Diving into what we know and what we don’t.
The New England Patriots are embroiled in a videotaping scandal — again.
Spygate 2.0 seems to have many of the same components of the first episode in 2007, with the Patriots getting accused of videotaping an opponent’s sideline. In this case, the Bengals are the accuser. (In 2007, it was the Jets.) A Cincinnati scout saw a member of the Patriots.com video team filming the Bengals’ sideline during a game against the Browns in Week 14, according to multiple reports. That Bengals staffer notified the NFL, which took the video recording and launched an investigation into the Patriots’ motives.
New England has released a statement saying it intended to use that footage as B-roll for a digital series called “Do You Job,” which documents the day-to-day work of employees in the scouting, training and dietary departments of the organization. In this case, the production team was showing the work of an advance scout, who is tasked with scouting the Patriots’ upcoming opponent, which was, in this case, the Bengals. New England has admitted to violating league rules, and will “accept full responsibility for the actions of our production crew.”
Here are some initial thoughts and lingering questions.
1. Bill Belichick is keeping himself as far from this as possible.
The Patriots coach immediately deferred responsibility to the production team. Belichick has stated and restated that he has no oversight and knowledge of the Patriots.com video team. He is disconnected from their process. It feels a little bit like when he deferred responsibility onto Tom Brady during Deflategate: “Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide.” The reason is obvious: Belichick wants nothing to do with this scandal. He wears a scarlet letter for Spygate — he has no interest in muddying his legacy any further.
So if he genuinely had no involvement, he wants to make sure everyone knows. The Patriots have admitted to breaking rules, but he wants to make it clear: he didn’t break the rules.
2. Did he have knowledge of the videotaping?
It’s possible the NFL will launch a lengthy investigation into emails and texts to see if there was any dialogue between the Patriots staff and the Patriots.com staff about this video recording prior to the rule-breaking. That could help determine Belichick’s guilt or innocence.
3. The situation feels almost exactly like what happened in 2007.
Here’s a passage from an ESPN expose that dove into the Patriots’ methodology from the Spygate scandal. It discussed the process: A video team would tape the upcoming opponent’s sideline while an advance scout would make notes about hand signals. Then, director of football research Ernie Adams would break down the notes and the illegal footage. They’d use that in preparation for the game. But there’s more from ESPN:
“During games, Walsh later told investigators, the Patriots’ videographers were told to look like media members, to tape over their team logos or turn their sweatshirt inside out, to wear credentials that said Patriots TV or Kraft Productions. The videographers also were provided with excuses for what to tell NFL security if asked what they were doing: Tell them you’re filming the quarterbacks. Or the kickers. Or footage for a team show.”
This is almost exactly the alibi the Patriots are using in this situation. So while they were interviewing the advance scout before the game for their “Do Your Job” show, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, they also filmed the sideline. Still, this passage — written in 2015 — feels damning for New England.
4. Who are these members of the production team?
The Patriots’ statement said the team included a group of contract employees. It is feasible that those part-timers did not know the rules against taping an opponents’ sideline. With that ignorance, they could have filmed the sideline to use as B-roll to show what the advance scout is seeing. That doesn’t absolve the production team — and, by extension, the Patriots — from wrongdoing. Though, it’s possible it was an accident.
Speaking of what the advance scout is seeing…
5. Why didn’t the scout stop the recording? How did they miss this mistake?
The Patriots scouts are, without a doubt, well-versed in the NFL’s rules on video recordings. This is a franchise which has to be careful of rule-breaking, because of their legacy with Spygate and Deflategate.
How is it that the scout didn’t stop the camera crew from recording the field? A very important note: The recording is eight minutes long, according to The Athletic. (That seems like a lengthy recording for B-roll. It also seems like long enough for the scout to take notice, depending on how close they were to the production team.) It’s possible the scout was busy with his or her job. It’s possible the camera crew moved to a different part of the press box.
But, of course, even if the scout had no way of knowing the camera crew would film the sideline, it is the Patriots’ responsibility to inform that crew of what they can and cannot tape.
6. Still, the NFL is ready to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt, per NFL Network.
It seems the NFL wants to believe New England, according to NFL Network Ian Rapoport. What’s more, the NFL is at a point where few coaches send sideline signals. Communication happens over headsets, which is why coaches are always seen putting their play sheet in front of their mouths.
7. The Patriots clearly deserve a punishment.
They broke league rules, whether intentionally or accidentally. They’ve admitted to breaking rules. The NFL will punish the Patriots for what they did.
8. But what will that punishment be?
It all depends upon our second point in this article: Did Belichick know? If he had knowledge of the process or even directed its execution, the Patriots could face a significant punishment, involving suspensions, forfeiture of draft picks and fines. Here’s a look at the past punishments.
- For Spygate: The NFL fined Belichick $500,000. The Patriots paid $250,000 in fines. And New England lost its first-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.
- For Deflategate: The NFL fined the Patriots $1 million. New England had to forfeit its first-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft as well as its fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. Tom Brady served a four-game suspension.
If the Patriots knowingly broke the rules, they are likely to face a punishment that exceeds both of those levied in prior scandals. If Belichick did not know about this — as he says — then the Patriots are likely looking at a fine.
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