List of cheating/controversies surrounding BB and the Pats

[ivanvamp]

Let's make a list, shall we?  
 
(1) The Tuck Rule.  Clearly the correct call *according to the rule*.  That nobody likes the rule is immaterial.
 
(2) Taping the Rams' walkthrough.  Which never happened, but whatever.
 
(3) Spygate.  Violating a technical rule.  Many coaches came to BB's defense (Johnson, Cowher, etc.), saying that this stuff is commonplace.  
 
(4) Illegal formations.  Which, of course, weren't illegal at all.
 
(5) Ref helping the Pats out on an extra point.  Which, of course, happens fairly regularly, but whatever.
 
(6) Underinflated footballs.  Good grief.
 
(7) The TV in the Pats' parking lot.  Dumbest thing I've ever heard.
 
(8) The Pats *still* stealing signals.  Even though teams use headsets and not signals.
 
(9) Communication problems in Foxboro.  BB and crew interrupting the radios of the opponents.
 
(10) Complaints about Kraft somehow manipulating the NFL schedule so the Pats get to play certain teams at home year after year.  Uh…what?
 
(11) Hiring McDaniels right before the playoffs.  Uh, that was *legal*!
 
(12) Somehow cheating to get LeGarrette Blount to quit the Steelers so they could snag him for nothing again.  LOL.
 
(13) Running up the score.  Oh brother.
 
(14) Manipulating the injury reports.  Wow…and why wasn't Peyton Manning on the injury report despite having an injured leg before their playoff loss to the Colts?
 
(15) Having the grounds crew fiddle with the field so it's in the right conditions for how the Pats want to play that game.  
 
(16) Tampering with Randy Moss before the trade.  
 
(17) IR/Practice squad shenanigans.  I'm sure no other team has ever done that….
 
(18) Stealing Ballard off waivers.  
 
(19) Resigning as the HC of the NYJ.
 
(20) The "Brady Rule".  Which is really the Carson Palmer rule.  Can't hit a QB at the knees.  That wasn't done for Tom Brady.  It was done for all quarterbacks following Carson Palmer's awful knee injury.
 
(21) Belichick's "arrogance".  Not controversial or cheating, but it feeds the entire narrative.  
 
 
 
Anything else?
 
EDIT:  Thanks guys for the thoughts…I'm adding them as you give them to me.

 

[Leather]

Rival teams "always" playing in Foxborough (even though the schedule is dictated years ahead of time and according to a formula).
 
Hiring McDaniels after he was fired by the Broncos (which was allowed by the rules)
 
Having players "rough up" the Indy and St. Louis receivers (which is kind of true, but still was up to the refs to call). 
 
Having the turf at Foxboro uncovered and crappy to slow teams down (which was true). 

 

[Ed Hillel]

Kraft makes the team's schedule.

 

[ifmanis5]

Gisele secretly bankrolling their star player.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Running up the score.

 

[Dogman]

Having Brady punt on third down.

 

[Hoya81]

Al Davis said there was tampering with Moss prior to the trade.

For a more historical reference, the Snow Plow game.

Keeping Gillette grass in lousy condition as the season wore on until they were forced to install Field Turf.

 

[Leather]

Team medical report fudging.

 

[EL Jeffe]

Wasn't there something about how they used the practice squad or IR a few years back? Maybe a Ross Tucker piece? I have a vague recollection about something like that.

 

[Omar's Wacky Neighbor]

Flutie's drop kick.
 
Hoya already covered the rumbling that there was tampering RE Moss.
 
Not football related, but BB took a PR hit with his marriage.

 

[Flunky]

nipplegate

 

[Leather]

Ted Johnson being told to play after having concussions/neck problems.

 

[mpx42]

Claiming injured players off waivers (e.g. Tyler Gaffney)

 

[riboflav]

Um. Aaron Hernandez. Hello.

 

[RedOctober3829]

BB is a meanie because he cut Tiquan Underwood the day before the Super Bowl.

 

[ernieshore]

Patriots and staff enabled Aaron Hernandez to be an alleged murderer. 
 
Edit: Alleged. 

 

[Leather]

Belichick getting a divorce; Brady having a child out of wedlock. 
 
(seriously, people shat on the organization for those).

 

[dcmissle]

14. There is a funny Sopranos scene in which FBI agents appear at Tony's door to inquire about the JFK hit. Carmella wonderfully replies that Tony was 3 years old. BB was older. Add Dealey Plaza to the list.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Winning too many games.

 

[riboflav]

Patriots and staff enabled Aaron Hernandez to be a murderer. 

 
I thought the implication was that Kraft and BB knew he was a murderer and just didn't care. Others said the Patriots were too lazy in doing their due diligence. 

 

[Oil Can Dan]

Outscoring their opponents on a pretty consistent basis. Which is totally unfair btw.

