots: had their run, but on the downside and tainted
celtics: can’t match up against the west. ray allen sucks. if they get past detroit, the lakers will wipe the floor with them
bruins: suck
while it’s still good, you have ONE team that’s a favorite to win it all. the red sox. let’s not hype the rest of it up
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I’d like to see Steve Young try to interview Charlie. Charlie would eat him for breakfast.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Dear deckman,
Steve Young can step on me anytime. W/or W/out Tom Brady.
Love,
The Field
Idiot
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 19th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
“It’s funny how Young feels no need to explain why the very year that Brady loses this advantage that suppposedly makes such a difference as to be “the whole game,” he has one of the best seasons for any QB ever.”
Why do you think “this advantage” was lost this past year? The Pats still had the benefit of 7 years of information they gained with their videos. This information is better than they would have gathered if they had remained within the rules. The use of that information taints 2007 and will taint the next several.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)