Official Cheatriots Cheating Tracker Thread

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Forget headsets, Roethlisberger says Patriots defense broke unwritten rule
By John Breech | CBSSports.com
September 11, 2015 3:37 pm ET

Mike Tomlin wasn't the only person in the Steelers locker room who was upset with the Patriots after Pittsburgh's 28-21 loss on Thursday. Ben Roethlisberger wasn't happy either.

The difference between Roethlisberger and Tomlin though is that Big Ben's feelings had nothing to do with headsets.

The Steelers quarterback was upset because he thought the Patriots defense broke an "unwritten rule" during a pivotal situation in the fourth quarter.

On a third-and-goal play from the Patriots' one-yard line, Steelers left tackle Kelvin Beachum was called for a false start.

MistyIlliterateGreyhounddog.webm

http://zippy.gfycat.com/MistyIlliterateGreyhounddog.webm

The problem Roethlisberger had with the play is that Beachum only jumped after the Patriots shifted their defensive line, something that Big Ben thought was illegal (watch the play here).
"I thought that there was a rule against that," Roethlisberger said. "Maybe there's not. Maybe it's just an unwritten rule ... We saw it on film, that the Patriots do that. They shift and slide and do stuff on the goal line, knowing that it's an itchy trigger finger-type down there."

An NFL spokesman told USA Today that what the Patriots did would only be illegal if they were "attempting to disconcert Team A at snap by words or signals" or they were using "defensive abrupt non-football movements."

New England did neither.

The Patriots movement would've also been illegal if they crossed the line of scrimmage, which they didn't do.

Roethlisberger knew the part about the line of scrimmage was in the rulebook, so that's not what he took issue with when he started arguing with an official.

640BenArgues091115.JPG

Ben Roethlisberger was unhappy the Patriots line shifted without penalty. (NFL.com screen grab)
"I agree that the ref said, 'Well, he didn't go in the neutral zone,'" Roethlisberger said. "I was arguing the fact that he shifted in the middle of a cadence."

After the penalty, the Steelers were forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal, which was a huge letdown considering that at one point during the drive they had a first-and-goal at the one.

The Patriots are famous for picking apart the rulebook in hopes of finding anything that will give them an advantage -- something they did against the Ravens in the playoffs.

Although Ravens coach John Harbaugh complained about the Patriots' tactics after the game, Steelers left guard Ramon Foster didn't feel the same way on Thursday.

"Kudos for them for thinking of that and making it happen in that situation," Foster told USA Today. "I can't be mad. That's on us. We can't false start."

Roethlisberger-unwritten-rule-09-11-15.jpg

Big Ben wasn't happy with the Patriots' fourth-quarter tactics. (USATSI)

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...er-says-patriots-defense-broke-unwritten-rule
 

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Roethlisberger Complains About Patriots Shifting On Goal Line
September 11, 2015 8:44 AM

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ben-roethlisberger1.jpg

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reacts to the officials after a penalty in the second half against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the 2015 season. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

BOSTON (CBS) — One controversy is never enough for opponents of the New England Patriots.

Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy that he was hearing the Patriots’ radio broadcast in his headset when trying to talk to his coaches throughout the first half, but that wasn’t all the Steelers were complaining about Thursday night.

Recap: Patriots Beat Steelers 28-21 On Banner Night

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is crying foul that the Patriots defensive line shifted during his snap count prior to a third-and-goal play on the 1-yard line, causing left tackle Kelvin Beachum to jump and get flagged for a false start.

Roethlisberger protested heavily on the field, unhappy with the New England defensive line, and then aired it out following the game.

“In my years of playing, a defensive guy can’t bark stuff or move in the middle of a cadence,” Roethlisberger said. “I was arguing the fact that he shifted in the middle of a cadence and I thought that there was a rule against it. Maybe there’s not – maybe it’s a written rule – I don’t really know. So, that’s what I was upset about.

“They do that. We saw it on film that the Patriots do that,” he said. “They shift and slide and do stuff on the goal line knowing that it’s an itchy trigger-finger type of down.”

Pittsburgh guard Ramon Foster wasn’t one for excuses though.

“That is something they do, it’s legal as long as they don’t cross the line of scrimmage,” he said. “They shift, in a situation like that where it is load, they are at home. We are on the silent count, that’s a football thing.”

