The enmity between the Jets and Patriots remains alive and well, with New York initiating a complaint that led to the Jets locker room being swept for bugs and Patriots staffers to be interrogated by the NFL, according to a new report.
The Jets complained Sunday demanding to know whether the radio frequencies and stadium operations at Gillette Stadium were up to standard, a source told the Boston Herald. New England, of course, has been accused on more than one occasion of interfering with headsets in Foxboro.
It has already been reported that the NFL swept the Jets locker room for bugs, but this report states that the complaint also led to an NFL representative comprehensively interrogating three Patriots staffers on the sideline during the game.
In the second quarter, an NFL employee identified himself to three Patriots employees, two full-time and one part time, and “interrogated” them, according to the source. The NFL employee said the reason for the questioning stemmed from a complaint filed by the Jets, who demanded to know whether the radio frequencies and stadium operations were performed up to an appropriate standard.
The NFL employee took photographs of each Patriots employee and their identification badges, demanded to check their cell phones and also checked their radios to ensure they were operating through the proper channels. The NFL employee also said they already swept the visiting locker room for bugs.
After the questioning, which lasted about 15 minutes, the NFL employee continued to hover over the three Patriots employees until the third quarter, when a stadium operations manager told the NFL employee to route all further inquiries through Patriots and Gillette Stadium management.
Everything checked out okay on the Patriots end, but the Herald report calls the level of interrogating “unprecedented,” and such an interview had “never before happened in their years of employment at Gillette Stadium.”
The Jets and the NFL continue to deny that such a complaint was ever lodged, with the NFL declining comment on the latest allegations. The Jets were, of course, the team that complained to the NFL that led to the Spygate scandal, so the bad blood runs deep in addition to their natural on-field rivalry.
