Heheh... yeah they would get a good laugh at a slap on the wrist like that. A fine alone is not going to be a worthy enough deterrent to send the message to teams that this sort of thing is wrong.
How about probation? When Oklahoma, for example, buys some guy an Escalade to get him to be a Sooner and they get caught, they get a three year period where they can't play for the championship. C'mon Goodell, be a litle inventive here.
I'm thinking something really nasty: 1. $50M Salary Cap hit. (Will have to release quite a few players... Will hurt the team NOW.) 2. No draft for the next 5 years. (Could be harsher than this... it's kinda soft. Will hurt them for years to come, for sure.) 3. Forfeited season. They'll be the first 0-16 team in history. (Either way they make history...) 4. Investigation into the past game films; either slap asterisk mark on all of their records in the past, or look into the past game films, and strip their title if they are found guilty. 5. Life time ban for Belicheat. Have I covered all corners?
I don't think that Goodell will have very much to say about what the punishment will be if the charges are proven. IMO the competetion committee(made up of other owners) will ultimately decide the punishment. At best the Pats will lose a Day 1 pick or picks and there will be a fine. Definitely not punishment enough in my book(forfeiting a 1st and a 3rd would be about right).
I really think that you guys are all overreacting and that it will end up not being that big of a deal. They'll take away a 2nd round pick, and you won't hear of it anymore. Though there is the chance that it's worse..
Do you know the amount of pressure Goodell will receive from the players union and fans for that type of decision? If he doesn't come down hard on BB, he will probably lose his job. The players union has watched him slap stuff punishments on players for non-football related acts, and has watched players fined for TD celebrations and spiking the ball, which don't have near the negative impact cheating does. If Goodell lets BB go on this, the players union, rightly so, will want to know why, and Goodell won't have a good reason. Football fans aside from the Jets are in an uproar over this. The only people not pissed at BB and the Pats are the delusional Pats fans. Angry fans means a lot of pressure, the smarter fans will write to the advertisors, and the advertisors will respond by putting pressure on the NFL. If the direct fan pressure doesn't do it, the advertisors threats certainly will. Goodell has no choice. You think people were pissed with the NBA ref scandal and Vick? That's nothing compared to how people feel about the NFL and fixed games.
Heres the deal, and I think it may end up coming down to this... Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, and numerous other players were reprimanded and suspended for a year for their actions OFF the field, so what is the consequence for actions ON the field....especially cheating, an offense that is worthy of a lifetime ban in some instances... in no way do I think Belli gets the lifetime ban and death penalty...but guys, this is Roger Goodell we are talking about...he doesnt give a shit about people reputations, he wants what is best for football. He is about to send home the message that this will not be tolerated, and I bet that the Patriots are made an example of. I will guess that Belli is suspended from 4-8 games, and that the pats lose 2 picks, a 1st and a 2nd... a forfeit is not out of question, but is not likely
So you're saying what Pete Rose did was 100 times worse? Cuz you know, his punishment was at least 100 times more than that.
Punish Bill Bellichiken. I can't take this stuff seriously, sorry. Okay then, how about BB having to wash the Jets Jockstraps for the rest of the season with Mangini crowing in the background-"Oh how the mighty have fallen......."
Where the Pats going to win the SB against the Rams, Panthers and Eagles without cheating? How about Manning being considered a choke artist for all those losses in NE? What about the playoff and SB money that was ripped off from other deserving players? Does Brady really belong in the same sentence as Manning any more? BB and Kraft should be gone from Football like Pete Rose has been banished from baseball.
What about suspending Kraft too? Nothing happens on that team without his knowledge. That may come down to the competition committee and not Goodell. The Pats don't have a lot of friends their either from what I read. And it's not just Bellichick that needs to be suspended. It's also the entire defensive coaching staff. Anybody that was made aware of what the Jets were doing.
I possted on this topic yesterday. You suspend them from the 2008 draft as well as bar them from signing any Grade "A" Free aqgents. You must make the Pats hurt so badly they'll never try to cheat any team in the league.
It won't happen but if you want to stop it forever right now..forfeit the game..That would end anyone even thinking about it in the NFL because of severity of the penalty..If Goddall did that, boy he would have steel ones! Belichick just ruined his career because the word CHEATER will never be far behind any discussion about "He who is not to be named"!!
Let's see. In the NCAA if you are caught cheating you are barred from bowl games or any post season competition. Now wouldn't that be something that really hit home? Much more so then losing a couple of draft picks. Unfortunately, it will never happen.
Ban all coaches and coordinators for 10 games take two 1st round draft picks and forfeit the game. In my mind they could have been doing this all along I was suprised to see them have all the success they've had since 2000. They came out of nowhere and completely dominated the entire league for years and I don't buy the system bull either something has been up with them for awhile.
The most likely scenario is a large fine, and a couple games off for Belichick. It's the only one that doesn't hurt the overall sport. Unless the picks are given to the Jets, taking away draft picks simply hurts the overall draft. (That's at least a couple guys who don't get selected who might have been.) A forfeit is the most appropriate punishment, but is unrealistic. I know people are saying that this cheating had no effect on the outcome, but in the original thread (I forget what page or post) someone posted the stats of the game. For each progressive number of blitzers, the offensive play for the Pats was longer. Randy Moss had his big TD (beating 3 guys) on a 7 man blitz. Saying that stealing playcalls had no effect on the game is closing your eyes to the reality of the situation. Beyond the clear evidence that they were stealing defensive signals via the cameraman, we're now hearing that they were also using radio frequencies they should not have had access to. So the question begs, were they also stealing offensive calls? When caught in the wrong, you lose the benefit of the doubt. Considering that our starting QB was seriously injured on a blitz, it should be assumed that this injury was the result of blatant disregard for rules. A forfeiture of the game is the only truly fair punishment. It won't happen, but it is right to do. (At least a change of outcome to a tie, but that won't happen either.) So what happens if we come out and stomp the Ravens this weekend? Would that change people's opinions? What if we've lost Penny for a significant time, and he was on his way to a career year? Do these possibilities change your opinion? The what-ifs are too important to disregard here. The outcome of the game, and possibly the season, were affected by the illegal actions of the Patriots. I wanted to start a thread about the absolute smugness of Tom Brady and BB post-game on Sunday. It just seemed like they wanted to laugh at the Jets, and was just more than I've ever seen from either of them. Tom Brady went out his way to stop himself from laughing as he said the win was a product of "great preparation" by the coaching staff. It seemed wierd to me at the time, but I just shrugged it off as me being upset about the loss. Sorry, but the cheating changed the outcome of the game. Therefore, a forfeit is the right and equitable outcome. It won't happen, but it should.
Which is why I don't understand why Brady seems to be getting a pass in this... He's obviously a major component in this scandal and should be suspended along with the coaching staff... No different than a player using HGH to gain an advantage IMO
Throw the book at them. Forfeit and suspend Bellicheck for the season and same punishment we got for stealing Parcells (we get 2008 1st rd pick, 2009 2nd, 2010 3rd from Patsies)
Fines of ANY SORT ARE USELESS because ultimetly no matter how large the fine is it will be passsed on to the FANS through higher ticket prices , higher prices in hotdogs ,beers ,parking .So what you end up doing is fineing the fan not the owner or the coachs who are the guilty parties...
The only difference is Parcells wanted to leave... also Parcells didn't steal a million dollars from the Pats dying owner