The Steelers went from being on the New England 1-yard line to the 5-yard line, and had to settle for a field goal after a DeAngelo Williams run went nowhere, cutting New England’s lead to 21-14 with 11:39 to go in the game.

“That close to the goal line we got to get in. It wasn’t the snap count, we knew they shifted,” said Foster. “We just have to be on point, on the road there is no excuse for anything like that. We just got to be on point with that, and know what they are going to do.”

The headset issue was an NFL problem, with the league issuing a statement following the game saying it was caused “by a stadium power infrastructure issue, which was exacerbated by the inclement weather.”

Big Ben’s claim sounds a lot more like sour grapes after a tough night on the field for the Pittsburgh offense, especially with his own lineman giving the New England defense credit.

“Kudos for them for thinking of that and making it happen in that situation,” Foster told USA Today. “I can’t be mad. That’s on us. We can’t false start.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/09/...mplains-about-patriots-shifting-on-goal-line/
 

LesBaker

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Wow, Ben, get in line behind Donovan in the "Don't think I'm sure about the rule ehre" line.

You watched FILM of them doing it in a game, but you weren't sure it was legal?

Errrrrr........
 

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NFL says 'Patriots had nothing to do with' communications outage on day Bill Belichick stews
Nate Davis and Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports 6:30 p.m. EDT September 11, 2015
635775746555026336-GTY-487670980.jpg

(Photo: Jim Rogash, Getty Images)

It's already been a long year for the New England Patriots, but they apparently will not be the subject of another investigation despite the Pittsburgh Steelers' communication issues Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in the NFL's regular-season kickoff game.

Early Friday evening, a league spokesman released a statement that read: "Based on our review to date, we believe that the audio interference on Steelers’ headsets last night was entirely attributable to an electrical issue made worse by the inclement weather; that it involved no manipulation by any individual; and that the Patriots had nothing to do with it. The issue was promptly resolved and there were no further problems for the remainder of the game. We will continue to review the matter to determine if there are technical steps that can be taken to avoid similar problems from occurring in other games."

Despite coach Mike Tomlin's obvious displeasure Thursday, the Steelers told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday that they would not file a formal complaint to the league.

"We have provided information to NFL representatives regarding issues that occurred Thursday night at Gillette Stadium with our coach-to-coach headset communications system. The problem was addressed during the game and we did not have further problems in the second half. We did not file a formal complaint, nor do we plan to do so," Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten wrote in an e-mail, contradicting an earlier report from Yahoo!


USA TODAY

NFL says Patriots not to blame for headset mishap

The latest controversy dogging the Patriots had clearly annoyed coach Bill Belichick by Friday morning. He panned the hubbub and flurry of reports in a conference call.

"It’s not an uncommon problem," he said. "We ended up having to signal a couple our plays offensively, and we couldn’t get them in. We look at it as something you have to be ready for every week, and we practice it. Home, away — I don’t really think there is any common denominator on that.

"I’d just say, kind of tying this in with a couple things from last week or earlier in the week, I just think overall it’s kind of sad, really, to see some stories written that obviously have an agenda to them with misinformation and anonymous-type comments and writing about warm drinks and trash cans and stuff like that. I think it’s just sad commentary and it’s gone to a pretty low level. It’s sunk pretty deep."


USA TODAY

Steelers raise another protest of Patriots' maneuver

The Steelers' website still suggested the situation had rather shady circumstances.

"This is the kind of stuff that happens to the visiting team in Gillette Stadium all the time. From the start of the game through the opening 14 minutes of the first quarter, the Steelers’ coaches’ headsets were receiving the Patriots Radio Network broadcast of the game. The broadcast was so loud that the Steelers coaches were unable to communicate, and the NFL rule is that if one team’s headsets are not working the other team is supposed to be forced to take their headsets off. It’s what the NFL calls the Equity Rule," wrote Bob Labriola of steelers.com before dropping more.


USA TODAY SPORTS WIRE

USA TODAY Sports' Week 1 NFL picks

"Strangely enough, whenever an NFL representative proceeded to the New England sideline to shut down their headsets, the Steelers headsets cleared. Then as the representative walked away from the New England sideline, the Steelers’ headsets again started to receive the Patriots game broadcast."

