And the resident Patsies will tell us everyone else does it and no one in the organisation knows about it and the NFL has it in for them and we hate because we ain't and so on.

(Before going to football threads and slagging off Chelsea and Man Utd for influencing referees, being protected by the Premier League, and so on…)

Ah, Paul beat me to it I see.

Mate, the story is well researched and excellently written. I suggest you read it in its entirety before adopting your stock 'nothing to see here, lies lies lies, I'm off for a swim in that big African river' response.

Course it is.

All these teams having to find ways to say that the Patriots cheated. Bugging locker rooms, stealing play sheets and all these other misdemeanours.

If they were doing this every week, you'd think there might be a modicum of evidence.

Your hatred blinds you.

ESPN.

You believe ESPN.

"11 out of 12 balls were over 2lb lighter than they should be"

"They changed the kicking ball at the half as it had been modified"

Neither true.

Your defence of your beloved Patriots is admirable Paul, but really? Evidence?
They were found guilty of spying. Fact. Evidence existed. Fact. And it seems, were they to be forced to do so, there's quite a few people who would be willing to say on record that the spying went on for much much longer than the Patriots were found guilty for. And Brady was not found "not-guilty" of anything by the recent appeal court case - that court only found against the NFL's wrongful use of the collective bargaining agreement. He has not been cleared of wrong-doing.
That other teams may or may not be up to similar tactics (eg Falcons, Vikings and Panthers) is not a valid defence for the Patriots' actions.

Whoa, watch your mouth bro. There is no evidence linking the Falcons to any illegal activity. They are the most saintly team in the NFL.

They were found guilty of taping signals, not spying. Never denied by the Patriots, Belichick etc.

There is also the small matter that if the filming was being done by a different point of the stadium or elsewhere, it was not illegal, and the memo informing the teams to remember their responsibilities regarding this rule came after a Jets employee was caught on the Pats sideline in 2006.

You are correct that Tom Brady was not cleared of wrongdoing, however, that was not the responsibility of the judge, and there remains no evidence, other than that the Ideal Gas Law fits the methods of every ball other than the one the Colts intercepted and took illegally from the game.

There is also the matter of the awful NFL regulations and sting operation that did nothing but complicate matters.

Others point to the phone calls between Brady and McNally/Jastremski after the game. Well, look at it this way, the only other time that Brady had though it necessary to contact the 2 men by phone was when the balls had been blown up to 16PSI by the NFL Officials vs the Jets in October 2014. Would it not be logical to think that Brady wanted to know what the hell had gone on?

And since Ben likes reading, this newspaper column responds a lot better than I could, and without the insults I would use.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/09/0...ons-from-espn/

.

No shit.

I'm done with this.

The more the word 'Saint' is used to describe an NFL team, the dirtier they are

Personally, I love the 'pantomime villain' persona of the Patriots. Imagine the league without them, even ignoring the games themselves. Marvellous fayre

:D

I guess we're just supposed to believe whatever the Boston media says on the subject?

Paul do you listen to PFW? As Fred said when this whole thing first came out it's probably time (now that Brady won't be suspended) to just sit back and enjoy the whole thing.

Yeh, maybe we cheat, maybe we don't. We definitely win.

Let the other teams get so paranoid and stressed about what we might be up to.

No, but people like Ben believe whatever the NFL has planted in the media.

Like I said, must be a coincidence that ESPN released the story quickly followed by SI.

Insane when Dick Sherman is out there defending Brady!

Have done for 9 years now.

The paranoia in Baltimore will have released insane levels when they hear that the "illegal" ineligible receiver formation was named Baltimore and Raven.

Nope, it absolutely does not. Certainly not in the manner that your partisanship blinds you. That Patriots were CAUGHT CHEATING, Paul, yet even that you deny.

My day job involves putting personal prejudices aside and judging events, sports teams, etc on their own merits. That now includes writing for the NFL Gameday London programmes. Hence you'll find many examples last season of me openly respecting their achievements over recent years. Belichick is the best coach ever. I've repeatedly stated this. Brady is one of the best QBs ever. I've repeatedly stated this. But no single organisation in any sport, at least in recent times, has been so consistently linked to cheating, and I am STAGGERED that you can brazenly attempt to brush it all under the carpet. SOME of the quotes in that ESPN investigation may be exaggerated, but not all.

The Steelers have an even more glittering history than the Pats, and are equally as despised outside of their own bubble. So if it's all down to green-eyed opponents unable to cope with other teams' successes, where is the dirt on Tomlin and Roethlisberger? I mean, Big Ben's past would make him a MUCH easier target than Teflon Tom.

Enjoy our NFL discussions, but on this one you sound exactly like the holier-than-thou, butter-wouldn't-melt Chelsea fans whose introspective attitudes rightly get pilloried on these very boards.

no smoke without fire