The rumors and gossip that surround the New York Jets and New England Patriots never cease to amaze me. All week long we had heard about the Jets bringing in Patriots spies, and the Patriots bringing in Jets spies. But as game time approached, all that nonsense seemed to get thrown out the window. Well, at least until late last night.According to a report by Dan Leberfeld of Scout.com, Bill Belichick and the Patriots may have brought one of their spies to the game yesterday after all. As if the Patriots weren't good enough, they apparently felt the need to "steal signs."
According to a Meadowlands source, a member of the Patriots organization, with a credential issued by the team, was spotted by Jets security chief Steve Yarnell shooting near the New York bench. And according to the stadium source, when questioned by Yarnell, the unnamed individual said that he was put up to it by the Patriots.As Leberfeld noted, if this turns out to be true, the Patriots will face some serious disciplinary action. At the same time, there does not appear to be enough evidence (yet) to substantiate this rumor. For the time being, you should take it with a grain of salt.
The cameraman was reportedly accused by Yarnell of shooting the Jets' signals that were being sent by the coaches from the sidelines.
The source says that the NFL is being made aware of this accusation. If this is true, the Patriots could be subject to a serious punishment from the league office.
Update: ESPN is reporting that the camera in question has been confiscated.
Update: More teams are now accusing the Patriots of similar tactics.
Hat Tip: The Jets Blog
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. Is sign stealing illegal in football? If it's not, then i say more power to the Patriots.
Posted at 12:18PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Kustie the Klown
2. Bellechick is a sleaze.
Posted at 12:27PM on Sep 10th 2007 by myra
3. I pray to God(tm) that this is proven true and that Belichick gets blasted by the league. A 4 game suspension would be a nice ego bruise.
Belichick is a Bag de Douchè.
Posted at 12:47PM on Sep 10th 2007 by mattbaha
4. Sounds like some sour Jets fan looking for an excuse. The only real excuse is that the Patriots are just to good for the Jets to handle.
Posted at 12:56PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Go Pats
5. Ah huh...with three SB as Pat's head coach, he needs to steal signs to win. ah huh....sounds like the Jets are sore losers.....
Posted at 1:19PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Marion Fischer
6. Again, i ask if this would be against the the NFL rules??
By definition, that which is not against the rules is perfectly within the rules.
I for one think teams should not be allowed to watch game film of their upcoming opponents because it gives an unfair advantage.
Posted at 1:21PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Kustie the Klown
7. You have to be kidding, right? If you watched the game yesterday, the Pats totally overmatched the Jets in just about every facet of the game. Do you think any hijinx would have changed the outcome of the game? For that matter -- The Jets could NOT have won this game even IF BB was standing next to Mangini on the sideline giving him the Pat's plays. Get real.
Posted at 1:44PM on Sep 10th 2007 by David
8. This is against the rules. I thought that Belichick was accused of this at least 2 different times last season. I actually think that this is a well known fact in the NFL. I agree...Belichick is a total sleaze. He has no morals, values or honor whatsoever.
Posted at 1:46PM on Sep 10th 2007 by steffi
9. Let me see if I've got this straight.
"According to a Meadowlands source"
Well let’s see a source from the Jests says.......... (Uh oh, credibility issue from line one).
"a member of the Patriots organization, with a credential issued by the team, was spotted by Jets security chief Steve Yarnell shooting near the New York bench. And according to the stadium source, when questioned by Yarnell, the unnamed individual said that he was put up to it by the Patriots."
Ah was that the entire Patriot organization and who is that Patriot Deity? And just what was he put up too? The “Patriots” like all other football teams are an organization; if this guy was “put up” to something then why can’t he name names and say what exactly he was put up to (Could he have really been hired by the Jests? Hmmmm)?
"The cameraman was reportedly accused by Yarnell of shooting the Jets' signals that were being sent by the coaches from the sidelines."
Oooooooh so the security guy for the Jests has concluded his investigation and has decided this guy with a camera (very unusual site on the sidelines of an NFL game) is guilty of stealing signs from the Jest coaching staff! Well if Joe "$9 and hour" Security guy says so it must be true!
I guess the Patriots must have a portable TV station that then broadcasts the signal picked up by their spy over a private TV system that relays the signals from the camera to the Patriot booth. Of course it would be difficult to record those signals unless the camera has the ability to see through the coaches back so he can see his hand signals, but since reality has no part in this article other than to try to create an excuse for why the Jests had their butts handed to them by a superior team I don’t see why this can’t be possible.
Here are some REAL possibilities.
1. This story is completely fabricated to drive traffic to the site (most probable scenario).
2. The Jests were so humiliated by the spanking they took at the hands of the Patriots they figured it must be stolen signals because how else can a team get so badly out classed.
3. Dan Benton (the guy who wrote the article) is obviously a diehard NY fan and is obviously upset by his teams (Giants, Bills, Jests and Spankees) getting beat on a regular basis he needs to find excuses for why his teams' can’t match up with the big boys. (Hmm maybe this is the most probable choice)
4. The camera guy was really hired by the Jests to create a firestorm of controversy to deflect the short comings of their own team and create a media frenzy around the Patriot organization in an effort to take their focus from winning football games and spending it defending themselves against false accusations.
