[h=1]Pittsburgh Steelers Cheating History[/h] 46
TL;DR: • the
STEELERS are
ELITE NFL
cheaters!
• they have a
CheatScore of 46?
• they've executed
11 real cheats! ?
• share page:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT?
INDEX OF RECORDED STEELERS CHEATS:
STEELERS-ONLY: Impedegate (2013) •
Steroidgate (70s) •
Cheapsgate (6x since 2010) •
Salarycapgate (2000) •
Shouldergate (1978) •
Crampgate (2012) •
PEDSgate (1985-2007) •
PEDSgate (2x since 1995) •
Tarpgate (1976) •
Spygate (1992-2006)
LEAGUEWIDE: Tampergate (ongoing) •
Headsetgate (ongoing) •
Spygate (until 2006) •
Scrapsgate (ongoing)
[h=1]All Pittsburgh Steelers Cheats:[/h] [h=2]Impedegate (2013)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: With 6:26 left in the third quarter of their 2013 Thanksgiving night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens receiver Jacoby Jones took a kickoff back and had to alter his path because Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
had stepped onto the field. Jones returned the kick 73 yards, but was tackled by defensive back Cortez Allen on the play, and Baltimore had to settle for a field goal on the drive.
Said NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino: "In that instance, the referee could basically penalize the team whatever he deems equitable, which could include giving the Ravens a touchdown. That's not the case here, but certainly coach Tomlin was in the white. He should have been flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct."
In December 2010, the league fined the
New York Jets the same amount after a sideline wall established by strength coach Sal Alosi resulted in Alosi tripping Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll. Alosi was suspended indefinitely by the team and resigned in January 2011.
VICTIM: Baltimore Ravens (Specifically, WR Jacoby Jones)
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson for stepping onto the field during his team's 22-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers
could have lost 2014 draft picks if the play had impacted the Ravens 2013 playoff standing.
It didn't.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Impedegate-2013
AWARDS EARNED: Cojones Ferreas!Schoolyard Cheating!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 9.0
[h=2]Steroidgate (70s)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Former Steelers quarterback
Terry Bradshaw admitted in 2008 that he used steroids during his playing career. Bradshaw said on Dan Patrick's radio show: “We did steroids to get away the aches and the speed of healing. My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up injury, and thought nothing of it. It was to speed up the healing process, that was it. It wasn't to get bigger and stronger and faster.”
Former Saints coach
Jim Haslett accused the '70s Steelers of being "the ones who kind of started" steroid use in the NFL.
Said Haslett: "It started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger (in the) '70s, late '70s, early '80s.
Former Vikings and Giants quarterback
Fran Tarkenton corroborated Haslett's story in a June 2009 interview, saying: "We’re playing the Steelers in the Super Bowl in ’75 or ’76 … we’re on the field warming up, and I see these Steeler offensive linemen with their sleeves rolled up, and they've got these bulging muscles. Later, we found out it that … these guys were juiced … all of them."
"We talk now about (former baseball stars) Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. But how about the Steelers of that era? Did that make a difference? Yeah, it made a difference. It increased their performance.”
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No but ... it's
more probable than not that this was cheating
PUNISHMENT: The Steelers were well out in front of their opponents on leveraging steroids to gain a competitive advantage. During this period, they also happened to win 4 Super Bowls. It is
more probable than not that the Steelers teams of the 70s were heavily juiced. Tainted Super Bowls anybody?
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Steroidgate-1970
AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!A Decade of Deceit!Points for Creativity!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 7.0
[h=2]Cheapsgate (6x since 2010)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Cheap shots and illegal hits are aggressively punished by the league because they put defenseless players in jeopardy of serious injury and threaten their very livelihood. Players who use illegal hits as part of their game give themselves an unfair advantage versus those who play by the rules.
SEVERITY = 0.25 video cameras per
NFL punished incident with a fine over $25K. Tallied from 2010 until today. Double-severity applied for individual fines over $50K, and treble-severity for game suspensions, as they punish particularly malicious hits and typically are assessed on players with a history of dirty play.
- OLB James Harrison (2010: $25K for roughing the passer)
- OLB James Harrison (2010: $75K for a hit on a defenseless player)
- OLB James Harrison (2011: suspended 1 game for illegal hit on a QB)
- S Ryan Clark (2011: $40K for helmet-to-helmet hit)
- G Chris Kemoeatu (2011: $25K for a late hit)
- ILB Terence Garvin (2013: $25K for a hit on a defenseless player)
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: Each player was fined the amount listed with Harrison receiving a one-game suspension in 2011 as well as one of the largest fines ($75,000) for an illegal hit. Since 2010, the Steelers have the most players fined or suspended for blatantly dangerous and illegal hits on opponents.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Cheapsgate-2010
AWARDS EARNED: Schoolyard Cheating!Repeat The Cheat!Champs of the Cheat!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 5.0
[h=2]Salarycapgate (2000)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their third-round pick in the 2001 draft and were fined $150,000 by the National Football League yesterday for
violating salary cap rules with the retired offensive tackle Will Wolford.
