Pats Lose First-Round Pick, Belichick Fined $500K
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James Joyner | Friday, September 14, 2007 |
The NFL has smacked Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots hard for cheating.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 Thursday and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent’s defensive signals. Commissioner Roger Goodell also ordered the team to give up next year’s first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn’t.
“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,” Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots.
The videotaping came to light after a camera was confiscated from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets’ sideline during New England’s 38-14 win last Sunday at Giants Stadium. Goodell will not change the outcome of the game.
Goodell said he had considered suspending Belichick but didn’t “largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension.”
No doubt about that. This penalty is very harsh but, in my view, fair.
Penalties that change history — expunging wins from the record, forfeiting championship banners, and the like — are silly. Fans watched the games and suffered through the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. Going back and pretending that the outcomes were different for historical purposes hurt the fans, not the teams.
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- New England QB Tom Brady out for the season
- New York Jets fan sues New England Patriots, seeks $184 million
- Belichick the Model NFL Coach
- Parcells Using Belichick as Sounding Board
- Weekly Miami Dolphins prediction
- Brett Favre Traded to New York Jets
- Randy Moss Traded to New England for 4th Round Pick
- Ex-Claimer wins Breeders Cup Dirt Mile
- Ship wreck- Navy beats Notre Dame 23-21
- NY Islander Defenseman Radek Martinek out for the year with a torn ACL
- Oh have the mighty fallen- Purdue beats Michigan 38-36
- Out of luck- Northwestern beats Iowa 17-10
- Minnesota Twins acquire SS J.J. Hardy from Milwaukee
- U of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert suspended indefinitely
- FIU loses to Northwood 71-61
- Florida Marlins trade OF Jeremy Hermida to Boston
- San Francisco Giant P Tim Lincecum charged with marijuana possession
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