Regardless of which one of these is true it just goes to show the extreme lengths NY fans and organizations will go to try to bring down the Patriot dynasty. They can’t do it on the field so they create rumors or stage events that never happened to do it off the field.
Patriots 38
Jests 14
Posted at 2:29PM on Sep 10th 2007 by SD
10. The Jets are just sore loosers - they have to try and dig up dirt where there isn't any. The Patriots are a far superior team to the Jets. What was the matter with Mangini anyways putting Pennington back in the came. He could have had a career ending injury - where are the brains??????
Posted at 2:36PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Tammy
11. SD - Number four would be a legitimate argument had I actually created this story. However, if you took the time to read the entire thing and click links, you'd see that wasn't the case.
Additionally, the NFL has not confiscated the camera in question, so there is legs to this story.
So, allow me to give you a bit of reality:
The Patriots are suspected (I'm not saying they are) cheaters, and from what I can understand, this has happened before.
Posted at 3:11PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Dan Benton
12. if he was asked what his business was and he admitted he was put up to "it" by the patriots, then why wouldn't they change their signs? unless i'm missing something, it seems innocuous to blame belichick. btw, go clemens!
Posted at 3:11PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Michael
13. I hope it true. I hate the Pats.
Posted at 3:16PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Sports Bettor
14. The jets really cant handle being blown out of their own stadium by the best team in football year after year so make up some lame excuse. ITS TO BAD YOU JETS WILL NEVER BEAT US ON THE FIELD. and when this story is proven to be false the jets should be penalized for being sore losers.
Posted at 3:45PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Sean
15. hahaha this is funny... for all you people or should i say pats fans that think the jets and their fans are sore losers well sorry to say but your all wrong...yes new england is good and they beat up on us yesterday plus chad got hurt again and the pats are way better with randy moss who appears to be there only go to guy it seemed like yesterday but you gotta believe this story is true because deep down inside billy belichick knows that eric mangenius has his number.. may i remind all the pats fans that mangini did defeat the patriots last year in foxsboro...yeah the jets lost the re-match in the playoffs but still mangini a first year coach went into foxsboro and beat his old pal bill and the pats so lets see what happens when these two face off later this year once again in foxsboro and we will see who wins :-)so bring your spies bill cause your gonna need them to make yourself look good against eric cause your a coward. You couldnt even look the man in the face when he beat you and tried to shake your hand after the game last year...belichick = puss bag
Posted at 3:53PM on Sep 10th 2007 by Nick
16. "The cameraman was reportedly accused by Yarnell of shooting the Jets' signals that were being sent by the coaches from the sidelines."
Why bother? Any staffer on the sidelines could watch the signs - it's out there in broad daylight, guys. Even have a camera on the other side to record and decipher it necessary. But it's not likely, though I would NOT be surprised if teams watch for and try to decipher signals, even DBs trying to decipher the QB's signals at the line of scrimmage.
It is, in fact, illegal to film another team's sideline activities, according to the NFL and the article. So the Pats caremrman was probably out of line, and should have been escorted if the Jets wanted him out of the sideline area. No problem there. And the NFL is reported to have confiscated the equipment. But it's pretty farfetched to see how this actually works. Among other things, I would expect that revieiwng the tape at halftime would be pretty pointless, and if the camera has a transmitter in it, then it becomes a lot more useful and a lot more difficult to defend.
But this is the difference between winning and losing organizations - Winners focus on winning, and losers focus on other stuff. The Jets need to get over it and come to the field focused only on beating the team in front of them on any given Sunday. Even with the issues off-field for the Pats, they put it behind them and focus on the game at hand. That's the next to last step to winning.
The last step is execution. Assuming you have the talent, the plan, and the preparation. Which of these did the Jets have more of than the Pats?
ps- Yeah, I'm a Pats fan. Nothing personal, but the Jets weren't good enough this week. Maybe next time.
Posted at 5:08PM on Sep 10th 2007 by rickb928
17. unfortunatly it sounds like the pats are at it again, how many blackeyes will the nfl take for the pats what a bunch of cheaters i think most people outside of boston know the patsies dident earn 2 out of 3 superbowls and shouldent even have made it to one of those, the patriots in my eyes make the nfl looked fixed if they are caught cheating and signal stealing is cheating the punishment shouldent be draft picks next year that wont hurt the pats with all the free agents they have they will be cash strapped over the next several years, they should take away the win vs the jets and give all the pats opponents a victory i am not a jets fan i am a fan who cares about the integrity of the game, someone needs to come down hard on the pats and this cheating the pats seem to think they are above the rules
Posted at 5:10PM on Sep 10th 2007 by shawn
18. I can't stand the Pats and Belichick. But get real here Jets fans, they could have beaten them with blindfolds on yesterday. The Jets aren't even close to being in the same league as the pats.....Take you're buttkicking and go home....Man..Worse than G-hens fans
Posted at 6:09PM on Sep 10th 2007 by The U is Dead
19. hey clown sure lets take theor home tvs away to yes your a clown
Posted at 6:30PM on Sep 10th 2007 by rick
20. ask why do pats need someone in the open, on the sidelines, if you want to spy just put someone in the press box with telescopic lens. and like no one watches film its part of the game, what morons
Posted at 6:31PM on Sep 10th 2007 by rick