After the game, Tomlin said communication outages at Gillette are "always the case."

***

Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...-pittsburgh-new-england-mike-tomlin/72064822/
 

Mackeyser

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Why's it so hard to monitor each team's feed? Are you kidding me?

Basic IT solutions could FIX this if they wanted to fix this.
 

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Why's it so hard to monitor each team's feed? Are you kidding me?

Basic IT solutions could FIX this if they wanted to fix this.
It's just Shannon equations. Absolutely no biggie in today's world.

I wonder how they are injecting their own feed. There must be a hard line patch into the network somewhere.
 

Mackeyser

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That's what I was figuring. It's hysterical. They have to know it's not monitored like even a rudimentary secure network because a hardline patch would be noticed. Either that or the NFL trusts each team to "secure" their own facilities...

Which would allow the Pats to essentially compromise the network in any way they like AND blame any issues on the NFL.

"if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin"... -Belicheck.
 

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You would think the patsies would be on their best behavior in the first game on National TV. Maybe the court victory and the way commish swept it under the rug with their past transgressions has emboldened them to think they're untouchable.

Who knows, maybe they are untouchable. I know Goodell's relationship with Kraft has soured, but Kraft helped him get the job. There could still be a sense of loyalty. Goodell would love nothing more than to see this thing go away.

Covering up the transgressions before too many people find out would be the way to do that. And if Belicheat knows that, he'll continue to skirt, bend and even break the rules to get an advantage.
 

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April 18, 2015
Defeating International Psychopaths
By James G. Long

Psychopathy is a personality disorder. Psychopathy is sometimes confused with thinking (psychotic) disorders or mood disorders, but these disorders are markedly different in the areas of the brain that are affected and in the behaviors that result. Psychopathy is about control; psychopaths are without conscience and have a pathological need to control other people on whom the psychopath has no claim nor has any right to control.

Many people are willing to cede control of their lives or some portion of their lives to a psychopath for various reasons, often as the result of some personal sense of inadequacy, a need for recognition, a need to correct a perceived wrong, or to follow an enticing ideology. All wars are, or become, a dispute over psychopathic control by one or both of the opposing sides

Psychopathy is typically the product of genetic, traumatic, social, and/or psychological damage to the psychopath's neurological system, and psychopathy is now considered to be incurable. The psychopath's neurological damage results in the lack of a conscience but leaves other mental functions intact within normal ranges, though psychopaths may be particularly subject to co-morbidities, including substance abuse or other mental conditions; psychopaths tend to become paranoid and vindictive when their need for control is thwarted. Lack of a conscience permits the psychopath to selectively ignore society's rules which may result in various levels of damage to society, including in the extreme dishonesty, fraud, murder, and other predatory behaviors. The psychopath typically creates a false personality with attractive components aimed specifically at his intended victims. Psychopaths are often considered "charming" or "charismatic" but the charm is a fabricated mask to provide cover for the psychopath's predatory behaviors, which only become obvious at a later date.

Psychopaths operate on all scales from abusive family members (Casey Anthony) to totalitarian dictators (Hitler). Clinical psychopathy is defined by anti-social behaviors, narcissistic behaviors, sexual immaturity, and criminal tendencies using Dr. Robert Hare's Psychopathy Check List - Revised. Totalitarian dictators are reluctant to sit for psychological exams, but they do display behaviors typical of clinical psychopaths: pathological dishonesty, self-aggrandizement, corruption, and criminality, for examples. Such personalities are labeled as operational psychopaths or functional psychopaths.

Dr. Hare declined to label Saddam Hussein as a psychopath because the good doctor had never had the opportunity to personally interview Mr. Hussein, but operationally we do not have the luxury of picking at nits when dealing with mass murderers. The more rapidly a mass murderer's activities are terminated, the better. As a catastrophic example, historians tell us that Hitler's murderous career could have been stopped early with minimal effort, but no one recognized at the time what a psychopath was or that Hitler was a functional psychopath. Recall that militant Islam has been murdering and enslaving their opponents for fifteen centuries, and Marxists have been similarly active for fifteen decades.

The psychopath's need for control is complemented by the need or willingness of some people to be controlled, leading to mindless herd behaviors. This herd behavior was evident in Germany in the 1930s when a cultured and technically advanced society fell victim to a basic non-entity, psychopathic Hitler. The social and economic traumas of the Weimar Republic era contributed to the need for some Germans to welcome Hitler's control.

