# Bill Belichick has been fined $500,000 by the NFL.
# The Patriots have been fined $250,000 by the NFL.
# The Patriots will give up their first-round pick in 2008 if they make the playoffs. If they don't make the playoffs, they will surrender their second- and third-round picks.
# Belichick will not be suspended.
“This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field,” Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to the Patriots.
"I specifically considered whether to impose a suspension on Coach Belichick," Goodell also wrote. "I have determined not to do so, largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension.
Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson gets suspended 5 games for using HGH because Viagra wasn't working for him, and Belichick doesn't get suspended for a single game for FLAT OUT CHEATING!?!?!?
I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. $750,000 is certainly worth a win and while a 1st round pick will certainly hurt, I don't think this punishment discourages this kind of behavior in a way that will remove the cloud of suspicion looming over the result of three of the past five Super Bowls. In other words, I expect more to be done, ultimately (and in my opinion, in the NFL's best interest) resulting in the loss of all three championships.
davidmarver wrote:I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. $750,000 is certainly worth a win and while a 1st round pick will certainly hurt, I don't think this punishment discourages this kind of behavior in a way that will remove the cloud of suspicion looming over the result of three of the past five Super Bowls. In other words, I expect more to be done, ultimately (and in my opinion, in the NFL's best interest) resulting in the loss of all three championships.
I'd say their Super Bowl Championships certainly have asterisks beside them now, and that might be a bigger punishment than anything else.
davidmarver wrote:I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. $750,000 is certainly worth a win and while a 1st round pick will certainly hurt, I don't think this punishment discourages this kind of behavior in a way that will remove the cloud of suspicion looming over the result of three of the past five Super Bowls. In other words, I expect more to be done, ultimately (and in my opinion, in the NFL's best interest) resulting in the loss of all three championships.
The loss of 3 championships?? You are on crack...
People - get a clue...the Patriots are the only ones WHO GOT CAUGHT! Cheating goes on throughout the league!!!
That's pretty fair in my opinion. Possibly losing a first rounder could hurt.
Possibly? Could?
Are those the type of words that should describe a punishment after cheating? Teams are going to look at the fact that the Patriots cheated and the fact that the Patriots have won three of the past five championships and laugh at the punishment.
The punishment doesn't fit the crime and I really don't think this will deter teams much, if at all, in the future. Three Super Bowls rings -- if that is a result of the cheating -- will always justify a first-round pick and $750,000. And calling for those rings isn't really that outlandish. Each one of those wins was decided by a single play, a single score; if the Patriots cheated on just one play per game, that's the same amount as the outcome was decided by. Asterisk-ing or 'vacating' championships has been done in collegiate sports for offenses that didn't occur on the field-of-play; I don't see how this is any different.
davidmarver wrote:I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. $750,000 is certainly worth a win and while a 1st round pick will certainly hurt, I don't think this punishment discourages this kind of behavior in a way that will remove the cloud of suspicion looming over the result of three of the past five Super Bowls. In other words, I expect more to be done, ultimately (and in my opinion, in the NFL's best interest) resulting in the loss of all three championships.
I'd say their Super Bowl Championships certainly have asterisks beside them now, and that might be a bigger punishment than anything else.
I agree...
not enough discipline... bs...
take away the rings and trophies
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by nuzzy » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:36 pm 
They wouldn't have kept two anyways...
