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September 13, 2007

Punishment rendered: loss of draft pick tied to playoff appearance

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has levied his punishment on Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in light of the finding that the team used an illegal video camera to tape New York Jets' coaches in an effort to steal defensive signals.

Goodell has ruled that Belichick personally must pay a $500,000 fine, and the club must pay $250,000; also, if New England reaches the playoffs, it must forfeit its 2008 first-round draft pick. If the team does not make the postseason, it must forfeit its second- and third-round picks.

The half-million dollar fine is the maximum amount allowed under league by-laws for violating league policy.

The first-round pick the team could lose is its own; the Patriots also hold the 49ers first-round pick in 2008 after a draft-day trade this year that sent one of New England's two number ones to San Francisco.

In a letter to the Patriots, Goodell wrote, “This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field."

NFL policy states 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” and that all video shooting locations for club coaching purposes “must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead.”

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 8:32 PM | Permalink

Comments

Goodell is an idiot. He'll be out of his job by 2010. He has now overblown and over-penalized an issue and the next time someone 'blows the whistle' like Mangini, it will be even more imbalancing.

The Pats will be the 2008 champs, good luck championing your league Goodell, you idiot.

Posted by: khayos at September 13, 2007 8:56 PM

A third or second round pick would have made the point, but the loss of a number one is very sobering. Fortunately, the bad news occurs in a year in which the PATS have two number ones. Bellichick's pushing the envelope on this front during the last two years was simply not worth the price. Now I only hope that Mangini et. al get theirs.

Posted by: Ron Miller at September 14, 2007 12:07 AM

khayos you're an idiot. they should have their 3 super bowls taken away, cheaters.

Posted by: bob loblaw at September 14, 2007 1:32 AM

I believe that the punishment was way too harsh. And the witch hunt that is going on in the national media to discredit the Patriots' superlative accomplishments is despicable. What the Pats' players and coaches should do is use this injustice as more incentive to tear through the regular season and bring another Lombardi Trophy to Foxboro!

Posted by: Paul Bishop at September 14, 2007 1:32 AM

I have been a Patriots fan since they were appropriately known through out the league as the "Patsies". Their current situation reminds me of Nixon....certainly not the only one doing, but caught. The penalty is deserved to send the league the message that rules are rules.
I like the team, because that is what it is. I respect the players and the coaches. The talk from other teams and players is just that....gaming. The proof, as Tiki Barber said on Today, is in execution on the field.

Posted by: JD at September 14, 2007 7:56 AM

Ron Miller get a life! Mangini knew to look for the Pats videotaping because he participated in the same "crime" when he was a Pat. Now that the shoe's on the other foot he crys foul. What a sissy! And you go and throw rocks at the Pats? You must be a Yankees fan, too.The world is not all balck and white. Sometimes it's pinstripe! Get it?

Posted by: Charlie at September 14, 2007 9:15 AM