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.
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May 20th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
“SmokeDog says:
May 20th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
You still have yet to answer this question :
Since the Patriots got caught in the first game of the 2007 season, they went on an 18 game win streak. If the theory that they cheated is correct, they did not have the same advantage they had in previous years and therfore should have lost a few games. Instead they won most of them.”
***they had a great offense. in the past, tom brady didn’t have those great wr’s. the patriots are reaping the benefit of years of getting ahead and that is that free agents will sign for teams that have a winning chance. the patriots have had a winning chance, in part, to an unfair competitive advantage.
just because they blew teams out this year doesn’t prove they can play fair. it just proves that if you give tom brady two good wr’s and a good O-line, he can complete a lot of passes
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May 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
“Since the Patriots got caught in the first game of the 2007 season, they went on an 18 game win streak. If the theory that they cheated is correct, they did not have the same advantage they had in previous years and therfore should have lost a few games. Instead they won most of them.”
a) it’s not my “theory” that they cheated. the nfl punished them for violating a rule that gave them a competitive advantage. that’s cheating. there is no way the nfl takes away a 1st round draft pick if what the patriots did was a technical violation
b) losing an advantage doesn’t not guarantee losses, just like having an advantage does not guarantee wins, especially when you lose the cheating advantage in a season when you add one of the top 2 or 3 wideouts of all-time.
c) as i previously speculated, it’s highly probable that the patriots have a database of defensive calls built up from their years of cheating. losing the original tapes would have little, if any, immediate impact. that database would become slowly obselete over time as the information in the database got old
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May 20th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
So prior to 2007 they cheated? This year it was because of 2 players?
Just as we pats fans have “Excuses”; non-Pats fans have theirs as well.
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May 21st, 2008 at 1:26 am
Does anyone remember NE’s Super Bowl run? How many of those games were won by just a few points, a field goal, a turn over. If they were “Cheating” or rewinding tapes and making half time adjustments (in some type of worm hole) then why didn’t they dominate?
Oh wait, because Football is a complicated and quick game with many moving and changing parts and signals is just one part. Defense are disguised, signals, change, personal change each game, each play. But if it really makes people feel better to simplify it and call a coach or team cheaters then go ahead. I will simply call it irrational jealously.
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May 21st, 2008 at 11:42 am
“Does anyone remember NE’s Super Bowl run? How many of those games were won by just a few points, a field goal, a turn over. If they were “Cheating” or rewinding tapes and making half time adjustments (in some type of worm hole) then why didn’t they dominate?
Oh wait, because Football is a complicated and quick game with many moving and changing parts and signals is just one part. Defense are disguised, signals, change, personal change each game, each play. But if it really makes people feel better to simplify it and call a coach or team cheaters then go ahead. I will simply call it irrational jealously. ”
it’s exactly because football is a complex game that teams look for any edge they can get. there is no silver bullet because of the complexity. how many of those close wins might have been losses had they not had the competitive advantage (however big or small it was)?
i will simply call it irrational refusal to accept reality among patriot fans. i have no vested interest in or jealosy toward the patriots, cheating or not.
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