cheating is wrong and should not be tolerated – however if you look at the statistics for the first half of the game to second half (when they supposedly would have had time to review the signals) the Patriots performance was worse the second half so obviously knowing the defensive signals did not help at all. Think about it, Even if you know the signals you still need to execute the Patriots were the better team that day.
The coach should be fined and then they need to move on. Every team does this for some reason this time someone as smart as Bill Belechick got caught. Period move on people.

obviously . . the previous comment is from a patriots fan

I agree with Lynne, if you watch many of the sports networks and read many of the articles out on the whole cheeting thing the past several days,it is said that many other NFL teams and other sports do the same thing.. cheet in some way or another. They have just not been caught yet! Is it right? No. But Some Non- patriot fans are just not willing to agree that others do it too, which is rediculous to think not. I’ll bet if it were their favorite team they would no doubt say the same thing as us patriot fans.

Just want to say I am a Jets fan and yes they were out played by the Patriots , But rules are rules and the Patriots got caught not just once but twice now. Its not about well this one and that one does it , its wrong and they got caught I think yes they should be fined ,loss of picks and also forfeit of the game . If we dont set examples then they will just laugh at it and do it again , !!! oopps thats what happened!!! well lets keep the game honest if the Jets cheat then give thenm the same punishment or anyt other team . there should not be a second chance . get caught once shame on you get caught twice shame on me for letting you get away with it .first time hit them hard 2nd time loss of mutiple games forfeited or maybe even harsher . what are we telling our kids by allowing this their Idols to get away with .

This is so bad that it make my head hurt now here go when vick was banned for life and this happen let see what the commissoner going to do about this situtation.Let see if the field is really even?

I strongly agree that cheating is wrong –AND — that everyone is doing it. That’s the problem. It’s wrong from the T-ball level all the way to the pro level. Unfortunately, THAT’S not being taught. Instead, the loudest lesson being taught and modeled is: “Whatever it takes.” With that philosophy, what did you really EXPECT would happen? The sad truth is, that I think this hoopla is based in that same train of thought…Patriots fans say “forgive & forget”…and non-fans scream “crucify”! Just as with Christ, both sides are probably sadly based in what they want for themselves, as opposed to even remotely truly caring about what is “right” (or wrong) in the first place. This is all the seed of “…raise your children in the way they should go…” This is not what was meant by “do unto others..”

if as you present…why not also throw the book at the false prophets
at 1600 PA. ave D.C.? That would help restore my faith…

Why should we be surprised and want to take action after years of turnin a blind eye to ethics in our nation. We are a nation of cheaters and it is more advantageous to cheat than tell the truth and do the right thing. Our televisions shows and newspapers clearly send the message to us everyday that stars and celebrities are exempt from being held accountable for their actions.
Our legal system rewards fathers who dont tell the truth about their income for child support. No one enforces perjury in our family court system. Why enforce the NFL? Why single the football players out when our entire system is corrupt and rewards unethical practices on a daily basis.
Are we surprised? We had a president that lied and argued his innocence over the definition of “is”. Our next president will be his wife who gained financially over illegal business dealings. We like cheaters and unethical people we are constantly rewarding them for their practices. So why should be single out the NFL?
If you want to take a stance then lets clean up our court systems that allow fathers to lie about their incomes not file their taxes and nothing is done in the name of “we dont want to arrest a daddy”. If we have standards they should be applied to everyone including the NFL.
Cat

I have never been a hero worshiper. That is in itself my feelings. Even as good as the public think the NFL is, this is an indication of how dishonest they all are.
Even with the exorbitant amount of money these players make, as well as the salaries of the coaches, they still don’t have the fire in their playing as do the college games.
To demand the enormous money, such as the 37 million plus in guarenteed money the was paid to LeMarcus Russell is an insult to the watchers of these games.
If the players have a “Bad” game they get paid regardless.
No kid, just out of college, should command this amount of money. Even the one’s that hold out, who say, I want to get paid what I’m worth, is disgusting.
For the record, I am a former season ticket holder from the beginning with the Saints organization, and had my tickets for the first ten years, but no more.
Are you aware that Archie was signed for $ 600,000.00 per year? Or that Frank Gifford made $ 8,000.00 per year when he played.
Even when these players and teams are catered to, they cheat.
In closing, I remember when Tom Benson bought this team for 65,000,000.00, and the last evaluation was in the neighborhood $ 475,000,000.00, but even with this he was attemting to hold up the citizens for additional money because, in his mind, he had a small market. Of course he knew this when he bought the team, and when things were not going his way, he said, what am I going to tell my grandchildren? Why not say, you have a team that has a marketable value of no less than $ 475,000,000.00