The two principal surviving world psychopathic systems are Marxism in its various manifestations including Putinism, and militant Islam in its diverse forms. Individual psychopaths are basically incurable, and within psychopathic systems, a deceased or deposed psychopath is soon replaced by an equally odious psychopath. The only times in recent history that psychopathic states were actually transformed into stable productive societies, at very great cost, were France at the time of Napoleon and Germany and Japan after WWII. This was accomplished by forcefully eliminating psychopaths and their enablers, and disabusing their gullible and delusional followers. Historically, nothing else has worked, though an adult solution to psychopathic behavior is much to be desired.

Both current psychopathic systems have underlying psychological characteristics but uniquely individual actions, often fitting into similar patterns according to the dominant ideology: "religious" Islam or "economic" Marxism. Another major factor is the Marxists’ possession of nuclear weapons and the Islamists’ pursuit of nuclear weapons. Each pattern must therefore be considered separately.

Given the above, defeating Islamist political psychopaths is situational:

International conventions such as the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions are intended to reduce the risks and effects of conflict. Militant Islamists (and Marxists) routinely ignore rules they find inconvenient, and our rules become restraints on our behavior without accomplishing the intended results. When psychopaths are sufficiently emboldened to start a war, we then ignore our own rules (Dresden, Hiroshima) and only then are psychopathic dictators stopped. It seems perverse to observe the rules until an existential crisis is upon us, when we could have prevented the crisis early at much less cost by recognizing and acting when psychopaths threaten.

Enlist the more stable Islamic states in the effort to defeat terrorists; Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have been eager to minimize terrorism, particularly in their own states. President Obama is upsetting to our natural allies as he negotiates with Iran, the preeminent terrorist-supporting state.

Insofar as possible, never negotiate with or concede anything to a psychopath. It is not only a waste of time, it limits your ability to influence the great majority of Muslims who are not psychopathic. For a psychopath, negotiation is a means of limiting your actions while the psychopath freely continues his own hostile actions. The many negotiations with the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas parties have been going on for decades with zero progress while the West subsidizes Palestinians as they practice terrorism; this is just one example of such futile actions. The current negotiations with Iran are a dangerous farce.

Iran and Syria are the two main instigators of Muslim terrorist actions. Removing the psychopathic leadership of such states disrupts the mal-formed psychopathic social structure. Do not deal with the psychopathic leadership, eliminate it and deal with the citizens, most of whom are not psychopathic. Technical advances in intelligence and in ordnance facilitate the elimination of psychopathic leadership. Germany and Japan became non-psychopathic and commendable members of the community of nations after the psychopathic leadership was terminated in 1945.

Attack the head-psychopath-in-charge of belligerent Islamic states with all the means at your disposal: information, propaganda, financial tools, etc. If armed force is required, take out the psychopathic leadership as soon as possible. Be prepared to stabilize a defeated psychopathic state such as Iraq for long periods, just as Germany and Japan were occupied for decades. Forcibly eliminate corruption in defeated psychopathic states. Do not destabilize one psychopathic regime such as Saddam's and replace it with another equally psychopathic regime.

"Lone wolf" terrorists are inspired by psychopaths, and removal of psychopathic leadership discourages the lone wolf. We have already seen that terrorist recruits are generated more rapidly than individual terrorists and suicide bombers can be neutralized.

To defeat Marxist psychopaths:

Nuclear weapons precluded direct confrontation between the West and either Russia or China, which resulted in an uneasy stability between the West and the Marxist states for decades. The Soviet Union eventually died of psychopathic incompetence and corruption, only to have Russia revive under Putin.

Russia's demographics, economy, and infrastructure are weak, and Russia has a corrupt, third-world economy based primarily on extractive mineral resources externally and vodka internally. Russia will collapse again and the collapse will be accelerated by American entrepreneurs and their fracking technology, plus the sanctions on Russia after their psychopathic invasion of Georgia and the Crimea. When the second collapse occurs, make sure that psychopathic leadership is not resumed, as recently happened in Russia, and has occurred frequently among psychopathic militant Islamists for fifteen centuries.

