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Was the NFL right in penalizing Coach Belichick? Yes. Was the penalty to the team correct? No. Although I'm a huge Patriots fan, and have been all my life, I'm still taking a true, unbiased NFL fan approach to this.
Let me explain a little how this ends up on the "no side" of this argument.
The NFL has ruled that there are to be no recording devices, other than their own equipment for televising the game and such, on the side lines. This rule was written, approved and instated years ago. This is a clear cut situation, the rule was known and it was broken. There are consequences to breaking rules and the Patriots are now facing those consequences.

Here's the fuzzy, gray area of the argument. It's already been established that Belichick was part of these actions. His fine is justified. The additional consequences that affect the entire team are not. Let's look at a couple other situations in recent NFL history that prove this inconsistent enforcement of punishment.
Cowboys quarterback coach, Wade Wilson, was recently fined $100,000.00 and suspended for 5 games due to the fact that he has purchased and used human growth hormone. This was for his own personal use (from what he says it was to treat his life-long battle with diabetes) and not to gain any competitive advantage. Nonetheless, the Cowboys only "penalty" is that he will not be on the sidelines for a few games.
The most notable situation is Michael Vick's dog fighting ring. He has been suspended from football for a yet undetermined period of time. The Atlanta Falcons, like the Cowboys, have only experienced the loss of a player. They have not been fined or docked draft picks for one of their member's actions.
That being the case, why is it that the team has been penalized for the actions of it's members? The man that ran the video camera hasn't even been punished by the NFL, so why has the team lost money and one or more draft picks in next year's draft? This consequence set forth by Roger Goodell seems a bit unfair to the team. The Patriots players did not know this was happening and who knows if Mr. Kraft had any idea this was going on. While the coach was escalating his personal rivalry with a former employee, Mangini, the team as a whole must suffer.
The penalty the team must take seems a bit extreme compared to other situations the new commissioner has ruled on since he took over the reins to the NFL. The team should not be penalized for this videotaping incident. While the head coach of an NFL team is an important factor of whether or not a team wins or loses, he is not the entire team. His actions were wrong and justifiably punishable, but the team as a whole should not suffer for his poor judgment.

Learn more about this author, Shawn Lahey.
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