A very familiar-sounding report made headlines Monday when ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweeted out that according to sources, the Cincinnati Bengals had reported a Patriots staffer to the NFL for filming the Bengals sideline during their game against the Browns, presumably to steal play calls ahead of the up coming Week 14 matchup.
The situation seemed diffused when it was then reported that a New England camera crew had been credentialed by the Bengals in order to film a ‘Do Your Job’ video for the team.
Patriots’ advance scout was not filming but being filmed, per a league source. He was being filmed for a feature the team produced called, “Do Your Job.” The video crew was credentialed by the Browns to shoot video in the press box and their PR person was aware, per the source
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2019
Now, Russini is reporting that the Bengals employee who identified the Patriots staffer shooting the field kept an eye on the monitor, to which he saw a shot of the Bengals sideline for the “entire first quarter”. The Patriots had noted that they were filming shots of the scout desk, not the field.
A source tells me a Bengals employee was watching the videographer/cameraman who identified himself as a Robert Kraft employee. The Bengals employee kept an eye on that monitor, the shot was of the Bengals coaches and staff on the sidelines for the entire 1st quarter.
— Dianna (@diannaESPN) December 9, 2019
the Bengals employee flagged media relations. Bengals security then interviewed the Kraft videographer. This was also taped. The cameraman asked if they could just delete the footage and it all be forgotten per sources
— Dianna (@diannaESPN) December 9, 2019
The league has confiscated the taped which will of course prove what was and wasn’t filmed by the Patriots staffer.
Though it seems rather unlikely that the defending Super Bowl champs would need to cheat via plays stealing in order to beat the worst team in the league, the story of the Patriots sending out assistants to illegally videotape opponents under the alias of an excuse aligns with what has been reported by the Bengals.
