Late last night, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made his decision.
Three-quarters of a million dollars and at least one draft pick will be stripped from the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick as punishment for the team's violation of sideline video recording rules.
Reaction is just starting to trickle in.
In a Boston Globe interview, broadcaster John Madden, who will call the Chargers-Patriots game on NBC this Sunday night, seems less concerned about the controversy and more so about its impact on the game.
"You hate to see that overshadow the game," he said. "This is one of the games, that when the schedule came out, you really looked forward to. These are two of the top five teams in the NFL. There's so much meat on this bone."
And as for the allegations of cheating?
"Well, I mean, we all did it, and that was part of it, getting signals," admitted Madden, who coached the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl glory in the 1970s. "Every coach in the world is always pushing to get a competitive advantage, that's always been happening.
On the other side, an Associated Press article in the Boston Herald interviews a few Philadelphia Eagles who claim the Pats knew each time his team blitzed them in Super Bowl XXXIX. In those instances, New England ran screen passes, according to cornerback Sheldon Brown.
"Do I think about it? Mmm hmmm," he told the Herald. "It's crazy. I just don't know how far back it goes. Something's not right about that."
And in an interview with SI.com (later borrowed by The Providence Journal) Lions GM Matt Millen, whose team also accused New England of unfair practices in their meeting last season, questioned the usefulness of Belichick's actions.
"You have to wonder how much all this really would help," Millen said. "If you've done your film study, you should have a pretty good idea, from the personnel on the field and the tendencies they've shown, what [defense the other team is] going to be in."
Coach Belichick is scheduled to hold a press conference this morning. We'll continue to update this developing story here on Patriots.com throughout the day.
