First, what drove you to write the book and where can we find it?
The book is on Amazon and I have my own site as well. After SpyGate and a few other spying issues that occurred around the NFL, I started to get interested. Then Josh McDaniels was hired in Denver. I’m a Broncos fan – and the issue with the videographer who got busted spying occurred.
As a Broncos fan I wondered how much of this really goes on in the NFL. I tried to do a lot of research on it but there really wasn’t anything out there on this. I have a Masters in Sports Management and Intelligence Studies – so I decided to write my own book!
You have a unique set of personal experiences as a former Special Agent – how did you merge those skills so to speak with the world of football and get guys to open up and reveal some of these stories? Do we want to know?
Ha – some people I spoke to would tell me things, just not the actual people’s names – thought often you could figure out who they were talking about. Others were just willing to talk. Most people didn’t want to rat out other coaches – especially if they were still currently coaching. It was challenging.
Did you get a sense that the people involved drew a distinct line in their own minds between “gamesmanship” and “outright cheating?” Is that anything you sensed from them?
That’s a very interesting question. The techniques used in the NFL – many are completely permissible right? Like advanced scouting – every team watches film of the teams they will play. They all scour the local media to get any interesting information on things like injuries.
Then there are those grey areas. Signals collection is permissible, for example, as long as you aren’t videoing it. But some coaches think that’s underhanded.
Then there are those black areas – listening devices in locker rooms,. tampering with headsets…Those violate the NFL’s rules and even actual laws. But it doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.
How much of all of this discovery do you feel taints the sport – has it for you?
I think it varies. By and large the subject makes the game interesting for me, considering my background. Having said that, the older stories I find myself less critical of.
Al Davis – he used a lot of techniques and I really enjoyed reading about him. I got a new respect for him! He used elicitation – that was a big thing for him. He would have basic conversations with other players and coaches then just quickly ask questions about specific things – things the quarterback saw when he looked at the defense, etc. Trying to catch them off guard.
He would also dress up as a reporter and go into other teams’ locker rooms and ask coaches and players questions – trying to get them to spill the beans! These just were enjoyable stories.
Guy like Belichick – I find him less agreeable. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact he’s current. Davis is now more like a lovable figure of the past. I think that’s what it comes down to. Maybe in the future Belichick will be seen that same way Davis is now – a guy who brought entertainment to the game?
Your book covers a lot of time – how has the league changed its focus on these activities over the decades?
The league has changed a lot. The book spans the entire history of the NFL. Yes, there are techniques I talk about that were more commonly used in the past than they are today.
For example spying on practices used to be much easier when practices were on open fields. Now, they are inside stadiums or in areas with much greater security. Now teams have taken steps to protect themselves more.
Did the topic of drones come up now?
I did talk to a drones expert, yes, who said it’s definitely happening today. The capability to use off-the-shelf drones and modify them is 110% there now. From 100 yards up you can’t see them but they can take perfect pictures of the field.
As gambling becomes a bigger part of the NFL’s revenue stream, how do you think that has affected their desire to address these activities? Does it strengthen or weaken them?
The NFL has its NFL Security department that is comprised mostly of former FBI agents. Their job is to make sure games aren’t manipulated by players to coaches throwing games, shaving points…Most think it’s happening but no one knows to what extent.
Did you get any pushback from the NFL?
No, but I didn’t submit it to the NFL before it was published either. They are aware of it now but no one has reached out about it.
What were some of the more surprising things you discovered during this process – what shocked you most about it all?
The most shocking for me is that I firmly believe the Patriots are still continuing their illicit collation techniques. I think SpyGate was evidence of that process. SpyGate, the Bengals’ sideline taping incident…its the actual measures they put in place to ensure they didn’t get caught. Taping over logos, making sure the red light didn’t work when they recorded. These people were trained to avoid getting caught by NFL Security.
Can you give some fun connections to Pittsburgh?
One is just a general point. The theme of the book comes down to “Whatever it takes.” That was a phrase that Al Davis and Chuck Noll both used a lot. I think it sums up the collective mindset of people who just want to do all they can to win games – to stay relevant to a game they love and wanted to stay in for as long as they could. I think that’s something that pertains to everyone – we can all sympathize with that desire to stick around something you love.
One good Steelers story is about John Stallworth. He was drafted in the fourth round out of Alabama A&M and became a Hall of Fame wide receiver of course. Well, not a lot of teams really loved Stallworth then because he ran a slow 40 time. But the Steelers’ Bill Nunn had a different assessment of him and asked Alabama A&M for their tape on him. Bill never sent that tape back – to make sure no one else could see it! The Steelers later of course took him in the fourth round – though they loved him enough to have taken him earlier if they felt he would have been taken by another team.
Is there any humor in some of this – were there some stories that were just more funny than “problematic” to you?
There were some great, funny stories. One team allegedly dressed a dwarf up and put them in a baby carriage and had a woman push him around another team’s practice while he recorded it.
Sid Gilman invited another coach to use his field for practice before a Super Bowl and had Marines come in and guard the field. The Marines reported back to him everything they saw!
It’s wild to think of how many big games that were ultimately impacted by these techniques. An amazing number of Super Bowls and big games. I think that’s mostly because of the added time – that extra week they had – to prepare and implement these techniques. Of course, there was added incentive as well due to the importance of those games.
And all of those coaches – they all complain about someone else doing it. But most are doing their own thing too. It’s very common – just part of the game.