 

[Ed Hillel]

League cheated for Pats in 2001 because of 9/11.

 

[dcmissle]

Winning too many games.

And winning them too fiercely. By the way -- did Tony Dungy ever weigh in on Sunday night's score?

 

[RedOctober3829]

Enabling Rob Gronkowski's partying habits.

 

[riboflav]

Winning too many games.

 
Losing too many games.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Having a special relationship with Schiano to trade for Talib.

 

[Leather]

 
I thought the implication was that Kraft and BB knew he was a murderer and just didn't care. Others said the Patriots were too lazy in doing their due diligence. 

 
I thought it was more along the lines of:  "The Patriots take in lots of these bad character guys, like Dillon, and Moss, and Haynesworth.  They reap what they sow."

 

[pappymojo]

HC of the NEP, not the NYJ

 

[riboflav]

Adding guys who do not exemplify The Patriots Way - Dillon, Moss, Talib, Blount, etc.

 

[SidelineCameras]

Jets fan called Toucher and Rich this AM to say that the whole hiring of Belicheck in the first place was tampering.
 
If it was, it clearly was worth it.

 

[doc]

Snow plow game

 

[Hoya81]

Claiming Jake Ballard when the Giants were trying to hide him on IR.

BB walking off the field after SB42 without shaking hands.

Grabbing the ref in Baltimore to get an explanation after the FG went over the pylon.

 

[ernieshore]

 
I thought it was more along the lines of:  "The Patriots take in lots of these bad character guys, like Dillon, and Moss, and Haynesworth.  They reap what they sow."

 
That was true as well, but I was thinking specifically about the talk of BB encouraging Hernandez to get a safehouse, ignoring his behavior, and then giving him a large extension (essentially that Rolling Stone article).    

 

[riboflav]

Small coaching staff (They're cheap!)
BB won't let his assistants talk to the press until it was mandated by the NFL a few seasons ago

 

[riboflav]

BB's postgame handshakes (especially, Dungy, Mangini, Manning)

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

BB shoving a Globe reporter out of the way to try to shake Mangini's hand after a game.

 

[Oil Can Dan]

That thing where the night before the Super Bowl Belichick read the team the Eagles planned parade route in order to get the team all fired up. All teams have the route planned in advance! Come on, man! Cheating!!!

 

[Was (Not Wasdin)]

From SB XXXVIII:
 
BB getting the Pats practices moved because the practice field they were assigned was too wet/slippery.  They ended up practicing on the same field as the Panthers, which was not typical for a SB.  
 
One of the Panthers' defensive players claiming that Brady knew many of their formations/assignments, despite the fact that they had not used some of them in games before (I think one of the Eagles players made the same claim).  
 
Also, nipple rings.  

 

[riboflav]

The Brady Rule - Another one that is just factually incorrect but Brady is perceived as an arrogant whiner so.... It's the Palmer Rule, I think.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

BB ruins perfectly good hoodies.
 
BB's car clock is wrong half of the year.
 
Practice in cold weather during the winter to mimic game conditions.

 

[moretsyndrome]

BB/Dr. Morgan conspiring to screw Jonathan Fanene out of $3.85M

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Owner dating much younger woman.
 
Owner's wife "conveniently" dies during the season to give team a rallying point of focus.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Frequently trades draft picks.
 
Uses up much of allotted time for many draft picks.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Economical with timeouts.
 
Prone to "going for it" on 4th down, thereby extending many drives.  

 

[NavaHo]

The "4th and 2" game against Indy in 2009. People actually said Belichick going for it was a sign of hubris.
 
The game against Baltimore in 2007, where the Ravens called timeout before what would have been a failed 4th down play for the Patriots, and then a controversial (to some people) catch by Jabar Gaffney to win the game. The Ravens were lining up to say the league helped the Patriots win.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

For the record, McDaniels wasn't hired following his firing by the Broncos.  He was hired from the Rams (where he was the OC) after the regular season ended.

 

[ivanvamp]

For the record, McDaniels wasn't hired following his firing by the Broncos.  He was hired from the Rams (where he was the OC) after the regular season ended.

 
Ok thanks.  I'll amend it.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

The "4th and 2" game against Indy in 2009. People actually said Belichick going for it was a sign of hubris.
 
The game against Baltimore in 2007, where the Ravens called timeout before what would have been a failed 4th down play for the Patriots, and then a controversial (to some people) catch by Jabar Gaffney to win the game. The Ravens were lining up to say the league helped the Patriots win.

 
 
Nice.  Good one.

 

[riboflav]

BB is smartest man in the room and by trying to prove it, he makes arrogant decisions like 4th and 2 and others that go against the grain. 
 
EDIT: Damn it! Beaten by Navaho

 

[Leather]

Cutting Lawyer Milloy.