The league determined that the Steelers made an undisclosed commitment to pay Wolford $400,000 that violated the league's rules governing the size of team payrolls. The Steelers were
ordered to pay Wolford the $400,000 and another $150,000 to the league as a penalty.
The $400,000 was counted against the team's salary cap.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: The Steelers were fined $150,000, lost their third-round draft pick and were ordered to immediately pay the $400,000 they commited to Wolford.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Salarycapgate-2000
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0
[h=2]Shouldergate (1978)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: In May of 1978, the Pittsburgh Steelers were caught running an
illegal off-season practice and stripped of their third-round pick in the 1979 draft by commissioner Pete Rozelle. Steelers players -- 29 rookies and about 15 veterans -- were discovered practicing in pads during a late May rookie camp, which was not allowed by NFL rules. The team tried to cover-up their cheating by doing it in a closed practice in Three Rivers Stadium, but local beat write John Clayton (
now with ESPN) discovered the infraction and published it in the June 1, 1978 edition of
The Pittsburgh Press: "
Steelers' Secret Slips Out".
Rather than acknowledge that he broke the rules and apologize for the infraction, Steelers head coach Chuck Noll instead lashed out at Clayton calling his report "
espionage." The 1991 book
False Glory: Steelers And Steroids: the Steve Courson Story went deeper into the controversy, noting that Noll knowingly broke the "no pads" rule, but since he didn't agree with it, he didn't care.
At the time, Article 20, Section 4 of the league's collective bargaining agreement with the players stated that a club could have "no contact work or use of pads (except helmets) as part of an off-season training camp." Ironically, Steelers team's president Dan Rooney was instrumental in negotiations to get the "no pads" rule included in the collective bargaining agreement with the league's players.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: As reported in the June 27, 1978
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "
Tarnish on the Black and Gold", the Steelers were stripped of their third-round selection in the 1979 draft.
The late
Phil Musick, sports editor for the paper and the writer of that article, noted that the Steelers reputation around the league was becoming a "bit unsavory" because the Steelers "
don't pay attention to the rules." He also noted that former Browns and Bengals head coach Paul Brown warned the Pittsburgh owner that the Steelers were "
getting a rep as cheats." Musick concluded his analysis by wondering how the Steelers would react to "insinuations from within the league that the Steelers are twisting the NFL rules into a granny knot to get a competitive edge."
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Shouldergate-1978
AWARDS EARNED: Spawn the Spoof!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0
[h=2]Crampgate (2012)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: In November of 2012
the NFL fined Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders $15,000 and the Steelers organization another $35,000 for Sanders' faking of an injury against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 21, 2012.
Said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson: "Despite the account given by Sanders during our November 2nd meeting, neither
the video sequence of the pertinent plays nor the observations of the on-field official support Sanders's contention that he was in severe pain, either before, while falling to the ground, lying on the ground, or when he was being assisted in leaving the field," said in a letter to the Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and Sanders.
"Moreover, after missing the one play that is mandatory pursuant to the playing rules, and receiving no apparent treatment, Sanders returned to the game for a fourth down punt, on which he out sprinted all of his teammates 26 yards down the field, arriving at the ball ahead of all other Pittsburgh players, and then downing the ball.
"The video of the play shows Sanders running swiftly and effortlessly toward the punted ball, and then leaving the field with no sign of discomfort. Sanders also played the rest of the game without difficulty. Finally, there is no indication that Sanders has had prior cramping issues while in the NFL, and no Steelers' medical records or information of any kind were presented that would support a finding that he incurred a cramp that was both as serious and as transient as Sanders suggests."
VICTIM: Cincinnati Bengals
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: The NFL fined Sanders $15,000 and the Steelers organization another $35,000. Also:
NO SUPER BOWLS SINCE CRAMPGATE!
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Crampgate-2012
AWARDS EARNED: Schoolyard Cheating!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0
[h=2]PEDSgate (1985-2007)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Richard Rydze, a Pittsburgh Steelers team doctor from 1985 to 2007, was
indicted in 2012 for his long history of purchasing and illegally prescribing anabolic steroids, human growth hormones and painkillers. The physician was also charged with health care fraud for falsely diagnosing more than 90 patients with pituitary dwarfism so they could receive human growth hormones and drugs meant to counteract the side-effects of steroid use.
