For the Radiogate conspiracy theorists

Well, the league said it was just an equipment malfunction (to make their long story short).

I'm sure some will still have a skeptical eye. Knee jerk reactions, maybe.

But there's a reason why people jumped all over this, much as some in Patriots country would like to ignore:

They got caught with their hands in the cookie jar already! Explain it away however you like, but facts are facts. They were caught red handed. They had YEARS worth of evidence that was very conveniently destroyed before the public could ever see what, EXACTLY, they were doing. And lets face it, the only reason to destroy all the evidence was to keep the public in the dark lest a lynch mob formed. The last thing the NFL needed was a scandal that forced them to vacate 3 Superbowl seasons. It would invite congressional inquiry. Possibly risk their losing their special legal statuses. And it would be a PR nightmare. It could cripple the league. Hence, the coverup. (I hate Goodell as much as or more than most, but even I understand why he would cover it up)

These were the darlings of the NFL. The Patriots that won America's respect through grit and moxie. The little team that could in 2001... and then did it again and again. Even fans of their rivals may have hated them, but they sure respected them. If that team were proven to have cheated their way to glory? Mass chaos.

Sure, all of the destroyed evidence could have amounted to little more than minor infractions at best. But we'll never know! And that's the point. ANY time something is covered up, the automatic assumption is that it was bad. If it were innocuous, there would be no need to hide it.

The whole talk about opponents headsets going out at convenient times for the Patriots began before Spygate was even a thing! (Seriously, look it up) When Spygate hit, there were tons of allegations of it bandied about or "suspicions." Many of the ones that came to light weren't from 2007, but allegations from previous seasons. Of course, it was all "talk" then and as soon as one story would come up, it was left to die until another one did. Most of the charges were lost in all of the hubub about taping signals.

And after 2007, there was still talk about headset problems at Gillette. But nothing "formal."

Then we get that ESPN report that brought it all back up just days before the game. It was fresh in everyone's mind. And what do you know? Yup, headset problems right off the bat. Accurate or not, we only heard they were affecting the Steelers. Not ONE word was said about the Patriots also having trouble until over an hour after the game... and long after the story began snowballing.

A common lament among Patriots (players, fans, and even Bellicheck now) is "Why do they always accuse us of cheating?"

I hate to break it to them, but it isn't because of jealousy, "haters," and it isn't whining about losing to them. It's because you're tainted. Everyone outside of Patriots nation sees you as tainted. You took the good will of an entire league, and flipped them the bird. Never once did we see anything remotely resembling remorse. Your entire organization and fanbase went into spin mode and have never come out of it. The guy you hate now, Goodell, went into overtime trying to protect your reputation. ESPN did as well for years. But the public doesn't forget easily. So every time something even remotely looks suspicious, questions will be asked.

I don't recall anyone here ever blaming the loss on the headsets. The atrocious defense, failure to convert on offensive opportunities, lack of time management, et al was at fault. But it was yet something else that looked hinky.

Look at Ben Roethlisberger. That first woman in Nevada was a crank. It was an extortion attempt. Anyone following the whole affair could see that. And then came the case in Georgia. Ben had spent years being pretty much your prototypical douchebag. And now a SECOND claim? At that point, it didn't matter if it was true or not, people's opinions were formed. The accusation was flimsy enough, Ben was never even charged. But it didn't matter. People already had their perception of him (and for some, it will never change).

The point being, once you develop a reputation, it stays with you a loooong time. And people will always view your actions through that tainted lens. Even the appearance of impropriety is one more log on the fire.

Yes. Headsets go out in every stadium from time to time. But the perception from years of stories is that they go out much more frequently at Gillette. The Patriots may not like it, but every little thing surrounding them will be scrutinized now. Thursday's game most likely was just an innocent thing. Sure came at an awful time though, eh?

To the OP's point: If they took advantage of the chaos and were innocent of causing it, that's just good gamesmanship. I tend to agree that if teams know ahead of time that they're likely to lose their radios in Gillette, they should plan accordingly.

To any Pats fans lurking, with all of the love I can muster, just a reminder about your team's glory:



But at least you're now on the "Hate Goodell" bandwagon. Welcome aboard.

 

TL: DR

 

Me too. I might go back and read it again.

 

The statement or "ruling" the NFL made on this was essentially the expedient statement they released the night of the game.

"It was bad wiring made worse by bad weather. We'll do a thorough investigation."

Next day:

<NFL PR- for immediate release>

"It was bad wiring made worse by bad weather. The Patriots aren't responsible."

Welp, that clears that up. I'm satisfied.

 

To any Pats fans lurking. I have no love. As to your team's glory:

Spoiler: NSFW

 

I suppose I should have used green font.

 

Heh heh. Not necessary. I was just using your line as a springboard.

 

I had a nice chat about this yesterday with 2 friends of mine who are engineers in wireless communications. They said that it wold be ridiculously easy for someone with the technical know-how to rebroadcast the Pats radio feed on the frequency that's used by the visiting teams' communications systems. They also said that the frequencies need to be published with the government (FCC maybe?) so they could find the frequencies if they knew where to look and what to look for. I am 1000% sure that the Pats did this intentionally. However, my guess is that they did it in a way that it would be untraceable to the organization. It was simply a "rogue fan" with the necessary knowledge and equipment.

 

The fact that every time NE's bench was approached about it, it would work and then malfunction again as soon as the inquiry was over, tells me something fishy was going on.

The Pats keep getting away with cheating and they know it, now they are just throwing it in the face of everyone.

 

I think the communications fiasco goes beyond the radio headsets. I think they had mind-controlling remote control devices implanted in the heads of Mitchell, Blake and Cortez Allen. It's the only logical explanation for what we saw...

 

TL: DR - Everyone not wearing Pats sunglasses knows they cheated in the past. They earned their reputation. Now everything they do will be questioned, even if they didn't do it. And they just have to live with that.