Video is taken, and arranged with Down/Distance/formation footage. Player memorizes exactly what is done, according to the video with each signal. Player uses this information when interpreting the signal and relaying it to Weiss (thereby, using illegally obtained info in the game)
First off, when does the player see the video? Secondly, without the video to reference this player would have to have a really good photographic memory. To do this throughout an entire game a player would have to almost focus on that and nothing else.
I think it would be a little different than what everyone is saying, but if the player knows that a blitz is coming, they know how to check off the play if need be and adjust. It is more than just reading a defense because they can usually hide their schemes, it's knowing what's coming reagrdless of any reads which gives you even more time to analyze what to do. And do you really think that if it DIDN'T help them, they would continue to do it for eight years?
If you really want to understand how the video could be used, read Specter's statement (I assume he read this on the floor of the Senate because ESPN calls it a "floor" statement.) I'll quote one key section: II. THE VIDEOTAPING HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE GAME (1) The filming enabled the Patriots coaching staff to anticipate the defensive plays called by the opposing team. According to Walsh, he first filmed an opponents’ signals during the August 20, 2000 pre-season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After Walsh filmed a game, he would provide the tape for Ernie Adams, a coaching assistant for the Patriots, who would match the signals with the plays. Walsh was told by a former offensive player that a few days before the September 11, 2000 regular season game against Tampa Bay, he (the offensive player) was called into a meeting with Adams, Bill Belichick and Charlie Weis, then the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, during which it was explained how the Patriots would make use of the tapes. The offensive player would memorize the signals and then watch for Tampa Bay’s defensive calls during the game. He would then pass the plays along to Weis, who would give instructions to the quarterback on the field. This process enabled the Patriots to go to a “no-huddle” offensive [set], which would lock in the defense the opposing team had called from the sideline, preventing the defense from making any adjustments. When Walsh asked whether the tape he had filmed was helpful, the offensive player said it had enabled the team to anticipate 75 percent of the plays being called by the opposing team. http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pdf/080514/nfl_FloorStatement.pdf Any questions about how a 6th Round Pick can become a SB MVP?
Dude.. Let me give you some advice .. Don't fall in the "speculation" discussions .. You'll lose every :rofl:time ..
That floor statement is fairly damning, particularly of Goodell. However, it is almost over, since no one is listening....
Sen. Specter wants independent investigation into Spygate By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 6 minutes ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_spygate WASHINGTON - Hold on, NFL. Spygate isn't over. Not if the "incensed" Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Congress has anything to do with it. ADVERTISEMENT Sen. Arlen Specter on Wednesday called for an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals, possibly similar to the high-profile Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball. "What is necessary is an objective investigation," Specter said at a news conference in the Capitol. "And this one has not been objective." The Pennsylvania Republican was unforgiving of his criticism of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, saying that Goodell has made "ridiculous" assertions that wouldn't fly "in kindergarten." The Senator said Goodell was caught in an "apparent conflict of interest" because the NFL doesn't want the public to lose confidence in the league's integrity. "They are enormous role models for everybody," Specter said. "If you can cheat in the NFL, you can cheat in college, you can cheat in high school, you can cheat on your grade-school math test. There's no limit as to what you can do. I think they owe the public a lot more candor and a lot more credibility." Goodell essentially declared an end to Spygate after a 3 1/2-hour meeting in New York on Tuesday morning with former New England video assistant Matt Walsh. Walsh supplied the league with videotapes of coaches' signals made by the Patriots, but offered no new significant revelations about the cheating scandal that has threatened to taint the team's three Super Bowl titles. Goodell said afterward that the information from the interview with Walsh "was consistent with what we disciplined the Patriots for last fall," when the commissioner docked the team a 2008 first-round draft pick and fined coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000. But Specter held his own three-hour meeting with Walsh in Washington on Tuesday. He said Walsh detailed how the Patriots used videotaped signals to their advantage: an offensive player would memorize the signals, watch for them on the sideline and pass them on to assistant coach Charlie Weis, who would then inform quarterback Tom Brady. "And they had some obviously good results," Specter said. The NFL released a statement later Wednesday. "We respectfully disagree with Senator Specter's characterization of the investigation conducted by our office. We are following up after yesterday's meeting with Matt Walsh." Specter said he would prefer the NFL arrange the independent investigation and was willing to wait several months — while he continues to undergo chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease — before calling for Congress to take what he called "corrective action." Such action could include hearings or a full-blown Mitchell Report-type investigation. He said public reaction would determine the NFL's next step. "I would hope that the commissioner would do this on his own," Specter said. Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team had no comment on Specter's remarks. Earlier Wednesday, the Boston Herald apologized for a story that said the Patriots videotaped a St. Louis Rams walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl. In the apology, published in the newspaper's Wednesday edition and posted on its Web site, the Herald said the story was based on sources "it believed to be credible." "We now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed," the paper wrote. "We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification. The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots' owners, players, employees and fans for our error." Specter repeated his disapproval of Goodell's decision to destroy the notes and tapes confiscated during the initial investigation last fall, as well as the "piecemeal" way the league has revealed details about the tapings. He also cited the fact a Patriots attorney sat in on Walsh's meeting with Goodell as proof the investigation has not been impartial. "That sequence is incomprehensible," Specter said. "It's an insult to the intelligence of the people who follow it." Specter's interest in Spygate centers in part on the two NFL teams in his state. The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2005, the same season in which the Steelers were defeated by New England in the AFC championship game. Pittsburgh defeated New England earlier that season, and the implication is that taped signals from that game helped the Patriots in the rematch. Steelers chairman Dan Rooney has called the matter a "non-issue." "I have a different perspective," Specter said. "I'm elected by 12 million people., and a lot of them are Steeler fans. ... Frankly I'm incensed about what happened with the Steelers, and I'm incensed about the notes being destroyed. I really am." Specter was again asked whether his interest in the matter has to do with Philadelphia-based Comcast, one of his largest campaign contributors. Comcast has been involved in a dispute with the league over the placement of the NFL Network on its cable system. "They have been a campaign contributor," Specter said, "along with 50,000 other people ... I've been at this line of work for a long time, and no one has ever questioned my integrity." In an interview with HBO scheduled to air Friday night on "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," Walsh dismissed Belichick's attempts to minimize the impact of the taping. "If it was of little or no importance, I imagine they wouldn't have continued to do it, and probably not taken the chances of going down onto the field in Pittsburgh or shooting from other teams' stadiums the way we did," Walsh said. Walsh told HBO that his superiors coached him on how to evade NFL rules limiting the number of camera operators per team to two, and that team officials instructed him on ways to avoid detection. Walsh also talked about Belichick's claim that he misinterpreted NFL rules. "When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong," Walsh said. "We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of an apology or a reasoning for what was done. ... "Coach Belichick's explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn't sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing."
Oh I see. Once Brady became QB the Pats stopped using this system to help them win. Thanks for pointing that out to all of us.
they also lost that game 21-16 he said she said. its amazing none of this was brought up when he met with goodell. his 15 min of fame is turning into a pretty lucrative deal for the asst golf pro.
I really can't see how they were doing this with Bledsoe too. And apparently the backup quarterbacks. Word would have gotten out. Guys would know about it. just not credible.
I guess you were about to post that the Bucs game took place only a month after Walsh and the Pats began taping. Things certainly got better for the Pats after Belly began really filling out his tape library. Since you are so concerned about the effects of taping on the outcome of games, care to chat about the AFC Championship game?
why? cuz we cheated and sucked? wed still be cheaters, just very bad ones.\ the issue is moreso of a handjob marketing coverup for the nfl. remember what a patriotic circle jerk the pats got after 9-11 simply for being a team named the patriots? anyways, the actual matter is the pats were made posterchildren for the nfl and became a huge promotional tool. cheating is cheating but considering the teams media coverage and the pedestals they were placed upon.........the patriots cheating is like a recall on an expensive import. the jets cheating is pretty much like a new recall on a gremlin. and if we did cheat mangini should off himself. if you cheat you better bring bellicheat results
Flutie knows about it: they won three super bowls by three points?it wouldn?t take much of an advantage to be a HUGE advantage?.this story have been overcovered but underreported?.i?ve heard second hand about doug flutie being amazed when he got there that the plays were being piped into his helmet warning brady what was coming?..we?ve tried to talk to flutie on our radio show about it but he hangs up on my producer?.. Dan Le Batard 2/04/08 http://thebiglead.com/?p=4477
Walsh also stated that the tapes were in his possession till after the games. thats when he handed them over to adams.
Speculation on your part, yet again .. this is what happens when your emotionally attached to this story .. What you were waiting for did not happen (Rams Tape), and you feel disappointed.. it's tough, I know..
