Super Bowl Sunday ...and the fans go ballistic!

Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times kicks off...
Patriots: Just another American phony?
In our tangled world, is perfection even possible without a stain? Is anything believable, from airbrushed models to corrupted CEOs to the $125 Kobe steak flown in this morning from Japan? When we want to celebrate absolute flawlessness, won't there always be a zit on Jessica Alba's face, a tee-shot shank by Tiger Woods, a dent on the door of a Pagani Zonda Roadster?

This should be a singular night in history, the coronation of the New England Patriots as pro football's first 19-0 champion, which would further confirm them as an all-time American dynasty if not for a recurring problem. We're not sure if they've been honest about their business, making this the potential Enron of sports if all the gathering dirt doesn't come out in the eventual wash.

On the eve of what presumably was an unprecedented Super Bowl story line, new allegations surfaced about the Patriots and their illegal methods of gaining competitive edges via covert videotaping operations. You thought Snoop Dogg Belichick and his video spies cheated only once, last September? Turns out, according to a report in the Boston Herald, that the episode might have been merely Son of Spygate. (more)

The Boston Herald reported Saturday that the Patriots taped the Rams’ final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI. (more)

Senator wants to know why NFL destroyed Patriots spy tapes
With the Super Bowl fast approaching, a senior Republican senator says he wants the NFL to explain why it destroyed evidence from the New England Patriots cheating scandal.

"I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wrote Thursday in a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. (more, with video)

Forrmer Patriots video assistant hints at team's spying history
(more, with video)

History - September 22, 2007 - A long flash-to-bang.
"The Patriots have fully cooperated and complied with the requirements of the commissioner's decision," the (NFL) statement said. "All tapes, documents and other records relating to this matter were turned over to the league office and destroyed, and the Patriots have certified in writing that no copies or other records exist."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote that the reason for the destruction was "so that our clubs would know they no longer exist and cannot be used by anyone."

Aiello was also asked if there was evidence of the Patriots using the tactics in their Super Bowl wins. He declined to comment. (more)

From the Security Scrapbook files... (more)

Get the T-shirt.

The Penny Dropped. Let the Lawsuits Begin.

A former St. Louis Rams player and three fans sued the New England Patriots over allegations that the Patriots cheated in the 2002 Super Bowl by taping a Rams practice before the game.

Former Rams player Willie Gary and other plaintiffs are seeking millions of dollars of damages in their federal lawsuit, filed in New Orleans. The Patriots beat the Rams, 20-17, on a last-second field goal in the 2002 Super Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Before the game, former Patriots employee Matt Walsh allegedly taped a walkthrough practice by the Rams. Walsh told The Associated Press last week during the Pro Bowl in Hawaii that he couldn't comment on the allegations.

The lawsuit accuses the Patriots of fraud, unfair trade practices and engaging in a "pattern of racketeering."
(more) (Why is Sports Crime Different?) (other lawsuit) (more outrage) (moral)

Peyton Manning Reveals His Counter-Measures to Avoid Getting Bugged

The New England Patriots had to face a couple of damning scandals during their golden era. While Deflategate is the more popular one, Spygate isn’t far behind. The thought of the Patriots eavesdropping on their opponents may seem like an exaggeration. However, it was enough to convince Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and prompt him to take some rather weird measures.

Allegedly, the Patriots had a very bad habit of recording opposition coaches from non-designated zones. Something for which the team and their coach, Bill Belichick, received heavy fines. However, there were a few, including Manning, who believed the Patriots had installed hot mics in the locker room, which gave rise to some pretty hilarious paranoid outcomes.

During live coverage of the Packers vs Giants game in 2021, Peyton revealed to his brother that he was paranoid about letting his plans get leaked while visiting the Gillett Stadium. “Every time I played against New England, I used to talk to my receivers in the showers,” he said. “Don’t talk about a play next to my locker because I know it’s bugged. Very strange to see seven guys hanging out in the shower.” more

Sunday isn't only Jets vs. Patriots.
It could be Spy vs. Spy.

According to league sources familiar with the situation, the Jets were caught using a videotaping device during a game in Foxborough last season that resulted in the removal of a Jets employee. After Gillette Stadium officials saw him using the recorder early in the game, he was told to stop and leave the area. He had been filming from the mezzanine level between the scoreboard and a decorative lighthouse in an end zone. The camera was not confiscated by the Patriots or stadium security.

Tuesday night the Jets admitted that they did videotape the game and their employee was confronted, but said they had permission from the Patriots to film from that location. (more)

Peyton Manning - Patriots Locker-Room Bugging Accusation

The New England Patriots’ cheating scandals didn’t stop at Spygate and Deflategate, according to Peyton Manning.

Manning said that he knew the Patriots bugged the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium with hot mics to eavesdrop on conversations between opposing players.

“Every time I played against New England, I used to talk to my receivers in the showers,” Manning said during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football Manning-cast in Week 2’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.“Don’t talk about a play next to my locker because I know it’s bugged. I know it’s got a hot mic in there... more

SpyCam Story #446 - The Diogenes Dilemma

NY - Matt Walsh finally had his day in front of the NFL, and as far as commissioner Roger Goodell is concerned, this chapter of the Patriots videotaping saga is closed.

Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant who last week turned over eight tapes showing the team recording opposing offensive and defensive signals, met for more than three hours with Goodell yesterday. In the commissioner’s view, he offered no new information worth reopening the league’s investigation into the Patriots’ videotaping practices.

Goodell said Walsh told him there was no tape of the Rams walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. He said Walsh was unaware of any other violations of league policy, including the bugging of locker rooms, manipulation of communications equipment, or miking of players to pick up opposing signals...

He also told the commissioner that he had helped a small number of players scalp between eight and 12 Super Bowl tickets. (more)

Belichick Fined; Patriots Will Lose Pick

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been fined the league maximum of $500,000, and the team has been ordered to pay $250,000 for illegally taping the New York Jets' sidelines during last Sunday's 38-14 win at the Meadowlands. (Belichick was warned last season when his spy cameraman, Matt Estrella, was caught on the sidelines in Green Bay.) ...

The Jets coach looked beyond paranoid when he put a paper shredder in the locker room to destroy practice plans. Somehow, that almost seems like a smart precaution now. If the Patriots are brazen enough to do this on the road, imagine what they're doing at home. The next team that travels to Foxboro should leave their special teams at home and bring CSI on the trip to sweep for bugs.

Think we're kidding? It's already happening. Kevin Murray, who runs a counter-espionage firm in Oldwick, has been hired by several NFL teams to secure team offices during sensitive contract negotiations. "I don't think they're paranoid," Murray said. "Just cautious." (more)

NFL Spying Book in the Works

Spies on the Sidelines - The High Stakes World of NFL Espionage
A NON FICTION BOOK BY KEVIN BRYANT

After the NFL’s Spygate controversy, involving the New England Patriots illicitly recording the defensive signals of the New York Jets in 2007, NFL fans and pundits alike struggled to answer a lingering question: Were the Patriots the only team spying on their opponents or was espionage a commonplace activity in the NFL? 

Everyone had an opinion, but few could offer more than a gut feeling to back up their claims and for good reason...

Well, that was before. Spies on the Sidelines shines a light on the shadowy world of NFL espionage and exposes the full range of collection techniques teams use to spy on their opponents, as well as the defensive countermeasures that are used to defend against these threats. more

NE Patriots thwart eavesdropping rumors

Foxboro, MA -- The Miami Dolphins claim they had an edge in last week’s victory over the Patriots because they acquired game film that included audio of Tom Brady making calls at the line of scrimmage.

Brady responded Wednesday with another soundbite aimed directly at the eavesdropping Dolphins.

"I think that’s a big crock of you-know-what," Brady said. "I’m sure if you asked them, it probably sounds good for them to say they have it all figured out, but they’re 6-7 and we’re 9-4.

"Go tell me who probably has it more figured out."

The report surfaced Monday in the aftermath of Miami’s 21-0 win. Two players told the Palm Beach Post that they purchased the video including Brady’s audio, but Dolphins head coach Nick Saban said the team only used film from network feeds. (more)

Patriots suspected of spying?!?! (Shocking.)

(US football story) For the second straight weekend, the three-year-old notion of the Patriots engaging in tactics not recognized by the rule book hovers over one of the team’s biggest out-of-division rivalries. 

In his look-ahead to the coming weekend, Peter King of SI.com points out that Colts quarterback Peyton Manning fears the presence of enemy ears in the visitors’ locker room at Gillette Stadium... None of it means that bugs have been planted in the locker room, but there’s nothing wrong with being cautious. Even if the caution becomes paranoia. (more) (history)

Solution... Electronic surveillance detection inspections.

SpyCam Story #375 - Football Spies

New York - The NFL is looking into claims a New England Patriots employee was videotaping signals by Jets coaches on New York's sideline during the season opener.

The investigation was first reported by ESPN.com, which said that NFL security confiscated a video camera and tape from a Patriots employee during New England's 38-14 victory Sunday. The employee was accused of aiming his camera at the Jets' defensive coaches, who were sending signals out to the players, sources told the Web site.

"The rule is that no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game," the league said in a statement from spokesman Greg Aiello. "Clubs have specifically been reminded in the past that the videotaping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals on the sidelines is prohibited. (more)

Colleges Take Spying As Serious Threat

OK - High fences. Seven security guards. No, this isn't the look of a low-security prison; it's daily protocol for safeguarding Oklahoma football practice from spies.

Six weeks ago, the New England Patriots made spying a national story, when the NFL punished coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots for spying on the New York Jets.

But long before, college coaches — especially at OU — have taken spying as a serious threat. (more)

Interesting observation...
Business executives (who have much more to lose) don't take spying as seriously as college athletic departments.

The Patroits — Still Being Accused of Spying

Houston defensive end Antonio Smith questioned how New England knew what the Texans were going to do on defense after a 34-31 win by the Patriots on Sunday.

Smith told reporters after the game Houston had some new wrinkles in its defense this week and it was “miraculous” how the Patriots changed their offense to key on the defense.

“Either teams are spying on us or scouting us,” he said. “I don’t know what it is.”

