Report: Patriots sent team employees to steal opponents' play sheets

[Big Bid'Ness]

From USA Today
 

Report: Patriots sent team employees to steal opponents' play sheets

ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham published a long investigative report on Tuesday, detailing the history of the Patriots’ run-ins with the NFL when it came to bending the rules.
 
Tracing from Spygate to Deflategate, the report looks to provide context as to why the NFL was so hell-bent on pursuing a harsh punishment for the seemingly innocuous act of playing with slightly under-inflated footballs.
One of the most damning parts of the report is when Van Natta and Wickersham get confirmation from anonymous former Patriots employees that the team used to send an employee to opponents’ locker rooms to steal their play sheets.
From the report:

In fact, many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn’t even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team’s offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.) Numerous former employees say the Patriots would have someone rummage through the visiting team hotel for playbooks or scouting reports.

This seems considerably worse than footballs being deflated, and can perhaps explain why the NFL was so eager to punish the Patriots.
 
UPDATE: The Patriots have issued a statement about the report.

 

 

[elcheato]

We're focused on Pittsburgh 

 

[Fuhgeddaboudit]

Is there substantial evidence? No? Okay, then I don't believe it.

 

[bosoxlover12]

hahahaha this is ridiculous
 
 
this report that the Patriots have been cheating for twelve years or so, coming to life days after Brady's suspension got overturned? Yeah, I don't buy it at all.

 

[elcheato]

#FreeHernandez

 

[cruzg24]

#BringMossback

 

[Teagz]

Good God I'm tired of this shit.

 

[BwareDWare94]

I'm starting to not care. It's like people don't realize that the Patriots were on the ropes against Baltimore last year before the Ravens' defense imploded and Flacco threw two bad picks. Baltimore finishes that game even slightly decent and Deflategate never even happens. You should never lose a game in which you lead 28-14 at one point. 

 

[Giantmetfan07]

And shockingly it's ESPN. 

 

[Giantmetfan07]

 

 

 

 

[Pugz]

good lord

 

[elusive]

I know this is hard to believe, but this story was thoroughly fact-checked and vetted before being published. And it has an ungodly amount of sources.
 
"Interviews by ESPN The Magazine and Outside the Lines with more than 90 league officials, owners, team executives and coaches, current and former Patriots coaches, staffers and players..."
 
Yes, this is just ESPN making up shit...

 

[BwareDWare94]

I know this is hard to believe, but this story was thoroughly fact-checked and vetted before being published. And it has an ungodly amount of sources.
 
"Interviews by ESPN The Magazine and Outside the Lines with more than 90 league officials, owners, team executives and coaches, current and former Patriots coaches, staffers and players..."
 
Yes, this is just ESPN making up shit...

 
I think there's more validity to this than the others are implying, but it wouldn't be the first time ESPN completely fabricated a story. Remember when the TO saga blew up in Dallas out of seemingly nowhere? TOs teammates from the time have always backed him--Ed Werder simply fabricated a story.