Breaking News: Belichick Fined; Patriots Will Lose Picks

by Chris on Sep 13, 2007 7:43 PM CDT in General

Just heard on Sirius NFL Radio that as punishment for the "spying scandal", Bill Belichick himself will be fined $500,000 and the New England Patriots will be fined $250,000. Also, if the Patriots make the playoffs in the 2007 season, they will lose their 1st round pick in the 2008 draft. If they do not make the playoffs, they will lose their 2nd round pick and their 3rd round pick.

Wow. That is a harsh penalty. The commissioner isn't kidding around. For those of you who thought this story was going to blow over...it didn't.

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I think that the penalty is harsh

for just video taping the signs. Now if they really blocked the coaches headphones and were wire tapping or what ever they were alleged to have done then this is about right. I find the whole thing to be funny.

by TXroyal on Sep 13, 2007 8:53 PM CDT 0 recs

wow.

that was more serious than i thought it would be, but it doesnt surprise me one bit that belicheck is a cheater. he is obviously a genius, but he is clearly a win-at-all-costs kinda guy, at least IMO. combine this with the whole ted johnson thing (he forced him to play even when he had a concussion) and the rodney harrison steroids thing, the patriots are losing lots of their charm. now, i think they won the super bowls honestly, just now that they have done worse in recent memory has forced belicheck to take a different path to the super bowl.

goodell definately isnt kidding on anything, teams or players, which is a good thing.

by rockchalk on Sep 13, 2007 9:09 PM CDT 0 recs

wow

Goodell may not like to think of himself as the disciplinarian commissioner, as he said on ESPN, but in reality he is. i like it. the punks and thugs running around being gangsta off the field need to be reprimanded when that interferes with the law or even the league's conduct policy. Goodell has made it clear he will act swiftly and decisively. apparently this extends to arguably the league's most respected, although not most liked, coach. while this may be a harsh punishment, Goodell is being fair in his decisions

pat

by kcisbetterthanstlateverything on Sep 13, 2007 10:00 PM CDT 0 recs

kind of off topic

but the one thing i wish they WOULD relax on is the end zone celebrations. i never understood why they were banned in the first place, they were hilarious (most of them, especially the ones ocho cinco did) and didnt take anything away from the game. if the player is willing to pay the fine, there should be no in-game penalty IMO.

by rockchalk on Sep 13, 2007 10:32 PM CDT 0 recs

View from New England

I must say for a Kansas City website you guys are very sympathetic to "our" cause...It's good to know that not every NFL fan outside of New England hates the Pats...

Having grown up in New England and spending the past 28 years here I sometimes feel like "we" have turned into the New York Yankees of the NFL.

But on Belechick and the Pats...this penalty is INSANE...fining someone or a team is one thing, but taking draft picks! WTF? That could effect the team for YEARS to come. Yea, he/they broke the rules...but if the commish. thinks that Belechick is the only coach doing this he's crazy...maybe he's making an example out of him.

One funny theory circulating around NE is that Belechick did this, as a football genius, full well knowing that Mangini and the Jets would suspect something and "rat them out" just so the commish. would "make an example" out of the team to then prevent ALL other teams doing this in the future. Either that or it was a big F-U to the commish and the league for making yet another rule that would try and take the Patriots competitive advantage away...remember the no contact after 5 yards rule they all of a sudden began enforcing like crazy after the Super Bowl against St. Louis.

NE Guy

by NE Guy on Sep 14, 2007 9:14 AM CDT 0 recs