The NFL fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round pick in the 2008 draft for videotaping New York Jets signals during a game on Sept. 9, 2007. Belichick said he thought that was allowed and apologized for what he said was a mistake in his interpretation of the rule prohibiting it. (more) (Why Is Sports Crime Different?)

Bill Bellichick (aka Bill O. Check to some)

NJ - A disgusted Jets season ticket-holder went on the offensive against the New England Patriots over the infamous Videogate scandal.

Princeton lawyer Carl Mayer filed a class-action suit in Newark Federal Court against the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick because a video assistant filmed Jets coaches giving defensive signals last month. (more)

More Sports Spying History

According to a report in the New York Daily News, the New York Jets were aware of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's videotaping shenanigans as far back as 2004.

Sources told the Daily News that Herm Edwards, then the Jets head coach, and his defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson not only noticed a camera aimed at them from the opposite sideline during a game between the Jets and Patriots, but they waved at it. (Does this constitute consent?)

The News' report also said the videotape was apparently one of six tapes Belichick turned over to the league that were subsequently destroyed by the order of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. (more)

But spying has always existed in football and other professional sports. A marvelous book, "The Echoing Green," documents how the 1951 New York Giants utilized a telescope to steal opposing catchers' signs — and relay them to the batters.

Papa Bear George Halas, it has been claimed, paid young men to listen to and film other teams' practices. The old Kansas City Chiefs were accused of being the worst spying offenders — by Al Davis, who was accused of bugging AFL teams' locker rooms. The Broncos purportedly had two spies a long time ago at a San Diego workout, writing plays on the inside of paper cups.

A former NFL coach told me at the recent Super Bowl in Arizona that his team cheated regularly. "We did everything you can imagine to get information on the teams we were playing. The more technology, the easier you can get stuff. It's common in the league," he said.

Belichick was caught.
Now, Congress is involved. (more)
"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit..."

Report: Colts Still Sweep For Bugging Devices When They Visit Patriots

MA - It appears Peyton Manning left quite the lasting legacy in Indianapolis. Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy caused a major stir Thursday when he admitted Manning used to fear the New England Patriots bugged the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium and even would go out into the hallway to discuss play-calling.

Manning left Indy in 2011, but apparently the team still takes precautionary measures whenever it comes to Foxboro, according to WTHR.com’s Bob Kravitz. more

AP striving for Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" Award

Belichick AP Coach of the Year despite spying fine
Patriots coach honored for second time (?!?!)

New England's undefeated season now includes yet another achievement: Bill Belichick is The Associated Press 2007 NFL Coach of the Year. ...

That was enough to offset the major blemish on Belichick's resume: a $500,000 personal fine, $250,000 fine for the team and the loss of a first-round pick in the upcoming draft after the Patriots were caught videotaping New York Jets coaches during the season opener. (more) (more)

PATS 'SPY' READY TO ROLL TAPE

The former New England Patriots employee who supposedly has tapes of illegal spying by the team may be ready to give them up. (more)

Spy Game - Part 1

NFL coaching staffs sometimes have used extreme means to protect - and get - secrets.

When Saban's former boss, Jerry Glanville, told him to pass out those notebooks filled with strategy and terminology, Saban obliged as any good assistant coach would -- even if it didn't make much sense to him at the time.

"The first page of the notebook was from the 1973 Atlanta Falcons," Saban recalled. "It was a 15-year-old notebook."

Just another extreme -- and extremely bizarre -- example of the often unbelievable measures taken by some coaches to avoid falling victim of espionage in the NFL. Maybe Glanville was being paranoid back then. Or maybe he was just being smart. ...

Did the Dolphins commit an act of football treason last week when they listened to television broadcasts of past Patriots games so they could learn quarterback Tom Brady's calls at the line of scrimmage?

If only you knew.

"Just because you don't know something goes on," Saban said, "doesn't mean it doesn't go on." (more)

Spies Demise - Week ending 2/16/08

US - Four people have been arrested in the United States on spying charges relating to the sale of classified information - including details of the Space Shuttle - to China. (more)

Bolivia - President Evo Morales declared a U.S. Embassy security officer to be an "undesirable person" on Monday after reports that the officer asked an American scholar and 30 Peace Corps volunteers to pass along information about Cubans and Venezuelans working in Bolivia. (more)

US - Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, wants to know more about the New England Patriots' practice of spying on the opposition... (more)

Afghanistan - Soldiers seized two Taliban fighters spying on Nato forces after one of the militant's smart shoes gave him away... A soldier said they were suspicious as he wore expensive shoes - rare in the poor farming area. (more)

South Korea's outgoing president has accepted the resignation of his spy chief, who offered to quit over the leak of a document detailing his secret trip to North Korea in December, a spokesman said Monday. (more)

Kenya’s longest serving spy master, James Kanyotu, died in Nairobi yesterday. The shadowy and burly spy who headed the Directorate of State Intelligence, then known as the Special Branch for 27 years, died at the Nairobi Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness. (more)

US - Hewlett-Packard Co. said late Wednesday that it has settled with the New York Times and three BusinessWeek journalists who were spied on as part of the company's boardroom surveillance scheme. (more)