Never over for the fans

Goodell really messed this whole thing up.  By destroying the first set of tapes, all 6 of them, he created huge speculation by the fans.  Watching his press conference, there are lots of contradictions.  He first said Belichik told him he thought he was playing by the rules and that's why he felt the punishment was harsh enough (basically why he didnt suspend him), and then 20 minutes later when people were asking questions that were refering to Goodell being played by Bellichik (basically because Walsh said they knew what they were doing was wrong, but then why did Bellchik say they thought it was within the rules) Goodel said he never was satisfied with Belichik's response to him!  Then your previous statement about why no more penalties are needed just got thrown out the window.  Goodel has showed that when it comes to players breaking the rules (Henry, Jones, etc) he has no patience.  But when it comes to a team like the Patriots, I'd say Goodel is huge woman's part when it comes to it.

Looking at those tapes, I was amazed.  To think Goodel said in his press conference those tapes weren't used in the game but were for later games.  Then why tape the Browns who the Pats would see once every 3 years.  Same with the Chargers, or the AFC Chpamionship game against the Steelers.  I think that one stands out the most, and ESPN brought this issue up.  The Pats taped both def. and off. signals from the Steelers.  And it wasn't until the 2nd half that the Pats completely dominated...intercepting Pittsburgh a couple of times in the 2nd half...makes you wonder.

My last thought, this was something going on since 2000.  Yet only 6 tapes were turned over by the Patriots.  And Walsh turned over 8.  How come no one is saying where's the rest.  Supposedly all the tapes are from 2000, 2001, and 2002.  Yet they confiscated the Jets tape from 2007.  Where's all the footage from 03,04,05, and 06?   The NFL is niave if they believe the Pats only had 6 tapes to turn over.

Haslett said Thursday that when he played in the NFL, steroid use was rampant because the league had no policy banning such drugs. The NFL has since attacked the problem, he said.

"That's because it wasn't illegal then," Haslett said. "That was my point. You had so many people using them because they were legal. I talked about it to show how far our league has come. We have the best policy anywhere on steroids."

Haslett, the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1997-99, made his initial remarks about his own steroid use and his accusations against the Steelers on Wednesday in Hawaii, where the league was holding its annual meeting. They were published in Thursday's editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Los Angeles Times.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who ran the team during the 1970s, denied the Steelers pioneered steroid use in the NFL.

Haslett played in Buffalo from 1979 to 1985, and finished his career in 1987 with the New York Jets. He said he used steroids for one season early in his careerIt started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger (in the) '70s, late '70s, early '80s," Haslett said Wednesday. "They're the ones who kind of started it." <table width="800" class="mcct_container"> <tbody> <tr class="mcct_header"> <td>  </td> </tr> <tr class="mcct_body" valign="top"> <td> The Steelers were fined $150,000 by the NFL l and told to repay OL Will Wolford for a salary-cap violation.

Pittsburgh will also lose its third-round pick in next year’s draft in the settlement.

The penalties were part of a case that’s been pending since last June, Steelers  made an undisclosed commitment to pay Wolford without including it in his contract. That is considered a violation of the salary cap.

The settlement requires the payment of $550,000 by the team — $400,000 to Wolford and $150,000 as a fine. The league said in a statement that Wolford’s agent was unaware of the undisclosed commitment at the time   

The STEELERS cheat with roids and the salary cap sad turds

First Roids were not freaking illegal in the 70's.  Many players from all teams including the great NE used them, and some players used them in the 50's and 60's also.  So this does nothing for your argument.

Your point of pulling out something some other team has done, does not exonerate the Pats.  It is like Criminal one killing a person, but when captured and brought to trial, states, Criminal two did a killing also, so he should be let off, because Criminal two got away with it, even though it is a crime.

The Pats cheated, got caught, and deserve to be punished period.  Belichick was wrong period.  The Pats get judged on what they did, not what other teams may have done in the past, it is apples and organges.  Trying to involve other teams for past issues, is making excuses to justify your team getting caught.  What was done, was done, and you can't hide it.

For those that are failing to see the connection, the Steelers were fined for using steriods (which was being used across the whole league) a lot more money than the Patriots for cheating throughout a decade, which were the only team to be doing so.

Yes I know $550,000 is not that much different to $500,000 but when it was over 20 years apart, that is a big difference in money, due to inflation and due to the difference in earnings by the clubs over the past 20 years.