Every football fan in this country who
doesn’t live in New England is
about to get his itch scratched. A pair of Jets fans from New
Jersey
who just happen to be lawyers have filed a class action law suit
against Bill Belichick and the Patriots. They allege that by
videotaping the Jets defensive signals, the Patriots were defrauding
all the customers: Jets fans who paid to see their team play the
Patriots. The lawsuit is for 184.8 million dollars. The
chance of
them seeing any of this money is slim to none, but the point of this
lawsuit is to get at the truth. Greg Easterbrook from ESPN in his
latest “Page 2” column writes a very interesting article addressing
many of the questions that football fans around the country are asking
about the NFL’s handling of the Patriots videotaping scandal. In
case
you didn’t already know, Roger Goodell demanded the Patriots hand over
all their videotapes and documents on this matter. He swore on
national television while being interviewed by Bob Costas that he would
get to the bottom of this, and that additional punishment could be
meted out.
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fans around the country were satisfied that justice would be
served until the tapes and documents were delivered to the NFL offices
and promptly destroyed, after only three days in their
possession.
Nothing was disclosed about their contents. This is probably the
worst
thing the NFL offices could have done to football fans. If they
had
simply kept the tapes for a while, then disclosed that nothing
incriminating was found, then most fans would have been satisfied with
the original punishment. By destroying the evidence so soon after
taking possession, and not disclosing anything about their contents,
the NFL has opened the door for every football fan out there to not
only question the integrity of the Patriots, but that of the NFL
itself. As Easterbrook points out in his column, the silence
coming
out of the NFL offices is deafening. |
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Since Jets fans feel the most wrath for the Patriots, having been
spurned then annually beaten by Bill Belichick, and since the New
York/New Jersey area has more lawyers than anywhere else in the
country, it was only a matter of time before someone filed a
lawsuit. Maybe Goodell saw this coming, which may explain the
prompt destruction of the tapes.
I can see several scenarios happening, all of which end badly for the
Patriots. The Patriots and the NFL will fight hard to get this
case dismissed as frivolous, but this is not a 67 million dollar pair
of pants. Goodell himself has described the seriousness of the
Patriot’s actions, and punctuated this by putting forth what he
described as the heaviest punishments ever handed down. Should
the Patriots be successful in getting this case dismissed, fans in
Indianapolis, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and North
Carolina might file their own suits. After all, Big Tobacco was
able to fight off lawsuits brought by several states before finally
losing in Minnesota.
If this gets to trial, Belichick and his current and former assistants,
and maybe even Goodell himself would likely have to testify under
oath. Even if no incriminating evidence is brought forth, it
would be a huge distraction and embarrassment for the Patriots and the
NFL. If the Patriots are eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, I
doubt that fans in any other city would bring their own lawsuits.
The goal of the suits is to seek answers, not revenge.
The Patriots and Belichick may try to settle out of court, but this
would turn into a public relations nightmare, so I doubt they would do
this.
I am not a conspiracy theorist, and frankly, I love the NFL and don’t
want to believe that any cheating actually happens, but “something is
rotten in the state of Denmark”. Whether it leads to sanctions
for the Patriots and Bill Belichick or not, I just want to know the
facts. For all its faults, one thing our legal system does well
is dig out the truth. Like the OJ trial, this will be played out
in the media. Once the American media smells blood, it is
relentless, and unlike dog fighting, this involves the sanctity, not
only of America’s favorite sport, but of a 32 billion dollar
business. In the end, this may be too much for Goodell and the
Krafts. Belichick will not finish out his new contract.
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