Patriots are cheaters once again.
by brown11b on Dec 11, 2010 9:14 AM EST
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I was browsing the internet putting off more serious work this morning and came across this little nugget on espn.
It appears the Patriots have yet another cheater on their hands. Add it to the long list of players and coaches in an organization that seems to turn a blind eye towards cheating.
Make all the complaints that you wish about the Colts poor play this season or all the injuries, but it is nice we don't have to deal with this sort of stuff.
First there was spygate. Spygate was supposed to be a one time isolated signal stealing against the during Mangini's final season there.
Then spygate exploded and there was talk that the taping not only included stealing defensive signals, but actual practices by other teams, including Super Bowl XXVI against the Rams.
You can add that to Rodney Harrison using HGH and getting suspended and shrugging it off as a cost of doing business.
Bill Bellicheat has also been accused and investigated by the NFL and the NFLPA for forcing players that were on IR to practice, which is also a violation of NFL rules.
And now, rookie LB Brandon Spikes has been suspended 4 games for using a Performance Enhancing Drug on the league's list of banned substances.
I am starting to see a trend form again with the Patriots.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.
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people performance enhancers in the NFL. Only the dumb/unlucky ones get caught. Get over it.
Unless you think people tearing tendons left and right (biceps, triceps, achilles) is “normal” you are living under a rock.
by dbcb on Dec 11, 2010 10:03 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Use that argument as an MLB fan
And you get roasted alive.
Dallas Clark: Some tight ends catch. Some block. Clark just owns.
I agree, MLB and the NFL have different standards with what the fans are willing to put up with and PEDs
I think it has a lot to do with individuals numbers in MLB. In MLB the numbers are sacred and are supposed to stand the test of time.
In the NFL its all about the evolution of the game and different eras so the numbers mean something, only the numbers have to be ranked within its own era. Like Kerry Collins passing some milestone to be 13th all time in passing yards(don’t quote me, I think I just remember that being discussed.). Is Collins in the top 15 all time QBs, no. He has a solid career, but his numbers reflect that the NFL is much more of a passing league now that ever in its history.
6-2, 185
its because baseball is so boring and stupid
that they stare at stats all day long to pass the time between pitches
baseball nerds are the worst. every other sport only compares eras.
I assume you are refering to Bob Sanders.
I am aware there are players in the NFL using PEDs that arent caught.
My point was that the Patriots are establishing a history of cheating and it isn’t only the players that are doing so, its the coaches and front office as well.
When Shawne Merriman was caught using PEDs that wasn’t an organization cheating, it was one player getting caught.
In the case of the Texans having 2 players out with PED suspensions you are getting closer to being an organization that is turning a blind eye to cheating, but again this was just the players doing something to cheat.
The Patriots are the unique case now to have multiple player get caught and also have the organization get caught with multiple cheating infractions of cheating over the same period of time.
6-2, 185
No worries, two players in four seasons hardly constitutes a trend
Rodney Harrison was suspended in 2007 for admitting to taking HGH. Brandon Spikes, a rookie, was suspended this year. The league said it wasn’t steroids, but that’s all it says because of its privacy policy (although it sure would be helpful to know).
Keep the faith!
Ive read Brandon Spikes
was for taking meds for HDHD. He was taking Adderall for his ADHD and it contains amphetamines that are listed among the league’s banned substances.
Try to kick me while I'm down...I'll break your leg
Indianapolis Colts News and Updates
ADHD medicine can be approved by the league, as many other players can attest to.
Spikes’ problem was that he didn’t get permission from the league via the Pats trainers.
Him being an idiot does not make him a cheater.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
by insertscreenname on Dec 14, 2010 3:33 AM EST up reply actions
2 people isn’t a trend.
there coach/coaches may be dirty but i really really really doubt any organization would have their players use because well.. it is illegal in the US after all.
and its been 2 players multiple years apart.
I just hate the high and mightyness and the naiveness. Like Dominic Rhodes… gets busted for PED’s in the off season after he signed with the raiders. Do you REALLY honestly think dude just started using AFTER he signed his contract and not when he was on the colts? honestly?
boo hoo
the Pats got caught stealing signals from the Jets. But the reality is that all teams steal signals. Why do you think that the coaches who call the plays cover their mouth with the playcard?
You probably think they don’t want to catch a cold, or maybe they have bad breath. They cover their mouth because they know that if they don’t, the other team will steal their signals.
Get over it dude, it’s a non issue.
I hope they lose Sunday, there is some terrible (usual) weather forecast for Soldier Field. Go Tim Jennings, get a pick6!
