I know a thing or two about “spygate” scandals in pro sports.
Not to pound my chest too much here, but facts are facts, and the fact of the matter is, I broke the biggest “spygate” story in sports last year for this very publication.
Since my bombshell report on a Houston Astros staffer getting caught spying on the Boston Red Sox’ dugout with a camera during the 2018 ALCS, the Astros’ “spygate” story has taken on a life of its own, of course, without anyone in the Good Ol’ Boy baseball media network giving me or the Metro any credit for breaking the initial story last year.
But that “spygate” story turned out to be true. The Astros were in fact spying and stealing signals.
Here in New England, the term “spygate” has become an eye-rolling term. It’ll forever be a phrase linked to the Patriots, as they were punished in 2007 for videotaping the New York Jets’ sideline. Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, and the Patriots had to give up their first-round pick the following year.
Combine that with previous accusations of filming the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, and the “Deflategate” scandal in 2015 that resulted in Tom Brady being suspended four games and the Patriots losing a first and a fourth-round pick and being fined $1 million, and you have an organization that probably will never get the benefit of the doubt from those who become giddy at the thought of another Patriots “cheating” accusation, whether it’s true or not.
Well, that new accusation has come this week in the form of “spying on the Cincinnati Bengals.”
This past Sunday, a videographer from Kraft Sports Productions had his video card confiscated by Bengals and NFL officials after he was seen filming the field and Cincinnati’s sideline from the press box, during the Bengals’ Week 14 game in Cleveland. According to a statement released by the Patriots on Monday night, the videographer was filming an episode of the web-series “Do Your Job.” This episode was focusing on a Patriots advanced scout, who was in the press box scouting New England’s upcoming Week 15 opponent: the Cincinnati Bengals.
In the Patriots’ statement, the organization acknowledged that the videographer “inappropriately filmed the field from the press box.” But the statement also denied any connection between that Kraft Sports Productions crew and football operations.
Again, not many people outside of New England will believe them, based on the history of accusations. But I do.
You know why I believe the Patriots weren’t spying on the Cincinnati Bengals? Because I like to use logic and common sense when forming an opinion.
Logic tells me that Belichick is not going to risk it all in order to gain some type of advantage over the 1-12 Bengals by having someone set up shop in the press box for everyone to see, and make it blatantly obvious that they’re filming Cincy’s sideline. This videographer wasn’t trying to hide anything. That should really tell you all you need to know.
And yes, the Bengals’ record does matter when discussing this spying accusation. It points out that the risk for the Patriots to spy in such an obvious fashion is far greater than the reward. In fact, there’s no reward for the Patriots to spy on the Bengals’ sideline. The Bengals are horrible, and are in line to get the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s Draft. So there’s more incentive for Cincinnati to lose than there is to win.
But no, you’re right. The Patriots should just set up the old tripod in the front row of the press box, point the camera towards the Bengals sideline, hit record, give an evil laugh, and wait to see if anybody in the same room catches them. That seems logical, given all the factors involved.
Please.
Do me favor. Just one time. For this one situation only: use some common sense.
The Patriots weren’t spying on the Cincinnati Bengals.
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