When the disaster that quickly became known as Spygate ravaged the Patriots organization at the start of the 2007 season, a lot of people assumed the practice of videotaping opponents was not uncommon. At the same time, it seemed safe to assume that after the credibility of New England’s three Super Bowls was questioned and Bill Belichick was fined a ton of money, no team would be dumb enough to do it again. Leave it to a Belichick employee to prove us wrong.
According to the Denver Post, via Pro Football Talk, the Denver Broncos are being investigated for allegedly videotaping the 49ers walk-through at Wembley Stadium in London back on Oct. 30. As we know, Denver coach Josh McDaniels was a member of the Patriots’ staff in 2007 when the Spygate scandal erupted. Here were some of his thoughts on the matter after being hired by the Broncos:
I don’t think it is good. To have that kind of attention was a distraction, and I think that is how we all treated it. We tried to do the best we could to limit those distractions every week, and it will be no different here. Certainly we are never looking to do anything that is not within the rules established by the National Football League. They determined the punishment on that, and it was what it was and we moved on.”
Broncos’ director of video operations Steve Scarnecchia, a Patriots’ employee from 2001-2005, has taken a “personal leave of absence” while the matter is under investigation. It will probably take the NFL a while to sort things out, but usually we find out that where there’s smoke, there’s fire with these types of matters.
The sad part? The Broncos lost to the 49ers in London and currently have a record of 3-7. At least the Patriots turned the tapes into victories.
