I SPY COMMON SENSE

Spygate Common Sense

Like any typical NFL fan, I have grown weary of the nonstop media coverage of the New England Patriots and Spygate. The main point of contention regarding Spygate is if the taping of confirmed games gave any real advantage to the Patriots during the games.

WELL OF COURSE IT DID!

Even Belichick this week admitted that it gave his team an advantage. He said on a scale of 1 to 100, he gave it a grade of 1. What did you expect him to say to this question, “No question I’d give the advantage a 60 on a scale of 1 to 100.” Could you imagine the fallout from such a statement?

Is this not common sense?

If taping defensive signals or pregame walk throughs gave the Patriots no advantage whatsoever, then the Patriots would not bother doing it at all. This common sense point seems to get lost with the popular media analysts, former players, and former coaches.

It has been confirmed by the league that the Patriots have been doing this since Belichicks arrival in 2000. So as intelligent as this head coach is, along with his 15-2 record in the postseason, why in the world would he continue to tape walk throughs and defensive signals if they gave him no advantage for the last 8 seasons?

Videotaping fans drink beer while watching football games in a live NFL arena is something that would give the Patriots no advantage to win a football game. So taping a pregame walk thru and defensive signals equals taping fans drink beer in a stadium according to most former NFL coaches, players and analyst.

I don’t think so.

Former Dolphin and Cowboy coach Jimmy Johnson made comments on Fox NFL playoff pregame shows that he would have allowed Bill Belichick permission to tape all the walk throughs he wanted because he knows that it would not give the Patriots any advantage whatsoever. No doubt I believe Johnson, and indeed this seems be the most common argument in the media today.

The former Offensive Coordinator for the St Louis Rams has gone on the record stating that if the Patriots did indeed video record the Rams walk thru the eve before the Superbowl, it would have given the Patriots a grave advantage.

I have heard others talk about the advantages of doing what the Patriots have done, and I have come to the following conclusion about the whole mess.
Some teams pregame walk throughs and defensive signals being taped gave the Patriots advantages and some teams did not. It is all dependent on what the particular NFL teams covers on the Saturday walk thru and how disguised the defensive signals are during games. It’s all dependent on the NFL organizations and NFL Coaches particular style. Some teams, the info is probably meaningless, others it probably means a great deal.

So when Jimmy Johnson states his opinion, he is speaking from personal experience, he cannot possible speak for all coaching and organizations and if it holds relevance or not. He can only confirm his own coaching experience.

So the Patriots and the NFL have admitted to breaking the rules for the last 8 seasons and they have 4 Superbowl appearances, 3 rings, and a 15-2 playoff record during this stretch. Up until this year, Brady was looking like a superstar with arguably the worst receivers in the league, upsets a 14 point offensive juggernaut in their first Superbowl, but can’t win their fourth in a row with the best offense and receiver combo in the history of the game when we all know they are not engaged in illegal activities.

In my mind’s eye, the Patriots success equal Barry Bonds home run success. It’s tainted with an asterisk. But it’s also an issue that will always be swamped with speculation and little facts as to what extent it has helped the Pats. We will never know the truth. And we may never know to what level other teams have engaged in similar activities.

I only hope this story has not the legs the Major League Baseball steroid subject has had the last couple of years. Seems to me the NFL wants this Spygate thing to go away for good. I’m not implying a cover-up but in a way, I hope Goodell did indeed destroy every single tape.
One of my favorite lines in the movie Syriana (2005) came from Jimmy Pope portrayed by actor Chris Cooper.

“You need to be careful, you dig a hole 6 feet, you will find one body, you’d dig a hole 8 feet, you will find 100 bodies.”