Tim Jennings is not that bad
Ive watched some Bears’ games this season and Jennings has done fairly well. Haven’t watch enough to get a good sample size, but he does look better than during his time as a Colt.
Its amazing he covers much better when he isn’t playing 10+ yards off the receiver like he was forced to in Indianapolis.
6-2, 185
Jennings has been really good for the Bears this year
No more hilariously soft cushions.
EVH+DLR=BFFs........ God I Hope So!!
eh... both teams have to play in it
For Bears QB Jay Cutler’s to publicly complain to the NFL about the condition of the field shows he’s concerned about players getting injured as well as the increased difficulty in his receivers running routes, etc…
Keep the faith!
Spikes positive test was caused by ADHD medicine
Care to man up, revise your headline and edit your post??? Whether you update this or not will speak volumes about your own personal moral high ground.
Keep the faith!
by Marima on Dec 11, 2010 5:28 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I can speak from a moral high ground all I want
Morality cannot be regulated because it is a personal preference. Morals and sports shouldn’t mix. On the other hand sports can have rules, and P.E.D.s are against the rules negotiated by the NFL and the NFLPA.
So I can call someone a cheater when they use a P.E.D.
The substance may have been a medication, but it was still on the banned substance list and Spikes is not appealing this suspension either. The NFL considers it a P.E.D. Players have been taking legal medical drugs for years and misusing them for the purpose of sport for a long time. Often they get prescriptions from doctors for these drugs even in violations of the rules. This is nothing new.
Bottom line is the NFL says it is a PED and suspended him. No need for a moral high ground. It is black and white for us.
6-2, 185
ADHD medication? Seriously?
How dare Spikes take the most-common prescription medication for a common medical condition. What a horrible, horrible man…
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 12, 2010 3:20 AM EST up reply actions
Never said he was a horrible person.
All I said about Spikes was that he took something that was listed on the NFL’s PED list.
Stated no where that he is a horrible person. To my knowledge he hasn’t ever killed anyone, hurt anyone, or killed puppies. For all I know he is a stand up guy.
6-2, 185
Never said he was a horrible person.
Bollocks. You called him a cheater.
All I said about Spikes was that he took something that was listed on the NFL’s PED list.
Bollocks. You implied that Spikes getting in trouble for his prescription ADHD medicine is somehow related to Spygate, Rodney Harrison’s HGH, and any and all other complaints about the Patriots you might have. That’s clear when you say “I am starting to see a trend form again with the Patriots.”
Well done, buddy.
Here’s Brandon Spikes’s statement:
“I’ve been contacted by the NFL and informed that I will be suspended four games for the detection of an illegal substance in a drug test. The substance was a medication that I should have gotten clarification on before taking. It was not a performance enhancer or an illegal drug. The integrity of the game is very important to me. I understand the league’s ruling and apologize to my teammates, the fans and the Patriots organization for this mistake.”
Not that I’d expect any sort of retraction from someone classy enough to mention Spygate and Rodney Harrison in regards of a rookie who wasn’t in New England for either and who got medication from his personal doctor.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 12, 2010 3:24 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Despite the fact that I find your post incredibly funny...
I agree, it turns out Spikes certainly has problems, but the use of HGH is not one of them…
yet.
Clear his name!!! Free Brandon!
by icedude on Dec 11, 2010 6:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I never said that Spikes used HGH
I stated the same thing that the article that espn said.
Spikes used a P.E.D.
HGH is a P.E.D., but not what Spikes used.
Spikes used a different PED that is regulated as against the rules of the NFL and NFLPA.
6-2, 185
Your headline reads, "Patriots cheaters once again"
which, when you look at it, isn’t even close to the truth.
Keep the faith!
Definition of cheat
5. :to violate rules or regulations
this is directly from Dictionary.com
Spikes violated a NFL rule or regulation. This is the definition of cheating.
So, which, when you look at it, is the truth.
6-2, 185
I dont think I’ve ever agreed with a pats fan… ever. But this time I do. #1. Even if this guy were caught with his new cycle in hand I honestly wouldn’t consider it “cheating”. And #2. he wasn’t, dude was taking Adhd meds. He was just trying to stay focused because he has a mental disorder that wont allow him to otherwise.
I hope that he can find something that will help his ADHD and is still allowed by the league. This is one that I legit feel bad for the player who was “caught”.
