HehRedOctober3829 said:Now this......
@jeffphowe: I was just told the real story of the Jets' paranoia from Sunday at Gillette. Posting to the blog ASAP.
HehRedOctober3829 said:Now this......
@jeffphowe: I was just told the real story of the Jets' paranoia from Sunday at Gillette. Posting to the blog ASAP.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/the_blitz/2015/10/source_jets_complaint_prompted_interrogation_of_patriots_sidelineThe bad blood between the Patriots and Jets continues to boil.
Due to a complaint initiated by the Jets, the NFL swept the Jets' locker room for bugs Sunday and interrogated three Patriots employees during the second quarter of the game, which resulted in a 30-23 victory for the Pats at Gillette Stadium, according to a source.
No wrongdoing was found, but the level of interrogation used was unprecedented, the source said.
In the second quarter, an NFL employee identified himself to three Patriots employees, two full-time and one part time, and "interrogated" them, according to the source. The NFL employee said the reason for the questioning stemmed from a complaint filed by the Jets, who demanded to know whether the radio frequencies and stadium operations were performed up to an appropriate standard.
The NFL employee took photographs of each Patriots employee and their identification badges, demanded to check their cell phones and also checked their radios to ensure they were operating through the proper channels. The NFL employee also said they already swept the visiting locker room for bugs.
After the questioning, which lasted about 15 minutes, the NFL employee continued to hover over the three Patriots employees until the third quarter, when a stadium operations manager told the NFL employee to route all further inquiries through Patriots and Gillette Stadium management.
By the end of the game, the NFL informed the Patriots that everything was done appropriately and according to league protocol and the Patriots had done nothing wrong. The Patriots were reaffirmed of this again Monday.
The source said this type of interview from an NFL employee had never before happened in their years of employment at Gillette Stadium.
The NFL, in response to a report that the Jets asked the league to sweep their locker room, issued a statement to ESPN Friday saying, "No such request was made by the Jets."
League spokesman Brian McCarthy, responding to a report of a sweep of the Jets locker room Friday, said on Twitter, “We have for years conducted regular & random checks.” McCarthy would not discuss details about specific games.
The Patriots and Jets meet again in Week 16 at MetLife Stadium.
Foundkenneycb said:Is that blog on Buzzfeed? Because that's some quality click bait.
You are shocked?Ed Hillel said:So the NFL blatantly lied in its statement today? Wonderful.
I did not know, or had forgotten, Mueller had been hired by the League for the Ray Rice cleanup. All the more reason to retain him. But him having worked for the NFL, that may not be feasible.Van Everyman said:dcm, you're suggesting the Pats hire the guy the league hired to investigate themselves?
And what do you mean "install best practices where they may be lacking"? Do you mean, "we looked at your radio transmissions during the game and find that while they are in compliance the signals are too weak and hence susceptible to interference"?
I get what you're saying: they need to play hardball with the League and do this stuff on their terms. But how would a move like that not ultimately look like they are guilty and trying to hide something?
Yeah, we've graduated from Witch Hunt to Red Scare. RG, have you no decency?RedOctober3829 said:Wow, talk about paranoia.
Totally agree with this. The Pats lost the PR battle in DFG because they seemed to take a "this is a minor issue and if we didn't do anything wrong, we will be fine" approach initially. Even if it's unfair, you have to take the world as it is, with people looking to trip you up and to turn every mistake into proof of nefarious intent, not as you want it to be.dcmissle said:I did not know, or had forgotten, Mueller had been hired by the League for the Ray Rice cleanup. All the more reason to retain him. But him having worked for the NFL, that may not be feasible.
I can only assume that the Pats have a decent compliance regime in place. If after all this they don't, then they are hopeless.
The purposes of taking on someone like this are to evaluate that regime and improve it if need be; have an audit trail of sorts which shows the team is compliant; and countermeasures -- anticipate how these fools will try to trip you up and position yourself to smoke out and reveal what may be coming: a frame job. If past events show anything, it is that they cannot rely on League machinery and resources for fairness, and that in a reactive mode, they are defenseless.
You don't need to issue a press release. I'd just call the League and tell them what they will be facing down the road.
dcmissle said:I did not know, or had forgotten, Mueller had been hired by the League for the Ray Rice cleanup. All the more reason to retain him. But him having worked for the NFL, that may not be feasible.
I can only assume that the Pats have a decent compliance regime in place. If after all this they don't, then they are hopeless.
The purposes of taking on someone like this are to evaluate that regime and improve it if need be; have an audit trail of sorts which shows the team is compliant; and countermeasures -- anticipate how these fools will try to trip you up and position yourself to smoke out and reveal what may be coming: a frame job. If past events show anything, it is that they cannot rely on League machinery and resources for fairness, and that in a reactive mode, they are defenseless.
You don't need to issue a press release. I'd just call the League and tell them what they will be facing down the road.
Well said. The league is not a friend to the Pats or to Kraft, as should now be obvious. It is now proper to treat them as an adversary. And at this level, the proper way to engage in an adversarial process is to hire representatives to play hardball on your behalf.dcmissle said:Yes, I think the Dragon is biding its time. And yes, I think the Patriots are (again) being incredibly naive if they are not operating on that assumption. I hope Jonathan is up to something more constructive in this vein than calling sports radio talk shows, thumping his chest and making snarky remarks.
