Once again, the New England Patriots are back in the headlines for the wrong reason, accused of videotaping signals on Sunday in Cleveland.
The club released a statement on Monday, claiming the football operations department had no involvement in the videotaping. Given the Patriots’ history of involvement in scandals like Spygate and Deflategate, there is an obvious reason to be suspicious about the situation.
But former Patriots feel this story is a bit of a non-issue. Rob Ninkovich and Willie McGinest both appeared on radio Tuesday morning to share their thoughts on the issue, both offering interesting takes on the situation.
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Ninkovich Has His Mind Blown
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday, Ninkovich noted he felt the situation was blown out of proportion. He also took the time to troll the Bengals, saying the Patriots would not be looking to steal signals from a one-win team. Here’s what he had to say.
This whole thing that’s going on, it’s mind-blowing a little bit…It would be different if it was like an undefeated team and you need every single thing we can get so let’s do this show and try to get a signal here maybe it will help us. I think it’s a little blown out of proportion. If everything they said is true — that it’s for a show and they handed over the tapes — and they don’t find anything incriminating that you’d say ‘okay that’s suspect to what you would really do on a show.’ I think that because of the fact that there is a previous issue in the past it’s like a trigger. I think this is probably a little more blown out of proportion than it really is if it is exactly what they said it is. The only weird thing is you couldn’t do it any other week that the next week you weren’t playing the team. The timing of it looks pretty [expletive].
Chatting with @ninko50 on the allegations against the #Patriots filming the #Bengals sideline #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE
Ninkovich does raise a strong point at the end. The Patriots have been struggling and perhaps a slight edge, especially on offense, would give them an advantage against the Bengals.
More Bulletin Board Material?
Willie McGinest appeared on WEEI’s midday show “Dale & Keefe,” to discuss the latest Patriots’ scandal. A member of the early Patriots dynasty, McGinest isn’t privy to all the details this time, but is certain that this will blow over relatively quickly.
I don’t have all the information. You hear about it, they escorted him in, he had on Patriots gear, of course they’re watching him. I don’t get it. They would have to do the investigation and figure it out but I don’t think that this is something with a lot of weight to it. As players, we never were aware of anything. If we had more ammunition and people were giving us stuff that we were cheating, it would have probably been five Super Bowls.
The Patriots and Bengals will matchup on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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Two Ex-Patriots Speak Out About Latest Patriots Scandal