The Patriots accepted that the video team they deployed for Sunday’s game against Bengals-Browns has violated the policies., filming the field from the press box was against the policies. However, the team mentions it was an error, not to cheat intentionally.
In a statement, the Patriots mentioned that they were filming to collect content for the team’s website, independently of their football operations, hence their intention was not to take any benefit over the Bengals, the Patriots’ next opponent.
“On Sunday, Dec. 8, the content team sent a three-person video crew to the Bengals-Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium in order to capture one part of a longer feature on the Patriots scouting department, in this case a Patriots pro personnel scout while he was working in the press box,” the statement from the team said. “While we sought and were granted credentialed access from the Cleveland Browns for the video crew, our failure to inform the Bengals and the League was an unintended oversight. In addition to filming the scout, the production crew — without specific knowledge of League rules — inappropriately filmed the field from the press box. The sole purpose of the filming twas to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road. There was no intention of using the footage for any other purpose. We understand and acknowledge that our video crew, which included independent contractors who shot the video, unknowingly violated a league policy by filming the field and sideline from the press box.”
The Patriots might not get the benefit of the doubt because of their past record. In 2007, they were caught taping the Jets’ coaches’ signals and were docked a first-round draft pick. This breach may result in additional league discipline.