The thing about the ADHD medicine in question is that
if you don’t actually have the disorder then the medicine acts like speed and you would be “amped up” for several hours depending on the dosage taken. These medications were a common trend among Hollywood stars several years ago because it is extremely easy to convince a doctor that you suffer from ADHD by looking up the symptoms online, also it was cheaper and easier to obtain than say cocaine and it is legal.
Back when I was picking beans in Guatemala, we used to make fresh coffee, right off the trees I mean. That was good. This is shit but, hey, I'm in a police station.
by TouchdownColts on Dec 13, 2010 12:10 PM EST up reply actions
absolutely, and there are players who take this medication legally in the NFL
What Spikes failed to do was clear it with the league first and show that he has a legitimate medical diagnosis. With a zero tolerance policy, the league has no choice but to suspend him for four games, because he didn’t clear it ahead of time.
I’m not a fan of zero tolerance policies because while it sounds good, it removes rational thinking from the discipline or punishment process. It also keeps the burden of implied favoritism accusations out of the league office too, which I believe is why they keep it in place.
Keep the faith!
This is laughable
Note that most of “your own kind” have avoided this argument like the plague. That’s because it’s venomous invective and pure drivel. Write something worthwhile ABOUT YOUR TEAM rather than taking pot shots at another and maybe you’ll regain an ounce of credibility.
Oh, use your link to dictionary.com to look up invective and drivel if you must.
Reality is a matter of opinion.
by MaPatsFan on Dec 11, 2010 8:06 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
unwarranted insults are also laughable
No need to look up invective and drivel. I am aware of the proper usage.
I am not taking a cheap shot at another team, just recapping past instances of rules violations.
I am not looking for credibility on a blog. What would that social currency gain me on this website?
You attempted insults are gratuitous and unneeded. I have refrained from making personal attacks on any New England fans and instead stuck with commentary on the violations. I am not against disagreement with Patriot fans, everyone has his/her own opinion. By insulting someone you lose the credibility that you are so worried about.
6-2, 185
You are purposely misrepresenting the truth (i.e. lying)
Make all the complaints that you wish about the Colts poor play this season or all the injuries, but it is nice we don’t have to deal with this sort of stuff.
Nah, but the Colts do have Fila Moala who was arrested in September and charged with DUI, public intoxication and speeding. Much better to “deal with that sort of stuff” I’m sure. 2010 started off with Colts’ reserve WR Tajiddin Smith getting arrested for drunk driving in January, plus DL John Gill was arrested by Indianapolis police after finding him passed out in a ditch on the side of a road about 4 a.m. on a Sunday last August, and if you add McAffee’s public intoxication, that’s FOUR — just this year alone. Sounds like the makings of a trend to me.
Bill Bellicheat has also been accused and investigated by the NFL and the NFLPA for forcing players that were on IR to practice, which is also a violation of NFL rules.
There was an assertion by Matt Walsh (whose allegation that the Patriots taped a Rams walkthrough was proved false) but no finding of wrongdoing by the league. Being accused and investigated is one thing. Why don’t you report that their findings were negative? That’s
Keep the faith!
The finding were never proved false since the NFL got rid of everything.
All the Patriots tapes were destroyed so that the NFL and Roger Goodell could quickly get rid of an embarrassing storyline.
So its unclear how much they stockpiled and from when since the NFL refused to talk about what was on the tapes.
We can play a circle game, but the fact remains that the Patriots lost a 1st round pick in the 2008 Draft, the Patriots organization was fined $250,000 and Belichick was fined $500,000.
Matt Walsh didn’t end up keeping any tapes, but it doesn’t mean he and Steve Scarnecchia were a part of the Belicheck administration’s systematic cheating by taping other teams signals.
Now when the Broncos did the same thing, which were only repeat offenders, the NFL only fined McDaniels $50,000 and the Broncos $50,000 and no draft picks.
The Patriots were fined a 1st round pick, the team 5 times the amount of the Broncos, and Belicheck 10 times the amount of McDaniels. That would lead me to believe that the evidence on the destroyed tapes was pretty bad.
6-2, 185
No circle game, unless you want to deliberately ignore or misunderstand what I said, because I'm not talking about spygate,
The quote I referenced was from you talking about allegations of Belichick being investigated by the league regarding forcing players that were on IR to practice.
I’ll repeat. Matt Walsh alleged that the Patriots were letting players practice that were on IR. The league investigated and found no wrongdoing. That has nothing to do with videotapes or spygate. Your statement that:
Bill [Belichick] has also been accused and investigated by the NFL and the NFLPA for forcing players that were on IR to practice, which is also a violation of NFL rules.
is misleading because you don’t mention that there was no finding of guilt.
