The New England Patriots have admitted that their video crew illegally filmed the Bengals-Browns game on Sunday. However, they claim that the violation of league rules was not intentional.
On Monday night, the Patriots issued a statement saying that the video crew was filming for content on the team website, not to gain any inside knowledge on the Bengals.
According to the statement:
On Sunday, Dec. 8, the content team sent a three-person video crew to the Bengals-Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium in order to capture one part of a longer feature on the Patriots scouting department, in this case a Patriots pro personnel scout while he was working in the press box. While we sought and were granted credentialed access from the Cleveland Browns for the video crew, our failure to inform the Bengals and the League was an unintended oversight. In addition to filming the scout, the production crew — without specific knowledge of League rules — inappropriately filmed the field from the press box. The sole purpose of the filming twas to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road. 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.
This is not the Patriots first brush with controversy when it comes to filming other teams. In 2007, the Patriots were caught taping hand signals from the Jets coaching staffs. As a result, the team was penalized one first round pick. It’s unknown what, if any punishment the league has planned for the Patriots this time.
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