NFL sends own signal to Belichick, Patriots

The New England Patriots might be one of the NFL’s elite teams, but they aren’t above the league’s rules. Four days after a Patriots employee was caught videotaping New York Jets coaches as they conveyed hand signals to their players on the field, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hammered New England with severe penalties. In addition to $750,000 in fines -- $500,000 of which are to be paid by Patriots Coach Bill Belichick -- the team will lose a first-day choice in the 2008 draft.

It’s a first-round pick if the Patriots make the playoffs this season, and second- and third-round picks if they don’t.

“This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field,” Goodell said in a letter to the Patriots.

Belichick, who coached the team to three Super Bowl victories in four years, after the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, said in a statement released by the team Thursday night that he accepted “full responsibility” for the actions that led to the penalty. He also apologized to the Patriots, their fans and the Kraft family, which owns the team, for “the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused.”

However, he continued to characterize his actions as misinterpretations of NFL rules, rather than cheating.

“As the commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week’s game,” Belichick said in the statement. “We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.

“Part of my job as head coach is to ensure that our football operations are conducted in compliance of the league rules and all accepted interpretations of them. My interpretation of a rule in the constitution and bylaws was incorrect.

“With tonight’s resolution, I will not be offering any further comments on this matter. We are moving on with our preparations for Sunday’s game.”

Experts say Goodell, who this year has handed out stiff penalties to players who repeatedly ran afoul of the law, made it clear that the league’s conduct policy doesn’t only apply to players.

“The message the commissioner is sending is, whether you’re a player, a coach or the owner, no one is above his interest in maintaining and extending the NFL’s brand,” said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. “He’s also sending a very loud and clear message to his broadcast partners and his sponsors, that he is going to protect their interest in the league.”

Goodell determined the Patriots’ use of the video camera, which was seized at the end of the first quarter, had no impact on the outcome of the game, which the visiting Patriots won, 38-14. He also said he believed New England’s ownership was unaware of the videotaping, but he fined the franchise because Belichick “not only serves as the head coach but also has substantial control over all aspects of New England’s football operations.”

It is the first known case of the NFL punishing a team for spying on opponents. The most recent time a coach received a significant punishment was when Mike Tice, then coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was fined $100,000 for scalping Super Bowl tickets.

Goodell wrote that he considered suspending Belichick but decided not to “because I believe that the discipline I am imposing . . . is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension.”

NFL policy says that “no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game,” and that all shooting locations for club coaching purposes “must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead.”

Belichick, who earlier this week issued a vague statement apologizing to the team, declined to comment on the situation Thursday in his daily news conference, several hours before the penalty was announced and his statement was issued.

The Patriots play host to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, a team they upset last January in a divisional playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Chargers players said they were unconcerned about the videotaping scandal and are determined to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Those guys up in New York police the league,” safety Marlon McCree told reporters Wednesday. “We’ve just got to worry about stopping Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Tom Brady. I’m not getting caught up in that because I’ve got more important things to be concerned with.”

Norv Turner, first-year coach of the Chargers, said he and his coaches “take precautions every week” to disguise their hand signs so opponents cannot decipher them.

“We change signals on a weekly basis,” he said. “We have different ways of calling them in. It’s not been an issue for us. Defensively, we try to hide our signals. You do everything you can to keep a team from doing it.”

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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The spy game

TOM BRADY

NEW ENGLAND, QUARTERBACK

* Who else might match the quarterback’s league-leading 146.6 passer rating if they knew what plays the defense was calling?

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Bill Belichick is fined $500,000 and the Patriots $250,000 for videotaping the opposing defense’s signals. Team McLaren is fined a whopping $100 million for using Ferrari’s secret documents in the high-powered world of Formula 1. There could be a trickle-down effect. Chuck Culpepper’s commentary, D8

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LEWIS HAMILTON

F1 DRIVER, TEAM McLAREN

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