It might be that.drleather2001 said:No, we agree. I just think it's more of a matter of Goodell being not so much in awe of the owners as much as its that he's weak and others are playing worm tongue. I think he's a stupid, privileged, asshole who can't grasp that he's being used.
What's strange is that said common enemy owner was a key player in ending the lockout while getting the players to accept an extremely owner-friendly CBA. The same owner that has defended Goodell multiple times.crystalline said:It might be that.
Or it might be that Goodell is a skilled political player, and realizes the best way to unite the owners is to turn them on a common enemy, the Patriots.
The one essential thing a commissioner needs is support from a majority of the owners. Throwing one owner under the bus to obtain support from most other owners would be a relatively unsurprising move from a skilled political player.
drleather2001 said:VE: I think you have it backward. I think the league encourages, either directly or tacitly, this sort of shit. But only for one team.
I think it's a combination of factors, from other owners bitching, to Goodell being insecure and wanting to stomp out the 'Kraft is co commissioner' talk, to people who just flat out don't like Bill Belichick and probably convince themselves that he's bad for business.
And, lest I be accused of being paranoid, I simply can't find any other explanation that connects the dots of what has gone on the past 10 months.
PedroKsBambino said:The NFL made a bunch of hires in the offseason---I think they brought on a former ATF guy as 'conduct czar' http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12544015/todd-jones-former-atf-director-join-nfl-conduct-czar and I believe also a 'special counsel for investigations' and another person who had deep evidence development experience.
I certainly wouldn't rule out that this is Kensil and his keystone kops continuing their incompetence; however, I think it is also possible the tactics used here in singling out the employees, trying to intimidate them, etc. is just what it looks like when you hire people who have been doing aggressive investigations their entire careers and now happen to be involved with the NFL doing investigations.
The story leaking is no doubt the same clown show we say with DFG; were I Kraft I'd be all over the league on this one and making clear that the next leak that involved the Patriots would lead to a whole barrel full of leaks about internal league activities, and that Kraft's new lawyer (hopefully he's moved on from the overmatched Daniel Goldberg) was evaluating options, and advising individual employees to consider their own legal options against the league (I suspect they actually have more than the Pats as a team do).
Jets instigated sideline interrogation of three Kraft Sports employees
Posted by Mike Florio on October 31, 2015, 11:33 AM EDT
While it’s still unclear whether the Jets instigated the sweep of their locker room for bugs prior to last Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium (more on that later in the day), it’s crystal clear that the Jets prompted a separate investigation of the Patriots during the Week Seven contest between the two teams.
PFT has obtained a copy of an email message detailing the incident that happened during the third quarter of the game.
“Jets Security Director Robert Mastroddi made an inquiry with NFL Security regarding the presence of two individuals wearing headsets and Patriots attire, who were positioned outside of the bench area on the Patriots sideline,” the email states. “Mastroddi requested to know who they were, and expressed concern given their proximity to the Patriots bench.” .........................
dcmissle said:I can think of another "easy narrative". Two other teams getting slapped on the wrist for ball inflation issues -- which were captured on a network broadcast -- while one team was subject to pre SB witch hunt, months long and multi-million $ investigation, the loss of a first and fourth, a heavy fine, and a QB suspension that thankfully was set right. All on the basis of zero evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone, anywhere.
You may call that lazy. I call it accurate.
The NFL employee took photographs of each Patriots employee and their identification badges, demanded to check their cell phones and also checked their radios to ensure they were operating through the proper channels. The NFL employee also said they already swept the visiting locker room for bugs.
So why don't the journalists go crazy about this? I'm not a pats fan but I hate people trying to steal or minimize others to feel better about themselves. And I'm a pretty strong Brady & Belichick supporter on this stupid "scandal"dcmissle said:I can think of another "easy narrative". Two other teams getting slapped on the wrist for ball inflation issues -- which were captured on a network broadcast -- while one team was subject to pre SB witch hunt, months long and multi-million $ investigation, the loss of a first and fourth, a heavy fine, and a QB suspension that thankfully was set right.
You may call that lazy. I call it accurate.
Three, since we're leaving out the direct comp of the Jets in 2009. All those Jets fans at HQ have wanted to stick it to BB since he shunned the team on the podium in 1999-2000 and went to a hated division rival. The team's success has provided a hate blanket from other teams and their fanbases to let the league get away with horseshit like Deflategate and even Spygate. Given the massive gameday manual, any team could have the same thing happen to them if the league office wanted to put the effort in.dcmissle said:I can think of another "easy narrative". Two other teams getting slapped on the wrist for ball inflation issues -- which were captured on a network broadcast -- while one team was subject to pre SB witch hunt, months long and multi-million $ investigation, the loss of a first and fourth, a heavy fine, and a QB suspension that thankfully was set right.
You may call that lazy. I call it accurate.
Nightslyr said:
The employees should've told the NFL stooge to go fuck himself at that. The NFL has no right to demand to inspect other people's personal property or private conversations.
But the media's disinterest in the story that the league is out to nail the Patriots, while simultaneously soiling themselves with glee when the Patriots so much as possibly look bad, creates a positive feedback cycle where the league is emboldened to just throw shit against the wall with impunity.dcmissle said:I do not care about journalists or fans. I am pleased other teams are obsessed with this crap -- Red Auerbach disease. But it's all fun and games until there is a plant of bogus "evidence". That's what concerns me.