Any other conspiracy theories you want to insinuate are just that – theory, rumor and innuendo, not fact.
Keep the faith!
Or they were reflecting entirely different situations.
Like one tape of a walkthrough that had nothing of value on it, or some seasons’ worth of in-game footage that had nothing of value on it.
"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." Mayor Adam West
by insertscreenname on Dec 14, 2010 3:39 AM EST up reply actions
Show me where I insulted
By insulting someone you lose the credibility that you are so worried about
Never once did I aim anything at YOU, the person. My comments were aimed at THIS post and it’s premise. Trust me, you’ll do much better on the interwebs by writing about YOUR team than slinging arrows at another. You claim you’re writing about the facts, but why even bring Patriots events up on a Colts blog?
Regarding credibility, no need for me to be worried about it. You may want to do a little historical digging before commenting further.
Reality is a matter of opinion.
by MaPatsFan on Dec 12, 2010 8:42 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Why would I want to do any digging about your creditbility?
I have no interest in getting into personal wars.
As I’ve stated above somewhere in this thread that a debate or difference of opinion is welcomed and what something like this is all about. People get way to wrapped up into this stuff and want to start slinging mud at each other and taking personal shots at other fans with differing points of view.
6-2, 185
People get way to wrapped up into this stuff and want to start slinging mud at each other
Mud-flinging, eh?
I actually started copy-pasting all the mud-flinging examples from your article, and then realised I’d literally just copied every single sentence of your article. Coupled to the holier-than-thou “at least the Colts don’t have this”, completely ignoring the fact that a bunch of Colts were arrested this season for various things.
What was Spikes’s crime? Taking a legal and extremely common medication for a serious medical condition that was prescribed to him by his doctor. Spygate, Spygate!
Well done.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 12, 2010 3:28 PM EST up reply actions
Never said Spikes was guilty of a crime.
I’ve said above that Spikes is most likely a stand up guy and could be a great member of the community. I said nothing of a crime that Spikes committed.
I stated of a violation of NFL rules that goes along with history of rules violations.
The Colts getting arrested isn’t cheating. The NFL didn’t think the Colts arrests were much of a big deal since Roger Goodell and the NFL didn’t suspend any of these players. I consider the Colts getting arrested an embarrassment and think they all should be released.
The post was about cheating and rules violations, not non-football related activities.
What Spikes did violated NFL rules. That is black and white. If it wasn’t clear cut then he would have grounds to be appealing the suspension. ADHD drugs are powerful stimulant drugs and have been used in professional sports for years as a P.E.D. and so the NFL views it as unfair advantage for play in the NFL.
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it isn’t against NFL rules. The NFL suspended 6 players in 2008 for legal diuretics in what would become the “Starcaps case.” ADHD medication is no different. While legal for normal people, it can be abused and used as a P.E.D. for professional athletes and thus is banned for use by players in the NFL.
6-2, 185
And taking a legal medication for the purposes of treating a medical condition is 'cheating'?
It’s not like the Starcaps guys had medical conditions that they were treating, they were trying to game the system and get down below their contract weight by a shortcut.
Spikes has a medical condition and just took the medication his doctor prescribed him. It also happens to be the most common medication for that rather common condition. He dared trust his doctor not to do him harm and he gets labelled a ‘cheater’ by you. Classy.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Dec 13, 2010 4:51 PM EST up reply actions
As a Colts fan, I feel sorry for the guy.
Yeah, he took a medication that was on the banned substance list. But it was for a valid medical condition. I don’t think this in any way reflects on the Patriots organization. They can’t control what their players do at all times. I hate the Pats, but I just don’t see how it’s their fault. I think if the league was to test every single player, you’d find that there are multiple players on every team that are taking things on that banned substance list.
I get called a bandwagon fan alot because I like the Colts and Yankees. Well, I like the Pacers and the IU Hoosiers Basketball and Football teams too, so I guess it all even out.
by IsThisNameTaken on Dec 12, 2010 9:32 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
I'm a Colts fan
and this story doesn’t come close to contributing to the ‘Patriots being cheaters’. All teams deal with this stuff. Just my opinion. They happen to be having a tremendous season. Let’s hope we can meet again and win this time.
by Ayrshire on Dec 12, 2010 3:05 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I'd like to personally thank all the Colts fans who thought this post was seriously wrong.
You’ve helped restore my faith in Colts fans.
When fans look at facts over feelings, they become the class of the NFL. Thank you.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 15, 2010 11:03 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
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