Rydze was also
on the customer list of an Orlando, FL, pharmacy that was raided in February 2007 as part of an interstate steroids ring. Rydze was questioned then about buying $150,000 worth of testosterone and human growth hormone on his credit card in 2006, but was not charged in that investigation.
The Steelers dropped Rydze from its roster of doctors in June 2007.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No but ... it's
more probable than not that this was cheating
PUNISHMENT: Predictably, the team and the doctor denied that he even gave steroids to any Steelers players because they'd
never compromise the integrity of the game by
using performance enhancing substances. With the Steelers long history of steroid cheating, having this doctor on staff made sense for the team. Once his name was released in 2007 as a customer of the steroid company, however, the Steelers wisely decided to go in another direction.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#PEDSgate-1985
AWARDS EARNED: Champs of the Cheat!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0
[h=2]PEDSgate (2x since 1995)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are used by players to illegally improve athletic performance above what legal training and preparation can do.
Players who illegally improve their performance unfairly penalize players who follow the rules. They not only put those players at risk for physical injury, but they also affect their economic livelihood by impacting their perceived value and their ability to secure appropriately-valued playing contracts.
SEVERITY = 0.5 video cameras per punished incident. Includes all documented infractions from 1960 to present with
this Wikipedia page as the primary source.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? Yes
PUNISHMENT: Each players was suspended for four games for violating the league's PEDs policy.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#PEDSgate-1995
AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0
[h=2]Tarpgate (1976)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: In 1976, the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Oakland Raiders in bitter cold conditions with the AFC title on the line. The night before the game, the tarp protecting the field apparently ripped, causing nasty conditions on the field. The Raiders alleged that the Steelers head groundskeeper -- Steve "Dirt" Dinardo -- intentionally worsened the field conditions by hosing down the turf in strategic areas.
"There was a suggestion that maybe the Steelers had iced the field," football historian Joe Horrigna
told the NFL Network. Raiders owner Al Davis complained that the ice had been strategically placed on the edges of the field, which would hinder Oakland's deep passing game.
VICTIM: Oakland Raiders
PUNISHED? No but ... it's
more probable than not that this was cheating
PUNISHMENT: A groundskeeper who's nickname is "Dirt" is always on top of his field conditions. If there was ice on the edges of the field, it was only because Dirt allowed the ice to be there.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Tarpgate-1976
AWARDS EARNED: Points for Creativity!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0
[h=2]Spygate (1992-2006)
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TEAM: The Pittsburgh Steelers
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher
admitted that his Steelers teams stole opponents' defensive signals. In an interview with a local radio station he said: "The only thing they [The Patriots] got caught (was) doing it with a camera. We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that."
Cowher continued:"Part of the things we had (were) wristbands that we were using to do it." Cowher said signal stealing "isn't even an element anymore because of the communications that take place on the field to the quarterback, to the linebacker. So it's an element of the game that doesn't exist."
When asked if the Patriots' alleged signal steeling had any impact on the the Steelers' 41-27 defeat in the 2004 AFC Championship loss, Cowher explained: "what happened when we lost that game is they outplayed us, and it had nothing to do with stealing signals or cheating or anything else. They were a better football team on that day."
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No
PUNISHMENT: Viewing your opponents signals has never been illegal. Filming them from the sidelines, however, has been prohibited since 2006.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Spygate-1992
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0
[h=1]Leaguewide Cheats:[/h][h=2]Tampergate (ongoing)
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TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Tampering with free agents is
rampant, it's laughable and it is
against the rules (
PDF). It's so bad
across every team in the league that the NFL had to create a
three-day legal tampering period. However, tampering still regularly occurs long before that annual three-day window opens. On March 9, 2015 the league once again felt compelled
to warn all 32 teams about not tampering.
Why is tampering considered a problem? Because tampering with players still under contract makes it difficult for clubs to re-sign their own talent. It also puts those few teams that actually follow NFL guidelines at a distinct disadvantage. In many cases,
contract agreements are in place days before any negotiations are allowed to begin.
This isn't fair, it isn't legal, and it is blatant cheating by the teams who engage in the practice.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No but...
PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell is doing all he can to curtail and punish the "
commonplace" practice, although it admits that there is so much tampering that it is hard to police it all.
The CheatPoints earned for this leaguewide cheat is for all of this team's tampering incidents that have gone undiscovered or unproven. If specific instances are discovered, they are punished on top of this leaguewide penalty.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Tampergate-1960
AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0
[h=2]Headsetgate (ongoing)
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TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: it's a
common complaint around the NFL. In late, close games, the helmet communicators of visiting teams suddenly "malfunction" and stop working. It has been accepted as standard practice in the league. Are you on the road and the game is close? Then you are going to have problems with your headset.
