Belichick Fined; Pats Lose Pick
The NFL slapped Bill Belichick with a maximum fine of $500,000 Thursday night; fined the Pats $250,000 and will take away their 2008 first-round draft choice if they reach the playoffs; or second- and third-round picks if they do not qualify for the playoffs.
I still think they should have forfeited the Jets game. But overall I think its a soft punishment.
BurntTires Wrote:Belichick Fined; Pats Lose Pick
The NFL slapped Bill Belichick with a maximum fine of $500,000 Thursday night; fined the Pats $250,000 and will take away their 2008 first-round draft choice if they reach the playoffs; or second- and third-round picks if they do not qualify for the playoffs.
Thats more than I was expecting them to be fined. If they get caught again, they should have to forfeit the game and be banned from the playoffs for a year or two.
:Thumbs: I agree completely. Although when you look at it, theyre basically losing a second round pick, because they WILL go deep into the playoffs. So what is that? A 30th or lower pick? I believe they should have been forced to forfeit the game, and lose a draft pick, and fine Beleprick half a million..
Bengal Cat Wrote:Thats more than I was expecting them to be fined. If they get caught again, they should have to forfeit the game and be banned from the playoffs for a year or two.
TidesHoss32 Wrote::Thumbs: I agree completely. Although when you look at it, theyre basically losing a second round pick, because they WILL go deep into the playoffs. So what is that? A 30th or lower pick? I believe they should have been forced to forfeit the game, and lose a draft pick, and fine Beleprick half a million..
Agreed, forfeit, lose a draft pick, fine, and banned from the playoffs for two years. They cheated, they don't deserve the honor of the playoffs- football's pure, they tried to taint it.
The punishment is fine, and this is coming from someone who hates the Patriots. Sure it gave them an advantage but the Jets wouldn't have won the game anyways, and taking them out of the playoffs would eliminate the true competitive nature of the NFL seeing as how they are one of the best teams.
The fine, and the draft picks, not to mention the embarrassment that came along with this and the fact that them and the coach will be tainted for many years to come is punishment enough.
alfus21 Wrote:The punishment is fine, and this is coming from someone who hates the Patriots. Sure it gave them an advantage but the Jets wouldn't have won the game anyways, and taking them out of the playoffs would eliminate the true competitive nature of the NFL seeing as how they are one of the best teams.
The fine, and the draft picks, not to mention the embarrassment that came along with this and the fact that them and the coach will be tainted for many years to come is punishment enough.
Cheating eliminates the true competitive nature of the NFL also. And IMO it's irrelevant that the Jets would not have won the game anyway. Thats like saying, go ahead and rob that store, they're going under anyway.
Does losing a number 1 draft pick hurt them that much?
Sure it hurts a little but they still have the number 1 from San Fran.....and if you look at it from a money stand point......well a 24-32 pick would cost them how much? Couldn't they just use that money to sign a free agent that they would need?
alfus21 Wrote:The punishment is fine, and this is coming from someone who hates the Patriots. Sure it gave them an advantage but the Jets wouldn't have won the game anyways, and taking them out of the playoffs would eliminate the true competitive nature of the NFL seeing as how they are one of the best teams.
The fine, and the draft picks, not to mention the embarrassment that came along with this and the fact that them and the coach will be tainted for many years to come is punishment enough.
BUT... could their cheating be their advantage in making them one of the best teams in the NFL? Personally, I feel that they need to sit out this seasons playoffs. Money is NOT an issue for the coach nor the team and I'm sure the fine that they received was "a drop in a bucket"...... Forcing them to sit out the post season will really make them realize the severity of what they did!
HAHAHA.... just heard Bill Parcells say that is wasn't that big of a deal!! LOLOL..... He says he doesn't condone it BUT....... its a very competitive industry and teams need to take preventative measures to ensure that this type of thing doesn't happen! There ya go.... blame it on the Jets!!!
Might as well call them the New England Steelers
Thats cute!!!
phs1986 Wrote:HAHAHA.... just heard Bill Parcells say that is wasn't that big of a deal!! LOLOL..... He says he doesn't condone it BUT....... its a very competitive industry and teams need to take preventative measures to ensure that this type of thing doesn't happen! There ya go.... blame it on the Jets!!!
If he thinks it isn't that big of a deal then maybe he will kick in a couple hundred grand and help his buddy pay the fine.
I can not stop thinking the "dynasty" era of the pats is now tainted forever. I know that for me, I will never look at those superbowls as "New England just being the better team." They cheated and it is a resonable guess to say that it extends back 5-6 years. Now for the punishment, I agree with you all, the fine was way more than I was expecting , but not doing anything on the games that the cheating had an effect on seems rediculous. At least take the first game from them, they cheated but can still have a normal AFC championship caliber season.
This was way more punishment than I thought it would be. Had it been the Bengals, they probably would've canceled their entire 2007 season and given Marvin Lewis a caning. With it being the NFL's "model franchise", though, I figured no more than a 10K fine and a firm finger-wagging. I'm happy, at least they did something.