I am a Patriots fan; have been all my life. Am I disgusted with their rule breaking behavior? You bet! Even if they didn’t need to; they broke the rules and cheated!
I think they should forfeit the game to the NYJ. Further ramifications run up against; does the punishment fit the crime. It is as simply stated, as that.
Is there more cheating in society today than before? Maybe? Let’s start right now with a fitting punishment for the infraction!

first off, the camera was confiscated in the 1st quarter and second i dont think it was any advantage anyway, so the loss of draft picks is resonible, and the other incident wasn’t caught or dealt with by the league so this is a first offense,

Makes me wonder about their super bowl championships?

Why stop at just punishing the cheaters. Why no remove all players who take drugs go to jail or break the law. If that ever happened the NFL would not exsist.
Sad but True!!!!

I just got done reading the article and it really makes me sad. we are cousins of Tom Brady, and I sure hope his grandfather (our uncle) does not read about this, he is old and it would really upset him. Why can’t they just play the game honest and straight. Football has gotten to be more about money then the sport. It is to bad for us poor football fans. They should have to play like they did years ago. (do you think they could handle it?)

A interesting point was made about Eric Mangini having a hand in catching Belichick at his game. Why because as a defensive coordinator and assistant coach for Belichick, it is alledged Mangini knew because he took part in it. Be that as it may, if you punish the team you also punish the fans. Most fans like me who have bled Patriot Red, White and Blue since the days of Babe Parelli. Folks those were not good days. Suspend Belichick for four games w/out pay. Hurting the players who have trained hard and in all honesty really had no part in it will do no good. Hurting the fans is worse, Belichick already has stabbed us collectively in out Patriot loving hearts.

If the Patriots were cheating on most of the games, wouldn’t we think they should have won more than 3 super bowls in 6 years? Or mabey the Colts were cheating in the playoffs last year with a come from way behind 2nd half.

If this videotaoing business is a violation of NFL Policies, then Yes, toss the book at the Pats. They broke the rules, they must pay.
But please, please, don’t anyone try to tell me that the New England Patriots invented or originated this practice. Belichick is a helluva coach in any regard, but he aint no geek, he didn’t wake up at 3AM and go,”Eureka, What A Great Idea I Just Had!!!”
Finally, someone in here made the interesting point about Eric Mangini having a hand in catching Belichick at his game. Why because as a defensive coordinator and assistant coach for Belichick, it is alledged Mangini knew because he took part in it. So what is this, sour grapes because Belichick and Co. whipped his Jets and pissed him off?…No, it doesn’t excuse The Patriots from cheating, it does tell me the kind of self-serving sqaut bag Mangini is.

The team’s punishment wasn’t harsh enough. Belichick should have been fired. Now every game they ever played under his leadership can be called into question.

I believe the punishment was too lenient. A suspension should have been handed out to not only Belichick, but to any others involved. Naturally, the HC should receive the harshest end of it.
The NFL suspends players 4 games for “substance abuse” when in some cases it can not be proven with hard/clear evidence what the substance truly was, as well as for all sorts of other offenses. I agree with these suspensions because no one should be “cheating” or conducting themselves unethically in any capacity. Their conduct on and off the field should be reflective of the them and their team. Not only kids but persons of all ages look up to and emulate many of these characters (clowns).
My next thought is this, Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel, two of the so-called masterminds or geniuses that came out of this system and landed nice jobs. (Although Weiss appears to have recognized some of his shortcomings and chose to operate in a second-tier limelight.) Crennel is rumored to have his job on the line after just two years, yet we must remember he is coaching the lowly Browns. Weiss is not performing any wonders with ND. Although Weiss’ QB went to whom, Da’ Browns. Miami’s presumed blunder. Could their presumed success and genius status been unfairly bolstered by this blatant cheating?!

In case you haven’t heard, the perennially successful franchise has been caught cheating–for the second time. This time, they were found to have videotaped another team’s plays and signals.
YOU DON’T KNOW THIS TO BE FACTUAL THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY CHEATING JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS ON THE FIELD TAKING PICTURES.
IT’S AN ASSUMPTION AT THIS POINT STILL.
REMEMBER TO ASSUME– MAKES AN ” ASS OUT OF YOU AND ME ”
ASS-U-ME LEAVE THEM ALONE ALREADY!!!