Marshall Faulk says Rams 'cheated out of Super Bowl' in loss to Patriots

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Marshall Faulk says Rams 'cheated out of Super Bowl' in loss to Patriots

By Ryan Wilson | Blogger
<time class="storyDate" pubdate="" datetime="2013-01-30T16:07:42Z">January 30, 2013 11:07 am ET</time>

The Patriots entered Super Bowl XXXIV as 14-point underdogs to the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams. When it was over, New England pulled off the upset and had its first Lombardi Trophy. Pats fans would tell you that coach Bill Belichick, second-year quarterback Tom Brady and kicker Adam Vinatieri deserved most of the credit. But 11 years later, Hall of Famer and former Rams running back Marshall Faulk has another explanation for the outcome.

"Am I over the loss? Yeah, I'm over the loss," Faulk told CSNNE.com's Tom Curran on Tuesday. "But I'll never be over being cheated out of the Super Bowl. That's a different story. I can understand losing a Super Bowl; that's fine … But how things happened and what took place. Obviously, the commissioner gets to handle things how he wants to handle them. But if they wanted us to shut up about what happened, show us the tapes. Don't burn 'em."

Faulk is referring to the Patriots having tape of opposing coaches sending in defensive signals. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell never found evidence that New England had taped a Rams walkthrough in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, and he eventually destroyed the tapes that he had confiscated as part of the investigation.

"The reason I destroyed the tapes is they were totally consistent with what the team told me," Goodell said in 2008. "It was the appropriate thing to do, and I think it sent a message. The actual effectiveness of taping and taking of signals from opponents -- it is something done widely in many sports. I think it probably had limited if any effect on the outcome of games.

"That doesn't change my perspective on violating rules and the need to be punished."

Not surprisingly, Faulk -- along with plenty of Rams fans -- is skeptical that the Patriots were blameless.

"I understand Bill [Belichick] is a great coach," Faulk told Curran. "But No. 13 [Kurt Warner] will tell you ... Mike Martz will tell you ... We had some plays in the red zone that we hadn't ran. I think we got to fourth down -- we ran three plays that we hadn't ran, that Mike drew up for that game. Bill's a helluva coach … we hadn't ran them the whole year [and the Patriots were ready for them]." And the only time that Rams practiced those plays? At the walkthrough.

Faulk, who is from New Orleans, then asked the question that many Saints fans have asked during the Saints' bounty scandal.

"… But am I bitter about how that went? Am I bitter about how the league handled them taping people? If Bountygate was that bad and [Saints coach] Sean [Payton] got suspended for a whole year? If we want to talk about some unfair assessment of how we're assessing things? Man. If you lost a game and your brother cheated you," Faulk continued, "you'll remember that."


@)

I think its blowing smoke at the already fueled fire.... but bottom line is I dont think there is proof Belichick is cheating "now" so why do they make it to AFC championship last two yrs? Still a pretty solid team imo and he is the reason why (obviously brady a huge part too)

-murph

personally. I would put a * beside all super bowl wins Belichick won because he was caught eventually and personally charged $500K along with draft picks. I know Patriots fans will attack me for saying it but that is truly my opinion. Having said that, Belichick is a great coach.

scottcarter said:

personally. I would put a * beside all super bowl wins Belichick won because he was caught eventually and personally charged $500K along with draft picks. I know Patriots fans will attack me for saying it but that is truly my opinion. Having said that, Belichick is a great coach.

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bottom line is though you cannot asterisk Brady.. coach cheating.. sure.. proof has been supplied .. but Brady on bout 31 other teams would still be magnificent and probably have a ring... js

-murph

Murphy8276 said:

b .. but Brady on bout 31 other teams would still be magnificent and probably have a ring... js

-murph

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you think so? Brady on KC or Cleveland the last few seasons? Matt Cassell did a good enough job when Brady got hurt to get a nice contract for KC but they still sucked.

scottcarter said:

you think so? Brady on KC or Cleveland the last few seasons? Matt Cassell did a good enough job when Brady got hurt to get a nice contract for KC but they still sucked.

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Well I definitely think so.. I rank Brady right up with Manning as one of the best QB's in the game today... that being said of course he would have different recievers and a different style offense, but Brady would undoubtedly make the playoffs and have chances. No way for us to prove otherwise though.. but for talking purposes.. yes I think Brady is who put them in the championship seat.. not Belichick.. but coaches get a ton of credit, so who knows.

-murph

The walkthrough story is probably true, I actually do believe it.

That being said I think it's pretty cool NE got one over in that manner. I'm sure there are tons of other stories like that in NFL history that have gone untold.