Use all means available to limit illegal territorial grabs by Russia and China and maintain a strong American and Western defense.

China's material progress since Nixon's visit has been remarkable, but China has continuing problems with psychopathic corruption, demographic imbalances, industrial pollution, and financial distortions in real estate and banking. China is in one of the world's greatest economic bubbles comparable to the Japanese Bubble of 1991, and all bubbles pop at some point. When the China bubble pops, psychopathic leadership should be terminated as a condition of economic support during recovery.

Psychopaths are rational but lacking in conscience. China will probably follow the Soviet Union example in avoiding mutual nuclear destruction. All bets are off if anyone anywhere goes nuclear.

For both Marxist and militant Islamic systems, corruption is fundamental to the continuation of the psychopathic state. Corruption commonly takes the form of taking from out-of-favor groups and giving to the psychopath's supporters as the psychopath and his enablers take a major portion of the loot for themselves. In the Soviet Union, the privileged leadership was known as the nomenclatura, and they had much better access to goods and services than the rest of the Russian people. Among militant Islamist, it is the "religious" leaders that are similarly privileged.

The cost of psychopathy, the world's worst and most destructive mental disorder, has been horrendous down through the ages. We now have the tools to identify and curtail the activities of psychopaths, domestic and foreign.

James G. Long has been an army captain, a professional engineer, an author, and a blogger, with a lifelong interest in organizational management problems. mandynamerica.com/blog/


Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/arti..._international_psychopaths.html#ixzz3lURkgIzd
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/04/defeating_international_psychopaths.html
 

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Ummm, no way an FM (analog) signal penetrates a digital encrypted spectrum that complies with FCC reguations.... sorry NFL, but your story is BS.


Gubser & Schnakenberg
A better way to communicate

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201302/nancy-averett/the-small-businesses-behind-the-big-game.html

This season, quarterbacks can hear their head coaches more clearly, thanks to a new headset-to-helmet communication system designed by Gubser & Schnakenberg, or GSC, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Mark Gubser and Jamie Schnakenberg, former co-workers at Bosch Communication Technologies and consultants to the NFL, founded the company in 2010 after the league asked them to develop a communication system that would comply with FCC regulations requiring radio frequencies to use smaller bandwidths. The resulting headsets, which employ digital rather than analog technology, not only comply with those regulations but also sound much clearer. "The old system had a lot of buzzing, hissing, and crackling," Gubser says. "This sound is crystal clear." GSC employs three full-time workers and about 100 part-time audio technicians who maintain equipment on-site. The company plans to expand to college football and other markets.


"The NFL has said military-grade encryption codes protect the frequencies."

http://www.pro32.ap.org/thewellingtonenterprise/article/nfl-headset-technology-better-not-perfect


NFL Institutes New Digital Communication System for Playcalling
09/06/2012
http://www.interferencetechnology.c...digital-communication-system-for-playcalling/

After three decades in play, the NFL is dropping the old analog system used by coaches to relay plays to their quarterbacks and instituting a new digital communication system instead. The old analog systems faced heavy interference from concerts and airlines that often interrupted vital communications, as well as poor sound quality and communication delays. The new digital network allows for an instant connection and clearer, more precise sound while also preventing any interference from outside sources
 
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http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/09/from-now-on-every-game-people-will-think-the-patriots-are-cheating


By: Nate Scott | September 11, 2015 8:07 am Follow @aNateScott

On Thursday night, it was the headsets.

It didn’t matter that the Patriots beat the Steelers by a touchdown at home, with Tom Brady — a guy who’s in the discussion for best quarterback ever — playing probably the greatest season opener of his career. It didn’t matter that on multiple plays the Steelers appeared to forget to cover Rob Gronkowski, the number-one tight end in football, who scored three touchdowns.

It was the headsets.

Right.

On Thursday night, for periods of much of the first half, the Steelers coaches were unable to communicate over their headsets because of interference from the Patriots’ radio broadcast. After the game, the NFL explained that they provide the headsets to both teams, and the issue was one that affected both teams due to the rainy conditions and the set-up at Gillette Stadium.

It didn’t matter. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, miffed, said that his coaches’ radios never work against the Patriots. “That’s always the case. Yes. I said what I said,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers website was even more explicit in their accusations.

