OK Popeye, and then Pats use the EXACT SAME EXCUSE that was written about here years ago?
https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/i ... iots-apart
Pats agreed this latest taping was wrong and said they'd be taking responsibility.
But OTOH, people are coming out with excuses for them AGAIN, including these:
1)
The video crew were "independent contractors" as if that means the Pats were as disconnected as if a random YouTuber had gotten into the press box. The Pats set up the credentialing. The Pats instructed their advance scout to work with them for an interview. Both the employee scout and the "independent" contractors were "doing their job" based on the Pats' direction. They were only THERE because the Pats wanted that.
2)
It doesn't matter because the Bengals suck. So did the 9ers last year. If the Pats had done this last year toward the 4-12 9ers, would it have been ok because the 9ers sucked then? Your coach and DC are the same, much of your roster is the same, and now they have intel on both but it shouldn't matter?
The Pats have been skating the "gray area" for 20 years as documented above. They're so petty so as to provide headsets that wouldn't make a JetBlue economy flight. They've got such a rep of delivering warm, late Gatorade to visiting teams so often that they're shipping in $1 soft drinks.
The 49ers immediately provided Tyler Lockett the device he asked to borrow from his hospital bed so he could at least fly home to Seattle. The way Pats see this is that it's a divisional opponent they have to see again so they're not going to help.
Do we really want the NFL to go in BB's tread?
The Patriot Way is just to skate the edge as much divulging less humanity as a collections agent. You can't get them for that, but you can when they go over it.
Someone went over the line here, and that person needs to take responsibility. Robert Kraft has quite the record of shirking responsibility in public even after being caught on tape paying to have his penis serviced. He's not going to throw gamete-inheritor Jonathan Kraft under the bus. BB is next in line and ideally he'd be suspended WITH pay so that Kraft is forced to pay him $40M (or whatever he makes) , for the year he's out. Because if the owner or his child won't take responsibility, the team has to take one for them. That starts with BB.