Fine the Jets equal to the Patriots

The way the NFL has handled the New England Patriots this season is a travesty and an exercise in double standards. Without even mentioning the non-investigation in Indianapolis that was appallingly "conducted" in ~5 minutes, the latest statement by the NFL regarding the NY Jets videotaping actions being "legal" is in complete disagreement with their own rules (from several sources) and we as fans want the truth and the penalties to be equal for all teams.

Issues with the purported "legality" of the Jets transgression:

- In the NFL's operations manual, it states that "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." Furthermore, all video shooting locations for coaching purposes "must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead."

The "mezzanine" in Gillette Stadium by the lighthouse described in the report of the Jets' taping last season is an open air bridge and NOT enclosed in any way. How can taping from there be called legal?

- In a memo to NFL head coaches and general managers on Sept. 6, 2006, NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson wrote: "Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."

The person taping was in fact a club staff member of the Jets and the location was obviously accessible to him or her at the time (as it is to any fan in the stadium). Again, according to another statement of the rules this is also a violation of NFL rules.

- In the league's Constitution & Bylaws, it reads: "Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game."

In the third proclamation of the NFL rules, videotaping AT ALL is prohibited. Regardless of "asking" the Jets violated the rule by videotaping in the first place. Does the NFL hand out the rules or does it let the teams themselves interpret the rules? The latter was not the impression we as fans got in the punishment to coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization.

These are the same violations that the Patriots paid a VERY steep cost for committing yet the Jets, with little or NO investigation by the NFL, have been cleared of the same violations without any personnel or monetary penalties, either similar or dissimilar to the Patriots.

Where in these, their own rules, does the NFL find the Jets to be within legal operating procedures?

We, the fans of the New England Patriots and the NFL, DEMAND an honest and thorough inquiry into this matter and explanation of the continuing pattern of ignorance on the part of Commissioner Roger Goodell in regards to violations not by the Patriots organization.