I wasn’t paying 100% attention, but I believe I saw a segment on ESPN this morning in which Andy Reid (Eagles coach) said signal stealing was rampant. There were also several other coaches who were detailing all the many things they do to confuse other teams and prevent signal theft. Take that for what it is worth.
For me, I don’t think the “everyone else does it” defense is legit in terms of the punishment they got, but if true it does deflate the whole indignant “the Pats wins are tarnished” line of thought. YMMV.
I’ll wait and see, I guess. I do think it’s one thing to sneak a peek across the sidelines to see if the defensive coordinator is blatantly giving away his signals, and quite another to have a system of videotaping your opponent, breaking down the film at halftime, and then–having cracked the code–modifying your offensive calls and “reads” for the remainder of the game. Clearly another area where MMV, but what Belichick did crossed a disgraceful line IMO, and he deserved to get spanked. I won’t buy any “if everybody’s hands aren’t completely clean, then no big deal” argument (not that you’re making one).
The Pats legacy is tarnished, for sure. I guess I’m biased, being an Eagles fan. I can’t help remembering how well the Pats read our blitzes in the second half of the Super Bowl. Those reads turned the game around, a game we ultimately lost by 3. If Belichick were to assure us nothing bad was perpetrated then, why the hell would we believe a cheater like him?