Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick apologized today for videotaping New York Jets coaches during a National Football League game.
Belichick, whose team has won three of the last six Super Bowl title games, said in a statement issued by the Patriots that he spoke with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this week and explained that the case stemmed from his own interpretation of the league rules.
NFL security removed a Patriots employee suspected of attempting to steal the Jets’ signals and seized his video camera and tape during the Sept. 9 season-opening game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, won by New England 38-14. Belichick said the Patriots hadn’t been notified of any league ruling.
“I want to apologize to everyone who has been affected, most of all ownership, staff and players,” the coach said. He declined to elaborate in a televised news conference held just after the statement was released.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello and Jets spokesman Bruce Speight didn’t immediately return messages at their offices seeking comment.
ESPN reported on its Web site yesterday that Goodell has determined the Patriots broke league rules and is considering sanctions, including docking them “multiple draft picks.”
Green Bay Packers President Bob Harlan told ESPN that his team’s security guards identified the cameraman as the same one who was removed from the sidelines of a game against the Patriots at Lambeau Field on Nov. 19, 2006.
League Warning
Former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason said the NFL circulated a memo last September warning of severe penalties for videotaping other teams’ signals. He also said the Patriots’ success made them targets for critics around the league.
The Patriots have won almost 70 percent of their games since Belichick became coach in January 2000. He is the only NFL coach to win three Super Bowls in four years and his 13-3 playoff record is the second-best in league history, behind Vince Lombardi, for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named.
“Everyone’s piling on right now, there’s no question about it,” Esiason, now an NFL analyst for CBS, said in an interview. “There’s 31 other teams that would love to knock the Patriots off their perch.”
The episode is the latest in a rivalry between the Jets and Patriots that Bill Parcells, who coached both teams, termed a “Border War.”
Teams Rivalry
Parcells left the Patriots in 1997 following a Super Bowl appearance and took over the Jets a month later. In 2000, Belichick took the job coaching the Jets, quit after one day, and then accepted a job coaching New England 3 1/2 weeks later.
Last year, the Jets hired Patriots assistant Eric Mangini as coach and Belichick refused to shake his hand after their first meeting of the season. New England also filed tampering charges with the NFL after the Jets held contract talks with former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch, who wound up being traded to Seattle by New England.
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