ESPN’s Outside the Lines published a big investigative report into how Deflategate turned out to be a make-up effort by commissioner Roger Goodell after he bungled the Spygate controversy eight years ago. While the report levies some accusations against both Goodell and the Patriots, maybe the most interesting tidbit comes in the form of alleged cheating outside of taping sidelines and deflating balls.
Many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn’t even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team’s offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.) Numerous former employees say the Patriots would have someone rummage through the visiting team hotel for playbooks or scouting reports.
If true, it seems Bill Belichick isn’t above petty larceny when it comes to winning football games. Although leaving your play sheets laying around where any low-level attendant can steal them seems embarrassing, as well.
A source also told OTL that the Patriots often jam their opponents’ radio communications, specifically the coach-to-quarterback line, to gain an advantage on big plays.
At Gillette Stadium, the scrambling and jamming of the opponents’ coach-to-quarterback radio line — “small s—” that many teams do, according to a former Pats assistant coach — occurred so often that one team asked a league official to sit in the coaches’ box during the game and wait for it to happen. Sure enough, on a key third down, the headset went out.
Bill Belichick — cheater, or diabolical mastermind? You decide.
(Via ESPN)
