The Patriots Are Bigger Cheaters Than We Thought

We know this is a New York sports blog, but this story has encompassed every city in the country. The Patriots are even bigger cheaters than we thought they were. 

Yesterday, Matt Walsh handed the NFL eight video tapes of his stealing signs for New England. Although it was reported by the Boston Herald before this year's Super Bowl that the Patriots had stolen defensive signals from the St. Louis Rams in a walk-through before the 2002 Super Bowl, there was no evidence of this in Walsh's tapes. The initial reaction of the media and presumably of the NFL was that "Spygate" was not as drastic as it seemed. 

However, it is being reported now that the Patriots were stealing not only defensive signals with their video tapes, but also offensive signals. As part of a pact that he accepted with the league, the former Patriots' video assistant agreed to hand over all tapes that he had filmed in his years in New England. Tape number three was labeled "OFF signals" and contained footage of the Miami Dolphins' calling their offensive signals in a 2002 game. It is assumed that although those eight games are the only that Walsh still has possession of, that they are not the only ones that were filmed by New England. In fact, one of the eight tapes turned in by the former Patriots' employee was not even filmed by him and was taped after he was promoted from the video department. 

The questions that this leaves me asking is what should the punishment be for the New England Patriots and how will their affect their and Bill Belichick's legacy? After not being completely truthful about video taping this season - they were taping offensive signals, also - I would once again take away their first round pick in the draft. In fact, they, in effect, still had a first round pick this season. (They drafted seventh overall, taking the 49ers spot in the NFL Draft.) I would also fine Belichick another $250,000 to bring his total Spygate fine to a clean $1 million. He knew what he was doing was wrong and, yet, continued to film opposing coaches. He then lied to the media, the fans and most importantly, the NFL about who he was filming and how often he was filming them. 

The Patriots will always have their three Super Bowls from this era - there may be more to come - but there will always be an air of skepticism surrounding them. Would they have been a great team without the video taping? Absolutely. Did they need to tape opposing coordinators? Probably not. This entire situation could've been avoided in New England by some simple common sense and ethics. 

- D. Spell