I had assumed that the tapes went back to the start of the Belichick era in New England, but they actually only went back to late in the 2006 season. I guess there were notes collected as well that went further back that were destroyed as well, Goodell didn't elaborate on those but seemed satisfied that they had all been accounted for. He stated unequivically that none of the Super Bowls were in question. I can live with that. The fact that a Jets coach waves directly to camera on one of the tapes says a lot. There was no secret that this was going on and that had to limit how much help stealing signals actually could be.
Did every team in the NFL do this? Absolutely not. Did some besides the Patriots? Absolutely. When they got caught those who weren't doing it pounced. That's why we got so many statements from coaches like the Indianapolis Colts Tony Dungy denouncing it. Clearly Dungy had to know that some teams did it, and most likely had to take preventitive steps against it. It was probably a nuisance more than anything else.
In the hyper-competitive NFL it's clear that no team is more competitive than the New England Patriots. Their success alone is evidence to that and clearly it runs through all aspects of the organization, to a level where they try to manipulate every single factor possible into their favor. Could what the Patriots did be truly classified as cheating? Sure. But not to a level where they had an kind of advanage over everyone else. Some want to paint a picture of the Pats knowing a team's plays before they ran them. That's lunacy. Not to mention if any Head Coach allowed them to do that they didn't belong in the NFL.
Of course there was at least a handful of other teams that did it. How many former coaches have to come out and say it? It had to be the Patriots that took the fall though. They're on top right now. Would "Spygate" be the same front page story in today's New York Times nearly five months after the fact if it had happened to the Jacksonville Jaguars or Cleveland Browns or Cincinati Bengals or even the New York Giants (in week 2)? Not even close.
As a Patriot fan I can do nothing but embrace the hate just like the Oakland Raiders embrace their nasty image. So to all you fans of the other 31 out there: We're the Patriots. We're gonna do whatever it takes to run your team off the field. Call us cheaters. You'll just sound ignorant to us and we'll just call you losers. We're at our fourth Super Bowl in seven years. And guess what, we could very well be back there next year. We can lose Asante, Bruschi, Seau and Rodney and we're still gonna cream your team. Enjoy the offseason when hope springs eternal. You've got about six more months before you have to lose to us again.