This is an ugly accusation from the #Steelers website about#Patriots: pic.twitter.com/jVkUJOEXbe

And here’s the thing. It doesn’t matter that the Patriots also complained of the same issues — Belichick said he had to switch microphones multiple times and they were going to switch out Tom Brady’s helmet at one point. It doesn’t matter that the NFL issued a statement that they handled both teams’ headsets and the Patriots did nothing wrong.

Everyone thinks the Patriots cheated. And the Patriots only have themselves to blame.


That’s what you get when, in the words of Charlie Murphy, you’re a habitual line stepper. Was letting a little air out of a football a big deal? I’d argue no. Was filming opposing teams’ signals a big deal, even when those teams are making those signals in front of 80,000 people? Meh. You could make a case, but not really.

Was it a big deal to go into an opponents’ locker room, as an ESPN report alleges, and see if they could grab any play sheets the other team had left around? Well, actually, yeah that one is a big deal.

Is having the other team’s headsets repeatedly cut out a big deal, even if it’s happening to both teams? According to the NFL, no.

usatsi_8792613.jpg

Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

But here’s the thing, when all those small to medium things add up, that constant flirting with the line, you get a reputation. Patriots fans can say all they want about jealousy and the other teams just wanting to take down the king, and there probably is a little bit of that. But come on.

The Patriots earned this. They stepped over the line so many times that their credibility is gone. People will always think they’re cheating now, no matter what. Until Bill Belichick and Brady are gone, or until the Patriots lose 10 games a season and no one cares about them, people will think the Patriots are cheating.

This drives Patriots fans insane. They get indignant and come up with wild conspiracy theories. But they should probably just adopt the attitude of Belichick on this one. Just own it. People will always think you’re a cheater, so stop caring what people think.

Throw on those cargo shorts, smile at the press, and get on with it. What else can you do?







 

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But they should probably just adopt the attitude of Belichick on this one. Just own it. People will always think you’re a cheater, so stop caring what people think
So, the answer to cheating is to not care what people think about you? That's the solution?

What about "stop cheating"! How about that as a solution?
 

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The Cheater’s High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-a0034231.pdf

A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled “The Cheater's High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior,” refutes the fundamental assumption that cheaters feel guilty after engaging in unethical behavior. Across six experiments, researchers broke new ground with their finding that the idea of “getting away with something” triggers a positive affect. Feelings of regret came into play only when the perpetrator felt he or she had hurt a specific, identifiable victim.




Bad Sports: 'Deflategate' and the Psychology of Cheating
Does breaking the rules feel good?
Jason Powers M.D. Beyond Abstinence


Posted Jan 27, 2015

iStock_000056581428_Small.jpg

Source: Photo purchased from iStockphoto, used with permission.

Tom Brady broke out in a wide grin last week when asked if he had anything to do with "Deflategate,” the latest cheating scandal involving the New England Patriots as they prepare for yet another appearance in the Super Bowl.

Coach Bill Belichick and his star quarterback have been unwavering in their denial that they played any role in the events that allowed Brady to use underinflated footballs to pick apart the Indianapolis Colts in New England’s 45-7 conference championship victory.

“Gosh,” they seemed to say, Belichick with his trademark terseness and Brady with his “Opie of Mayberry” sincerity. “I don’t know who would have done such a thing.”

But Brady seemingly couldn’t stop smiling. What was that all about?

Was he using his well-crafted boyish charm to convey naivete to the cynical media? Was he actually naïve? Was it possible that Brady, who has thrown thousands of passes in his Hall-of-Fame football career, really was unaware that air had been removed from each ball after they were certified for use by NFL officials, making them easier for him to throw and for his receivers to catch?

Or was Brady slyly sending a message? A “wink, wink, nod, nod.” Was the grin his way of endorsing the rakish sports adage, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”

Breaking the Rules Feels Good

If the latter explanation is true, Brady would not be alone in the view that trying to gain a competitive advantage, even while violating league – or societal – guidelines, is not such a bad thing. In fact, research has found that running afoul of the rules actually feels pretty good.

A study (published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled “The Cheater's High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior,” refutes the fundamental assumption that cheaters feel guilty after engaging in unethical behavior. Across six experiments, researchers broke new ground with their finding that the idea of “getting away with something” triggers a positive affect. Feelings of regret came into play only when the perpetrator felt he or she had hurt a specific, identifiable victim. (A 2007 study found that of 105 perpetrators of violent crimes, 46 percent reported that they were haunted by distressing memories, and 6 percent showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.)

