Did Washington Commanders Cheat vs. Bears with 'Sideline Spy'? NFL Explains Sideline Controversy
We don't mean to be insulting here, but we've largely ignored the accusations that insisted that during Thursday night's game between Chicago and Washington, there was a Commanders "sideline spy'' positioned behind Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. ... ostensibly using a "Commanders phone'' to video Getsy's play-calling decisions.
Commanders cheating?
And why have we ignored the accusations? OK, we will go ahead and take the risk of being insulting by saying it: The accusations are stupid.
The NFL has offered some clarity for the conspiracy theorists who somehow convinced themselves that Washington positioned an employee on the visitors sideline, in clear view of constant and live national TV coverage, and armed him with a piece of technology that clearly ID's him as having a Commanders connection.
That wouldn't be very tricky, would it?
So, no, those those people naive enough to spend time wondering if coach Ron Rivera's squad was cheating. ... there is a simply explanation that occurs every week at every NFL game: The person behind Getsy was assigned by the NFL to be there.
“It was one of the two uniform inspectors assigned to the game, Ravin Caldwell,” chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
What is a "uniform inspector''? He has a part-time gig with the league to police the players to make sure they're not cutting their jerseys into half-shirts or wearing their socks at the right height, basically. And that's about it.
And they are commonly former players - as is the case with Caldwell, who played for Washington from 1987-1992. So, Caldwell still celebrates his affiliation with Washington in the form of a phone case. But he doesn't influence games - outside of saggy socks and stuff.
The NFL is a high-pressure and high-reward business. That pushes teams to find any edge possible. And using technology to "cheat'' has happened. But it's supposed to be subtle and undetectable (right, Bill Belichick?) ... And yes, at the risk of being insulting to the Commanders, we also get the punchline to all of this ...
Given the fact that Washington was upset by the lowly Bears, 40-20? If the Commanders were cheating on that night? They weren't very good at that, either.
