Unforgiven

I think one thing being overlooked in this thread regarding the severity of the punishment are the prior actions and coverup. They were interviewed about this initally between the NFC Championship game and the Superbowl in 2009 and denied it. Not only did they deny it, they kept doing it for two more years and continued to cover it up. They also made their owner look like an ass as he instructed them to put an end to it and they simply told him they had.

This is why the penalties are so much more severe than Spygate. In that case, the Pats got caught when it was initally investigated, turned everything over to the NFL and didn't try to cover it up or continue doing it.

__________________