Bill Belichick Continues Quest For Goal-Line Cameras
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Belichick is not a man for technology.
Whether it's MyFace or SnapFace or fancy new tablets on the sidelines, the Patriots head coach has no time for that sort of nonsense. So when he goes on a quest like his push for goal-line cameras in the NFL, you know the coach really wants this idea to come to fruition.
Discussing Rob Gronkowski's touchdown that wasn't ruled a touchdown in Sunday night's 41-16 win over the Denver Broncos, Belichick used the play as the perfect example for what goal line cameras could provide if the league would just adopt his idea.
"It looked to me like he caught it, but the ruling on the field was he didn't, and so in the end it might not have been enough evidence to overturn it," Belichick told reporters on his Monday conference call. "If the ruling went the other way, I don't know if it would have been enough evidence to overturn that the other way. In any case, it went the way it did and I understand that.
"Not that it made any difference on that play, but again, I'll take this opportunity to say that I'm all for trying to get these plays right and I think that would have been a good example of where a goal-line camera or pylon camera would have given an opportunity [to see a better angle]," he said.
It's an idea Belichick has been floating around for some time, but his big push came in 2014 at the NFL owners meetings. It's a great idea, but was quickly shot down because of the cost that installing such technology would incur. To say Belichick didn't buy that excuse back then would be an understatement, as he sarcastically suggested the multi-billion dollar industry that is the NFL hold a bake sale to come up with the scratch to cover the cost.
"Maybe we could have a bake sale, raise some money for the cameras. We could do a car wash," he said in 2014. "We just spent however many million dollars on the replay system. I mean, there's a thousand cameras in every stadium, so if somebody spills a beer on somebody we have it on record, right?"
On Monday, Belichick cited a recent game between the Raiders and Chiefs that used a goal-line shot during a review. Rounding back to the Gronkowski non-touchdown again, Belichick said he just wants the league and officials to get the calls right.
"Had that been the final play of the game, one of the final plays of the game in a close game, whichever side it's on you just want it to be right," he said. "It's a tough call, the official who made the call was pretty close to me on the sideline, probably 30 yards away. ... It was a close play, I saw it the same way he did. It's really close. So maybe the league can find a way to finance that project, and get a good, quality shot of those goal-line plays like they had in the Oakland-Kansas City game."
Belichick remains adamant that this would make the league better, and he isn't going to stop beating this drum until he gets his way -- or a legitimate reason for it not to happen.
Fingers crossed the league tells him to go ahead with that bake sale, and Belichick starts selling some BB PBJs outside of Gillette Stadium.