Ooh wow they got a guy spying the walkthrough!

he has a solid point

The other thing is that the Rams and Pats played earlier that year in Foxboro. I have to wonder if they had taped the Rams then as well

scottcarter said:

you think so? Brady on KC or Cleveland the last few seasons? Matt Cassell did a good enough job when Brady got hurt to get a nice contract for KC but they still sucked.

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Matt Cassell went 11-5 the year he started for The Patriots. It may look impressive, but that was a 16-0 team the previous season. And, if you put Brady on KC, that team would make the playoffs every year.

what a sore loser, and a mental midget to boot

just because a team puts in a new play it's supposed to work? gee, how simple is that? why don't teams think of this and do it more often?

hey Faulk, here's a clue for you. Why don't you simply go look at the game tape and see if the Patriots had some special alignment for the plays you speak of? or see if they reacted differently out of their alignment than they did otherwise? it's really not very hard to do

you can also try to see if they actually called their defensive alignment from the sidelines, and see if they called for a defense they didn't use on a regular basis

personally, I think it's unlikely you can effectively call defensive signals by trying to read what's being called in, especially since the OFFENSE IS HIDING THEIR PLAY CALLS

sometimes people just don't think

Nah, screw the asterisk. Jimmy Johnson was quoted admitting that every team was doing the same thing. This isn't taking roids or PED's, it's videotaping the sideline of a nationally televised football game where 70,000 people can see the guy doing the same thing. Commish had to come down with a fine to put this thing to bed, and set the precedent going forward. Instead of videotaping now, teams just have people write down the signals to review.

Couple of balls bounce the other way against the Giants and the Patriots/Brady/Belichick are regarded as the best football franchise in history.

Willie99 said:

what a sore loser, and a mental midget to boot

just because a team puts in a new play it's supposed to work? gee, how simple is that? why don't teams think of this and do it more often?

hey Faulk, here's a clue for you. Why don't you simply go look at the game tape and see if the Patriots had some special alignment for the plays you speak of? or see if they reacted differently out of their alignment than they did otherwise? it's really not very hard to do

you can also try to see if they actually called their defensive alignment from the sidelines, and see if they called for a defense they didn't use on a regular basis

personally, I think it's unlikely you can effectively call defensive signals by trying to read what's being called in, especially since the OFFENSE IS HIDING THEIR PLAY CALLS

sometimes people just don't think

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Faulk another guy hit helmet 2 helmet or probably just one last reach for some Headlines

i think faulk has a legitimate complaint

destroying the tapes is admission of guilt imo.

Every team thats ever been in the SB has security to prevent people from spying on practice. Are the Rams the only stupid son of a bitches to let someone in a dome to watch practice without checking credentials.
The other thing is the Pats were fined for not taping in designated areas. You can still tape teams.
By the way the only people kicked out of football is Eric Mangini the original fuckin rat. He can't get a job in football. The other guy is Matt walsh the asshole fired by the Patriots for stealing as well as a history as being a flim flam man.

By the way the Steelers in their glory days of the 70's were busted for using steroids before it was fashionable.
And the 49'ers during their glory days were cheating on their salary cap status for years.

halekulani said:

i think faulk has a legitimate complaint

destroying the tapes is admission of guilt imo.

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see, I don't think it's even relevant. The NFL and the Patriots admitted to having the tapes, there's nothing more to learn there. The issue is whether or not they used the tapes to call defensive signals during the game after knowing what play the Rams called

there's unlimited tapes of the games to try and figure that out, yet nobody has proven they did that so much as one time

and not one former player came forward and admitted such, not one. How many former players would have known about this? hundreds?

HAPPY 41ST MARSHALL !!!

<aside class="content">[h=2]Marshall Faulk[/h]Football Player </aside><section class="know-card"><aside class="card"> <label class="label text-muted">BIRTHDAY</label> <time datetime="1973-02-26" itemprop="birthDate">February 26, 1973</time>
</aside><aside class="card"> <label class="label text-muted">BIRTHPLACE</label> Louisiana
</aside><aside class="card"> <label class="label text-muted">AGE</label> 41 years old

</aside><aside class="card"> <label class="label text-muted">BIRTH SIGN</label> Pisces

</aside></section>

As great a player Marshall Faulk was, he's just whining and bitter about the loss. And at the same time, he's right. The Patriots cheated their way to every Super Bowl win. How else do you expect the Greatest Show on Turf to lose to a young Tom Brady? It was a combination of great tapes and great coaching. Because obviously, just having the tapes won't help. A defense to prevent the predicted plays must be in place as well. But in the end, you know what they say, if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying. Congrats to the Patriots on their Super Bowl win over Marshall Faulk and the Greatest Show on Turf.