Spygate II, the sequel the NFL didn't want is here.
According to ESPN, the NFL is currently investigating why the Patriots had a video crew taping in the press box of the Cleveland Browns - Cincinnati Bengals game, Sunday. The video crew was credentialed by the Browns to be there to video a series called "Do You're job" about the Patriots scout team. The Patriots play the Bengals next week.
However, the Bengals were not made aware of the recording, and found out through a Bengals employee that the Patriots were video taping the Bengals sideline. The Bengals employee "flagged Bengals security and media relations, then interviewed the Robert Kraft videographer. The league hasn't issued a statement and is has a copy of the video.
Meanwhile, the Patriots tweeted out a response, explaining their version of the story.
"For the past year the New England Patriots content team has produced a series of behind the scenes footage on various departments within the organization. On Sunday December 8, the content team sent a three-person video crew to the Bengals Browns game in order one part of a long feature on the Patriots scouting department.
"While we sought and were granted credentialed access from the Cleveland Browns for the video crew, our failure to inform the Bengals and the League was an unintended oversight," the statement reads.
The Patriots further claim there was never any intention to use the video for any other purpose than the feature the scouting department in a video series.
While that may be the case, why were the video taping the sideline? We all know when Spygate happened in 2007, the Patriots were video taping the signals from the New York Jets sideline before they were outed by then Jets head coach Eric Mangini. The word at the time, the Pats had conducted such video taping for years. Even the Rams claimed back in 2001 that the Patriots were video taping their practices before Super Bowl XXXVI.
Is this a case of the Patriots trying to get away with cheating again? And if the video was intended to be used as a way to steal signals from the Bengals, how long were the Patriots continuing their spygate practices post-2007?
This is a huge question, and another black eye for a franchise that has dominated the sport for two decades. If it's found the Patriots continued their cheating ways, the entire organization must be severely punished by a commissioner and a league that dropped the ball on Deflategate about six years ago.
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