It's a mad, mad, mad, world

In the NFL spy game, videotapingdepicts just the tip of the iceberg.

By JOANNE KORTH, Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2007

TAMPA - Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks heard the rumor for years that visiting locker rooms in certain stadiums were bugged.

He never believed it.

Until now.

After the Patriots were caught videotaping Jets defensive signals in Sunday's 38-14 victory - an act of espionage in clear violation of the NFL rule book - Brooks and some of his teammates are certain teams will try anything to gain an advantage.

Yes, even cheat.

"I'm not condoning it," Brooks said. "The video camera is a little extreme."

For most, the age-old practice of gaining information about an opponent is a matter of semantics. Some call it cheating. Some call it gamesmanship. All call it necessary in today's parity-driven NFL.

It's the game within the game.

"If you're not cheating, you're not trying," defensive end Greg Spires said. "In this league, you shouldn't put anything past any team because everyone is trying to get the edge on everyone else."

Hidden microphones?

Spies in hotels?

Jammed radio frequencies?

All are likely scenarios. Think about it. How helpful would it be for a team to know the script for an opponent's opening drive? Or to know what halftime adjustments were being made in the other locker room?

"That's pretty sneaky," tight end Anthony Becht said.

That's also why most teams rarely stay in the same hotel season after season.

All players admit to trying to pick up opponents' tendencies. They study hours and hours of film looking for the smallest nuance - a flinch here, a muscle tense there - that might indicate when a center is about to snap the ball or a receiver is running a particular route.

Nothing illegal about that.

And all players admit to trying to pick up opponents' signals during games, especially audibles at the line of scrimmage. That goes both ways, offense and defense.

Nothing wrong with that, either.

"I steal signals during a game," Brooks said. "If I see a quarterback do something and I see a receiver run a route, if the quarterback does it again, the receiver is probably going to run the same route. And if we signal Cover 2, they know what we're doing."

But not unlike the rest of society, the NFL has gone high tech. And that opens a whole new realm of possibilities.

Years ago, offenses complained defenses were stealing signals, so the NFL went to a wireless radio communication system. Every quarterback's helmet is equipped with a receiver, and coaches call plays using a headset on the sideline.

Now, teams complain about their frequencies mysteriously jamming during road games.

And, just in case anyone out there reads lips, coaches hold their play sheets in front of their mouths when they call the play into their headset microphones.

Hey, it's only paranoia if no one is watching.

Defenses, however, still use manual signals from the sideline, the ones the Patriots videotaped. During the offseason, the league's competition committee voted down a proposal to allow defenses to use the same wireless communication system as offenses because substitutions on defense would make it hard to keep track of the player wearing the helmet.

Chances are, it will come up again before 2008.

Until then, teams will continue to change their signals from week to week and, in some cases, during games. Middle linebacker Barrett Ruud wears a wristband to interpret the signal he receives from the sideline. He has several wristbands, each of which allows the team to change the meaning of the same signal.

"We'll mix it up a lot," Ruud said. "Some teams that we know watch for signals, we'll switch wristbands a few times during the game."

Coach Jon Gruden plans to use a new tactic to thwart espionage, so pay attention to the assistant coaches on the sideline during Sunday's game against the Saints.

"I'm going to wear a disguise," Gruden said. "I'm going to have our coaches wear mustaches and disguises."

Joanne Korth can be reached at korth@sptimes.com or 727 893-8810. Comment on this story at bucs.tampabay.com.

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 23:01:11]