Fox Sports has played footage it claims shows members of the Patriots staff filming the Cincinnati Bengals’ sideline last week in an incident that has sparked another NFL investigation into New England.
The video, obtained by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer and broadcast on Sunday, is apparently taken by the Bengals’ security staff. They appear to catch Patriots staffers making a recording of the Bengals sideline, a practice that is outlawed under NFL rules. During the clip, Bengals security can be heard confronting the videographers, who apologize and repeatedly offer to delete the footage. “The damage is done my friend,” one of the Bengals staff says. According to Fox, Bengals security then alerted NFL staff, who confiscated the video.
When news of the video first broke early last week, the Patriots released a statement saying the videographer was filming one of New England’s advance scouts for a documentary series on employees that is featured on the team website. According the Boston Globe on Sunday, the Patriots suspended the videographer, Dave Mondillo, described as a longtime full-time employee of Kraft Sports and Entertainment, headed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road,” the statement read. “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. When questioned, the crew immediately turned over all footage to the league and cooperated fully.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick has denied any knowledge of the recording before the news broke. “I don’t have anything to do with this at all, whatsoever. Whatever is going on between the people involved in it and the league and all that, it’s not a football issue in any way, shape or form,” he told reporters last week. “I have no involvement. I don’t know anything about this.”
In 2007, the Patriots were caught videotaping the Jets’ coaches and sideline, an incident that became known as Spygate. The fallout from that included the NFL fining Belichick $500,000, and fining the Patriots $250,000 and docking the team’s first-round pick in the 2008 draft.
