There is some interesting news coming out of the New England Patriots camp today. ProFootBallTalk.com reported today that Prosecutors in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial turned over a treasure trove of information to the defense. “Prosecutors also turned over 33 pages of text messages between Belichick and Hernandez between February 2013 and May 2013, the four months leading up to the shooting death of Odin Lloyd.’
While no one is expecting Bill Belichick to suddenly come out as an accessory to the crime there are NFL complications with these texts. Looks like Bill is writing the rules again to suit himself. Under Article 21, Section 2(a)(ii), players “are not permitted to participate in . . . group or individual meetings with coaches” before the start of the team’s official offseason training program.
So in a nutshell coaches are not supposed to be communicating with their players during the off season about… Football. Earlier this year Peyton Manning and Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase visited Tuscaloosa Alabama at the same time. This crossing of vacations triggered a full on league investigation.
So unless these texts are 33 pages of Bill and Aaron dishing about Keeping Up With The Kardashians or swapping pasta salad recipes the NFL will have to step in and serve up some discipline.
Those of you keeping score will remember the league office fining Bill Belichick a first-round draft choice and $500,000 the last time he was caught cheating. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said then “This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid long-standing rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field,” referring to the coach’s videotaping of his opponents. I wonder what Roger will say about this gem?
Could we be looking at a Sean Peyton like suspension this time around? Saint’s coach Peyton was suspended for a year with no evidence tying him to BountyGate. It will be interesting to see what Roger Goodell and the league offices do to Bill Belichick, caught cheating… again, this time holding the smoking gun.