In recent years, the Patriots
have accused the Colts of doing it and the Jaguars have made the same charge of the Patriots. The Redskins
accused the Buccaneers of disabling their headsets, and Tampa Bay accused Dallas. The Giants openly
bragged about doing it way back in 1956. The charges go
on and on and on.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Headsetgate-1980
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0
[h=2]Spygate (until 2006)
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TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Stealing your opponent's signals has
always been common and
never been illegal.
Said former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach
Bill Cowher, "We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that."
Admitted former Dallas Cowboys head coach
Jimmy Johnson: "When I came into the NFL, back in 1989, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we sync it up with the game film.' So I did it."
Bragged, former Denver Broncos head coach
Mike Shanahan: "Our guy keeps a pair of binoculars on their signal-callers every game, with any luck, we have their defensive signals figured out by halftime. Sometimes, by the end of the first quarter."
NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell confirmed this himself in 2008, saying that the issue was not stealing signals, that is allowed "and it is done
quite widely." The issue is
where and how you record them. If you chose to videotape them, then (after 2006) you have to do that from a league approved location. If you hire lip readers, they can do it from your coaches lap, if you want.
After 2006, examples of allowed videotaping locations are: the luxury boxes, media booths and other enclosed spaces. Expressly prohibited locations are the sidelines, the field, locker rooms, the coaches booth or any other place accessible to team coaches and staff. The point of the rule is to not allow the footage to be useful in the current game.
Prior to the September 6, 2006 memo and,
2007 follow up, from NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson, there was no league restriction on filming location, which is the reason the memo was sent.
Many NFL head
coaches have downplayed the significance of the practice, saying that attempting to decipher opponent's signals was
a long standing practice and
entirely common throughout the league.
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No
PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell suggested that the responsibility was on teams to conceal their messages, not on the ones trying to steal them. During his news conference before the 2007 Super Bowl he said that any coach who did not expect signals to be stolen was "
stupid."
Prior to 2006, every NFL team is assumed to have done it, but none of them broke a rule. You can't punish something that is not prohibited. Filming from the sidelines was not prohibited until 2006 and filming your opponent's signals from approved locations has never been prohibited, even today.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Spygate-1960
AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0
[h=2]Scrapsgate (ongoing)
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TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: Sign an opponent's recently-cut player to your practice squad to get intel on their plays, signals and tactics. This is not illegal and is a leaguewide practice.
Said one player, who chose to remain anonymous as he was still in the league as of 2015, "If teams have an opening at a certain position, they might not be looking for perhaps the best player to fill it on their practice squad. Instead, they might go for someone who has access to the opposing team’s playbook."
“Let’s say we’re playing the Jaguars in seven days and you want to know more about their playbook. From time to time teams will sign people off of practice squads. You don’t have to put them on active roster so if there’s a need for more depth at linebacker and you’re playing Jacksonville, there would be more of a chance to sign a linebacker off the team you’re about to play’s practice squad and hoping that the person you’re about to sign will divulge information about the playbook.”
VICTIM: The entire league
PUNISHED? No
PUNISHMENT: Not illegal.
DISH THE DIRT:
http://YourTeamCheats.com/PIT#Scrapsgate-1960
AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!
CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0
[h=2]
EARNED: "A Decade of Deceit!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Repeat the same cheat at least ten years later!
EARNED FOR:Steroidgate (70s)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Champs of the Cheat!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Show, through consistency or creative flourish, that your team is the best at a particular type of cheat!
EARNED FOR:Cheapsgate (6x since 2010) PEDSgate (1985-2007)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Cojones Ferreas!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Construct a cheat of the boldest variety, demonstrating your complete disregard for the rules and consequences for smashing them with your beefy man-parts!
EARNED FOR:Impedegate (2013)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Everyone Was Doing It!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Successfully "cheat" in a way that many other teams have (bonus points for not getting caught)!
EARNED FOR:Spygate (until 2006) Tampergate (ongoing) PEDSgate (2x since 1995) Steroidgate (70s) Scrapsgate (ongoing)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Points for Creativity!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Find a way to cheat that others didn't think of!
EARNED FOR:Steroidgate (70s) Tarpgate (1976)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Repeat The Cheat!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Successfully repeat the same cheat multiple times!
EARNED FOR:Cheapsgate (6x since 2010)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Schoolyard Cheating!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Complete a cheat in the NFL that you could just as likely see on a schoolyard playground!
EARNED FOR:Impedegate (2013) Cheapsgate (6x since 2010) Crampgate (2012)
[h=2]
EARNED: "Spawn the Spoof!"[/h]
CRITERIA: Successfully create and execute a cheat that nobody else has thought of!
EARNED FOR:Shouldergate (1978)
