Tonight's post goes out to all the formers players who believe they were robbed out of Super Bowl title, because the Patriots allegedly cheated.Yup, Steve Spagnuolo, Barrett Brooks, Marshall Faulk, and other former players who feel cheated by the Patriots, welcome to your tape.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive tackle Barrett Brooks joined Gary Tanguay, and Michael Felger on Comcast Sports New England on Tuesday night inside the Mall of America. And boy, did Brooks give us a the most laughable quote, when he admitted that every team attempts to steal signs.
"It's not cheating, unless you get caught."
Did he really just say that? "It's not cheating, unless you get caught."
Seriously, Barrett? That's like saying you weren't speeding on the highway, despite going 85 in a 65-mph zone, because you didn't get pulled over. No, you were still were still speeding, you were just lucky enough, this time, to avoid being seen by the blue lights.
Cheating is the same. It doesn't matter if someone catches you or not, it's still cheating. In school, when you were taking a test, happen to glance at your buddy's test to see his answer to question number three, and the teacher didn't see you, that's still cheating! It's black and white. But, Brooks hates the Patriots, so there's no convincing him otherwise.
He still feels cheated out of a chance to play in the Super Bowl, believing the Patriots defense knew what the Steelers offensive package was before they even lined up on offense. Sorry, Barrett but that's not believable. While they may not know the definitive formation before you actually line up, they can make a highly, educated guess on what it is by who is trotting out to the field.
See Barrett in the game of football, players' numbers give away a lot of information. When the opposing defense sees certain numbers jogging onto the field, it's a tell and the Patriots watch a lot of game film. In addition to knowing how their opponents play, Patriots players and coaches also study the little things - the mannerisms of how players walk, run and stands around on the field. By knowing this, they don't need see the other team lineup to know what type of package is out there. They know pretty quickly if it's a single set back, or if there are two tight ends out there, whatever it is they have a pretty good idea of what it is.
That's not very hard and, in fact, I bet many football fans can probably figure that out too.
But, it gets better. Ex-Eagles linebacker coach Steve Spagnuolo said on a local Philadelphia sports radio station today (97.5 The Fanatic) that he believed the Patriots knew the Eagles' defensive signals in Super Bowl XXXIX. Spagnuolo thought that because Tom Brady got the ball out pretty, that meant the Patriots knew when the Eagles were blitzing.
Not so fast coach. That's one of Brady's strengths. Like the rest of the Patriots coaching staff, Brady watches and studies so much game film that he's able to to decipher what a defense is going to do before he snaps the ball. He even knows, before he snaps the ball, if his first and second reads will be open. Sorry coach, but your theory doesn't hold a lot of water.
Apparently Bowling For Soup's 2006 hit song is right, high school never ends. It's still not cool to study and be a nerd. Instead of burying your head in books, it's immersing yourself in game film for hours, not cool according to many current and former players.
WEEI's Ordway, Merloni & Fauria: Steve Spagnuolo, and Barrett Brooks accuse the Patriots of cheat in 2004 (Jan. 30, 2018)
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