However, many acts of dishonesty—such as tax evasion, insurance fraud, workplace theft and cheating in school—have less obvious victims and winning in these areas led to a feeling of self-satisfaction, the researchers discovered.

For Brady, who did call the footballs "perfect," there is, perhaps, the comfort of knowing that the doctored footballs were unlikely to have made much difference. The Patriots won by more than five touchdowns. But what happened between the time NFL officials blessed the batch of footballs and the underinflated balls showing up on the sideline at game time? Brady says he has no idea.

But ex-Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward told the “Today Show” that the only people who would have known about Deflategate were "Tom Brady and the ball boy.”

"It's cheating," Ward said. "Regardless of how you may want to spin it."

For the record, Brady says he's not a cheater.

Belichick, too, insists that he did not cheat, though the coach has been accused, and even busted, before. The “Spygate” controversy of 2007, in which the Patriots were caught taping New York Jets’ coaching signals during a game in violation of league rules, resulted in a lost first-round draft pick and a $250,000 fine for the team and a $500,000 fine for Belichick, the largest ever levied against an NFL head coach. It is notable that Belichick denied the “Spygate” charges until just last week, when he copped to the videotaping, but added that it was the same thing “a lot of other teams [were] doing.”

While there may be some question about whether cheating hurts the cheater, there can be no doubt how the public perceives those who violate the rules for their own gain, particularly in the world of sports. The “Black Sox,” who threw the 1919 World Series after receiving payoffs from gamblers, were banned for life from baseball and shunned by society. Steroid use created a crisis in many sports, including baseball, football, and track and field. This is because the existence of a fair playing field is a fundamental assumption in sports and, thus, people honor those who play fair and reject those who do not.

Fairness is one of the virtues most valued in our culture; it’s the second most prevalent character strength , behind only kindness. (Park, Peterson, Seligman, 2006).

Brain Is Wired for Fairness

One of the pillars of morality is fairness. We don’t like feeling that we’ve been duped. Even capuchin monkeys “get” unfairness (link is external). In a famous experiment, one monkey is perfectly happy when given a cucumber for performing a task. But after that, when another monkey is given a grape, a more desired treat, for completing the same task, the monkey with the cucumber hurls it at the researcher.

To study the positive emotional impact of fairness, researcher Matthew Lieberman and his colleagues at UCLA used neuroimaging to look at the brain’s responses to fair and unfair offers and found that getting a fair deal lights up the brain’s reward circuitry just like sugar and cocaine.

For Aristotle, happiness was impossible without justice. In his book Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle writes that “living well and doing well are the same as being happy.”

So what of the cheaters? If Belichick or Brady did order or orchestrate or even know about the illegal deflation of footballs before the game, and they don’t get caught, will it hurt them? And if they do get caught, what will be the consequences? The NFL has punished, but welcomed back, far worse violators than an alleged pack of football deflators.

No, “The Cheater’s High” study suggests that neither man, if ultimately found guilty, would experience much remorse. Researchers found that the “high” may be mitigated by the magnitude of the perceived consequences. While some may argue that the terms “consequences” and “NFL” don’t really belong in the same sentence, researchers added that it would be interesting to investigate the long-term affective consequences of unethical behavior. Over time and perhaps through self-reflection, cheaters may become more likely to regret their actions.

It is safe to say that the legacy of Belichick – or “Beli-Cheat,” as he became known in some East Coast tabloids – has suffered little, if at all, due to the scandals that have occurred on his watch. He has won three Super Bowls, and counting, and will surely be enshrined one day with Brady in Canton, Ohio. The $500,000 “Spygate” fine may have left a dent in his wallet, but his reputation as a coach remains intact.

So cheaters never prosper? Who says?


Jason Powers, M.D., is chief medical officer at Right Step and Promises Austin residential addiction treatment center in Texas (link is external). He is the pioneer of Positive Recovery (link is external), a scientifically validated approach to addiction treatment that helps people discover meaning and purpose in their lives upon achieving sobriety.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...ports-deflategate-and-the-psychology-cheating
 
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