OT: Saints GM Had Stadium Re-Wired to Eavesdrop

[LUKE23]

Thought we'd get a new thread going since the other offseason thread is all Packer talk now.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... home-games

NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana was told Friday that New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three NFL seasons, "Outside the Lines" has learned.

Sources familiar with Saints game-day operations told "Outside the Lines" that Loomis, who faces an eight-game suspension from the NFL for his role in the recent bounty scandal, had the ability to secretly listen for most of the 2002 season, his first as general manager of the Saints, and all of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The sources spoke with "Outside the Lines" under the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals from members of the Saints organization.

Jim Letten, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, acknowledged being told of the allegations Friday and has briefed the FBI in New Orleans about Loomis' alleged activity, according to sources. If proven, the allegations could be both a violation of NFL rules and potentially a federal crime, according to legal sources. The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 prohibits any person from intercepting communications from another person using an electronic or mechanical device.

[ReasonablySober]

That is **** INSANE.

[Newz]

[Icness]

And people still think the Patriots were the only ones

Somebody give me one reason why Drew Brees should sign his franchise tender with the Saints this year.

[Kerb Hohl]

Possibly another Saints staff member that will never return to the NFL?

[emunney]

That's one leaky organization.

[Icness]

If true these are felony violations of federal wiretap laws and could result in serious jail time. Gonna be hard to prove I imagine but still...

[Bucksfans1and2]

What the ****?????

[humanrefutation]

They made a good point on NFL Live that the wiretapping wouldn't have had any affect unless Loomis was relaying the calls to the offense/defense, and it was unrealistic that he could do so with any effectiveness in 20 seconds or so.

That being said, though, this whole thing is stupid.

[Marley2Hendrix]

They made a good point on NFL Live that the wiretapping wouldn't have had any affect unless Loomis was relaying the calls to the offense/defense, and it was unrealistic that he could do so with any effectiveness in 20 seconds or so.

That being said, though, this whole thing is stupid.

bah, that just shows a lack of creativity and complexity on NFL Live's part.

[Turk Nowitzki]

[RiotPunch]

Wow. **** just keeps unraveling for New Orleans. Crazy stuff.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I disagree about the lack of usefulness. It's weird the GM was doing this and not some random scout, but they only need a few bits of info to make a difference before the half. It's unlikely but could have a huge effect if a trick-play is slipped.
"We still doing the fake spike/hail mary at the end of the half?"
"Mike said we are coming out with an onside kick so get the offense ready"
"Ryan injured his ankle again, so we'll only use him as a decoy"
"If they go shotgun again, we are gonna blitz from the corner spot."

Those are all small tidbits that could mess up the game. It's unlikely any of those would happen, but if he was truly listening he would've hit a few gems over the course of a few seasons.

[MickeyDavis]

I don't know anyone who thought the Pats were the only ones cheating. Dumb enough to get caught yes.

And I wouldn't be surprised at all if other teams did this too.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

I don't know anyone who thought the Pats were the only ones cheating. Dumb enough to get caught yes.

And I wouldn't be surprised at all if other teams did this too.

I don't know, I can see teams doing what the Patriots did, but I'd be surprised if other teams are potentially committing a felony doing what the Saints did.

[MikeIsGood]

Dude Keeps piling on for the Aints.

[humanrefutation]

The Saints are probably exempt from felony charges due to the statute of limitations. Remember, this apparently took place from 2002-2004, prior to Spygate.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

The Saints are probably exempt from felony charges due to the statute of limitations. Remember, this apparently took place from 2002-2004, prior to Spygate.

I don't know if that was directed at me, but I was just making the point that since this could be considered a felony, I doubt many, if any, teams are also doing it. Unlike the Spygate stuff, I could definitely see other teams doing stuff like that.

[chuckleslove]

The Saints are probably exempt from felony charges due to the statute of limitations. Remember, this apparently took place from 2002-2004, prior to Spygate.

Yeah, I believe the statute of limitations for wiretapping is 2 years for civil and 6 years for criminal charges(was 5 years prior to 2011) so they were likely only able to be charged until ~2009.

Also the way the law is written for wiretapping it specifies that the time period starts from when they had an opportunity to discover the wiretap, not from when they actually learn of it. So based on the information I could find it would seem from a legal standpoint they are likely in the clear.

That doesn't mean the NFL can't come down hard on them though.

[humanrefutation]

You know, Mike McCarthy was the offensive coordinator for the Saints during the years they were allegedly accused of wiretapping. If it is discovered he had knowledge of this....uh oh.