Surprise, Surprise: Patriots' Newest Penalties Prove They Can't Run From Their Past
On Sunday news broke that the NFL had finally handed their penalty to the New England Patriots for the videotaping incident last season that involved them recording the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline during their Week 14 game against the Cleveland Browns last season.
But before we talk about the penalty handed to the six-time Super Bowl champions, let's first talk about what we knew about the incident before the verdict was made.
We know that what the Patriots film crew did was illegal. They were taping the Bengals' sideline, albeit for their "Do Your Job" series on one of their advance scouts. The organization admitted their wrongdoing, and apologized for that via a statement.
On Jan. 1 the Washington Post reported that the NFL had found no evidence linking Bill Belichick or football operations to the video being recorded by the Patriots' film crew during that Week 14 game. Yet here were are, nearly seven months after the incident occurred, and the league has come down with a harsh punishment for New England's football operations.
The Patriots were fined $1.1 million, will lose a 2021 third-round pick, and New England's television crew will not be allowed to shoot any games during the 2020 season, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. On top of those penalties, senior club officials will have required training on league operation and game policies, and Dave Mondillo, who was suspended by the team at the time of the NFL investigation, is banned from NFL facilities until further notice.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem to matter to the league that football operations weren't linked to the video that was recorded on that Sunday afternoon. Well, it could have mattered to them, but we don't know, because they have provided no explanation for the penalties administered to the Patriots as of Wednesday, July 1 (that we are aware of). Because of that, it looks like the NFL chose to punish the Patriots not only because what they did was illegal, but because they have a history of toeing the line of what is legal and what is not, which dates all the way back to Spygate in 2007.
The six-time Super Bowl champions paid the price during Deflategate, losing Tom Brady to a four-game suspension even though there was no conclusive evidence that proved he played a part in deflating the footballs during the team's AFC Championship game against the Colts in 2015. That was also because of the team's history of flirting with illegality.
New England can't seem to run from their past, a past that Roger Goodell and the league like to continually bring up even if it shouldn't be relevant. So the Patriots once again wrongfully pay the price based on their history.
That's fine. Belichick will somehow turn the punishment into a massive chip to place on the team's shoulder, which will lay right next to the chip that reads The Patriots won't be good without Tom Brady.
It will be just one more reason for New England to be motivated next season, which is bad news for the rest of the teams in the league that thought they might catch a break after 20 years of dominance from the Patriots.
