Photo Credit: John Munson/The Star-Ledger
In 2007, there was Spygate where the New England Patriots were caught illegally videotaping New York Jets sideline practices during a game. Now, at least according newly appointed Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine, the Patriots are back to their old tricks. Pettine told Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.com that the Patriots came across the Jets playbook and you will never believe who is at the center of the entire story.
Pettine puts the blame on the book getting into the hands of Bill Belichick on Belichick’s good friend, Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban! The story starts at Patriots’ wide receiver Wes Welker’s wedding where Tom Brady bragged to former Jets’ assistant coach and Welker’s college roommate Mike Smith about having the playbook. Saban came across the playbook because he is also good friends with Jets head coach Rex Ryan and he passed it along to him to look over.
When asked about the accusation, Belichick said, “Talk to Mike Pettine. I don’t know.” Pettine spoke further to MMQB.com’s Greg Bedard saying he keeps his playbook relatively thin because they have a tendency of finding their way to “places like New England”.
Rex Ryan also spoke to the media today and said, “One thing I know for a fact, it’s disrespectful to New England to say, ‘oh, they did this…’ Every single game, your playbook changes. Your game plan changes every single week. Your playbook, if you study your opponent, is based on your preparation. This thing has probably been blown out of proportion a little bit. To me, this is a lot to do about nothing.”
Maybe this is why nobody wanted to high-five Tom Brady all season! He clearly cannot keep a secret!
