If the Pats win it will be easy for the NFL to approach Belichik and Kraft and suggest it is time for Belichik to retire. The carrot for Belichik will be the NFL guaranteeing him that regardless of the outcome of the investigation they will not make him ineligible for the Hall of Fame. It wil be up to the voters at that point. If an investigation finds actionable offenses in close proximity to the Super Bowl competition (again) it would be possible that the NFL would declare Belichik ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
I think you are going a little overboard. supposedly they switched balls at halftime and NE pounded Indy even more. BB will go to Hall, all teams will try things to gain an advantage.
He won a lot of games between 2001 and 2006. He probably won at least 1 Super Bowl against the Rams due largely to cheating. He's been a great coach but he has pushed the envelope so hard during that time that the NFL was forced to destroy the evidence because the team that had won 3 of the last 6 championships was probably dirty while they were doing it.
other teams have admitted to doing the same thing. I think it's alarming the # of times they get caught but each individual thing I don't think is a huge deal.
The real issue is that the NFL destroyed on purpose the most damaging evidence ever of likely tainted super bowl wins. Nobody but a select few know what was on those tapes and they ran the one person who came forward through the mud to cover their own asses. The NFL could have saved themselves and New England a whole lot of scrutiny had they just come forward about what was on those tapes but instead they had to "protect the shield" which points to cover up. This issue probably wouldn't be an issue if the precedent wasn't already there for them cheating and the whole Harbaugh thing the week before with them being accused once again of cheating (although only the most hardened Pats haters and Ravens fans would claim they did there) but they have a stigma for breaking the rules and this while it could have been downplayed if it was say the Colts or Seahawks it isn't because of who is involved. It's pretty sad that they had to cheat to beat a team they were 5 TD's better than.
Yeah that's the broad player disciplinary legal action I was talking about. It wouldn't apply to a coach though, he isn't a player and not party to that CBA. Bellichick is also the only NFL coach who isn't part of the Coach's union (it's why he isn't in Madden) so he wouldn't even be subject to a coaches CBA. It is possible that there is something in the franchise agreements, but I don't know of it. That's why I was saying it would be tough to really severely punish him. If it was Brady for example caught on camera, then as a union member subject to the CBA he could be harshly punished.
Why is BB the only coach not a part of the coaches union? After Brady's generous (2nd or 3rd) pay cut it does leave me wondering if there isn't side deals going on up there..? It would seem easy to accommodate a tenure member on the side. And it wouldn't be too crazy to put it past this organization.
Belicheat won't get banned or anything remotely close to it. I'd be surprised if they do anything more than fine him and make him mumble something that's supposed to be translated as an apology to the press.
"The commissioner <tsk> has made his ruling <tsk> and we are going to abide by it <tsk> and we are just going to move along <tsk> you know <tsk> and you know <tsk> we are moving on to Seattle <shrug, tsk>
I think Bill is becoming to the Pats what Pete Rose was to the Cincinnati Reds. He was a great player, nobody denies that, and he was the face of his franchise. But as a player-manager, as the years went by, even his most avid supporters had to eventually admit that there was something seriously wrong with Charlie Hustle. And the worst thing was, he was oblivious to how things looked to people outside his circle. BB is the same way. It's not that he's dishonest, it's like... pathological. He just simply can't conform his behavior to accepted norms and he just doesn't give a rat's ass what everyone else thinks.
The Colts suspected that NEP was doing this in the previous game and complained to the league office about it. So they were aware of it. I guess they found out about it by weighing the balls at halftime when they were under specified weight and then they inflated them. The balls were also weighed after the game. The league has not disclosed the weight of the balls after the game. So is this a standard practice by teams of just bending the rules or real cheating. The Indy balls weighed in at the prescribed weight at half time. So they weren't doing it. The next question is: who did it. Can you prove it was Belichick. If it can be traced to the NEP Equipment Manager who told him to do it. PS funny that Don Shula of all people is calling Belichick at cheater. Which he is, but that's like the pot calling the kettle black. That is if you remember the Mud Bowl.
If Belichick isn't a member of the coach's union, the league can do anything it wants to him. Individuals don't gain immunity to league discipline by not being in the union; the reason the unions exist are to protect individuals from league discipline.
Oh, he's dishonest. If he wasn't dishonest, the answer to the media question "Were the footballs deflated?" is "Yes, of course, Tom likes a less inflated ball so I had the ball boy do it." When he answers "I don't know anything about it" and then Brady goes on the radio and acts like it's a ludicrous idea, that's just blatant dishonesty.
They wouldn't do that. There are some penalties that are cruel and inhumane and never levied as result of that. Coaching the Jets when you don't want the job falls into the category. They might make him hire 4 guys that Manish Mehta handpicks to work in the organization with the stipulation that at least one of them is never more than 5 feet from Belichik again for the duration of his NFL coaching career. That would be a glorious punishment that would guarantee that Belichik was never able to cheat successfully again without it becoming widespread public knowledge.
untrue if this was the law then absolutely yes. But since spygate and the courts viewed the nfl as no better then the W.W.E he can impose his own will on the punishment. Integrity of the game clause. It would be different such as Ray Rice where he punished the player once then upped it after time served. Then there is a legal action by Ray under labor laws. In this case he needs to come super heavy because this is the second time NE and this staff has taken liberties esp in light of the fact it appears the Colts found out about this in November and asked the NFl for the appropriate course of action
I don't think they'll suspend Bill. All I expect is a fine. If more things come from this maybe then but it would have to be drastic like proof they did mess up HC-QB radio channel back in day. If nothing else comes of this except 11/12 balls were deflated and that Colts noticed this in their last NE game and were tipped off of by BAL, fine and move on. And then change the rule that NFL will handle the footballs throughout the game.
