Spy Gate Hits Close To Home
I’ll be honest, I don’t remember anything about the Browns game in New England on December 9th, 2001. It was 7 years ago, and the if anything sticks out about the 2001 season, it was the following week at home against Jacksonville….the bottle throwing game (on a side note….why is it called the “bottle throwing game”? wouldn’t it make more sense to call it the “game where the refs called for a review after another play had already been run and thus cost the Browns the game and possibly a shot at the playoffs”? but I digress….). Well, as it turns out, that game against New England might have been important for a completely different reason.
According to an article on ESPN.com, the Patriots’ former video technician handed over several tapes of stolen signals that he recorded while working for New England. It caught my eye that one of the teams included was none other than our own Cleveland Browns. The sidebar in that article reads,
“Tape 5: Coaches’ signals vs. Cleveland (Dec. 9, 2001)
The Patriots won 27-16. New England barely outgained the Browns, 290-277. The Browns, however, turned the ball over four times. The teams didn’t play again until Oct. 26, 2003, when the Pats won 9-3. Starting with that 2001 win, New England is 4-0 against Cleveland.”
The Browns finished 2001 at 7-9 after their season was derailed by the refs in that Jacksonville game. The Patriots? They were on their way to their first Super Bowl victory. 5 of the 8 tapes turned in come from that 2001 season, and 2 of them came from the AFC Championship game against Pittsburgh. As a Browns fan, it’s tempting to feel conflicted about that….like we should offer congrats to New England for trying anything in their power to stop Pittsburgh from winning the Super Bowl that season, but as a fan and a competitor who prefers beating teams at full strength, this makes me uneasy. Who knows if the Browns season would have been any different that year with a win over New England. Heck, who knows if the Browns would have played any better in that game had their signs not been ripped off. But let me ask this question…..does this information change your view of Tom Brady’s mythical rise in that season, and does this affect the way you view the Patriots dynasty? I’m gonna have to think about this one for a while.
Author: AndrewSchnitkey
Andrew Schnitkey is a founding editor of WaitingForNextYear. Though he has written about every Cleveland franchise over the years, his primary focus is the Cavaliers and NBA basketball in general.Andrew Schnitkey has written 449 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
“Tape 5: Coaches’ signals vs. Cleveland (Dec. 9, 2001)
The Patriots won 27-16. New England barely outgained the Browns, 290-277. The Browns, however, turned the ball over four times. The teams didn’t play again until Oct. 26, 2003, when the Pats won 9-3. Starting with that 2001 win, New England is 4-0 against Cleveland- who pretty much sucked eggs until last year.”- fixed
The real issue here is how much Romeo knew about this, and of course did he condone the practice? The Browns and Romeo better decide to comment on this issue, and part of that comment better be that the Browns have never done this themselves.
I’m also concerned about other types of media spying…whether it be listening to the coaches frequencies or planting wires in the opposing coaching suites. If the taping had never come to light I would have called conspiracy crap on that kind of James Bond stuff, but now, I don’t know…
I think we know far too little about everything that took place, but if Brady and Romeo are products of this cheating, well, then its extremely disappointing (not Brady, but Romeo. For Brady, it really just means he isn’t all that great)
Cheaters do prosper.
i hate everything about boston
At least South Park got to capitalize
Boston/UofF = Pain in my azz.