Patriots: Video Crew 'Unknowingly Violated League Policy' In Cleveland
BOSTON (CBS) – The New England Patriots said a crew that was filming their scout in Cleveland on Sunday "unknowingly violated a league policy by filming the field and sideline from the press box."
In a statement Monday night, the Patriots said the three person video crew was sent to the Bengals-Browns game to get footage of the Patriots scouting department for the "Do Your Job" series on Patriots.com.
The filming was cleared with the Browns, but the team did not inform the Bengals. When questioned, the crew turned over the footage to the league.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was asked about the situation during his Monday press conference. "I'm aware of the incident, but the league is investigating it. So I have no comment," Taylor said.
The Patriots said the failure to inform the Bengals and the league was an "unintended oversight."
On WEEI Monday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he has "absolutely nothing to do" with the filming.
The Patriots face the Bengals on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati.
Full Statement From New England Patriots:
For the past year, the New England Patriots content team has produced a series of behind-the scenes features on various departments within the organization. The seven previous "Do Your Job" episodes are archived on patriots.com. On Sunday, Dec. 8, the content team sent a three-person video crew to the Bengals-Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium in order to capture one part of a longer feature on the Patriots scouting department, in this case a Patriots pro personnel scout while he was working in the press box.
While we sought and were granted credentialed access from the Cleveland Browns for the video crew, our failure to inform the Bengals and the League was an unintended oversight. In addition to filming the scout, the production crew – without specific knowledge of League rules – inappropriately filmed the field from the press box. The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road. There was no intention of using the footage for any other purpose. We understand and acknowledge that our video crew, which included independent contractors who shot the video, unknowingly violated a league policy by filming the field and sideline from the press box. When questioned, the crew immediately turned over all footage to the league and cooperated fully.
The production crew is independent of our football operation. While aware that one of the scouts was being profiled for a "Do Your Job" episode, our football staff had no other involvement whatsoever in the planning, filming or creative decisions made during the production of these features.
We accept full responsibility for the actions of our production crew at the Browns-Bengals game.
