So most people have probably heard by now that the Patriots cheated by video taping opponents play calling and in order for their offense to be able to know what the defense was doing. And though I’m sure many people already know about the punishment that was announced last night, I found the need to talk about it anyway.
The punishment is that the New England Patriots are fined $250,000, Bellicheck is fined $750,000, and the Patriots will need to give up one first round pick in the future. I was actually really pissed about this, I think some people think the draft pick is a big deal, but the Patriots don’t have a first round next year anyway so this punishment is really 2 years down the road. The monetary fines are less than a slap on the wrist for an organization that makes far more money than that, and Bellicheck makes nearly $6 million a year, this is about 1/5 his salary for a single year which is almost nothing.
In reality I think the fines are ok, I wish they would have done at least $1 million to the organization but the Bellicheck fine was ok… he was lucky they didn’t slap him with a suspension of some kind.. they should have, and just made his salary during the suspension go to the NFL instead of him. Even a 4 game suspension for him would have been reasonable considering the crime.
I also think they should have taken more than just a single pick away. I had one guy tell me that it’s not that big of a deal because everyone in the NFL does it, the Patriots just got caught… this may be true, but the fact that they caught someone should make the NFL want to make an example of them… instead it seems like the NFL is ok with it. With current punishment I could totally see organizations thinking it is worth it… after all if you win 4 extra games from cheating, you have a shot at the super bowl (if not winning 3 like the Patriots have), and thus have a worse first round pick anyway… totally worth it for one super bowl ring…. good trade off… however, if doing it also meant you forfeited the game, you lost 2 first round picks, lost your coach for a month PLUS the fine… they might think twice about the value of the cheat….
As it is, there is still value in doing it, and if you ask me, it is a shame that the NFL is ok with looking like the sham that the MLB is.
2 replies on “Patriots punished… or so they tell me.”
I felt compelled to write about all this on my blog as well. I totally don’t get the draft pick thing. I like they are losing at least one, but I don’t get the rationale that the number of picks depends on how good they are the rest of the year. Just penalize them the darn draft picks period. Pick a number and a round and not be so wishy-washy. It is absolutely absurd Belichick was not suspended. Fines are meaningless to me. The Commish blew it in the court of public opinion – I believe most everyone wanted a suspension in this matter.
Thanks for a clarrification on a couple points. I read an article right when it was announced that stated some rather incorrect info with the picks and the fine… I’ve since heard the coach was only fined $500,000 as well as the draft pick adjusting to how good they are… (which I hope means they lose a higher pick if they do badly because they do have someone actually watching them from now on in the season and if they lose alot more I think they should be more punished than if they continue to do good because to me that is proof of the cheating).