Deflategate. Spygate.
And now, Radiogate?
During tonight’s NFL season opener between the Patriots and Steelers, an apparent technology malfunction caused New England’s radio broadcast to air on the headsets of Pittsburgh’s coaches throughout the first half.
ESPN reported that the NFL fixed what it called an “intermittent” reception problem for coach-to-coach communication in the second quarter and that New England coaches did not have to shut down their headsets during the repairs. Update: The NFL issued a statement and said the complications were due to a “stadium power infrastructure issue” made worse by bad weather. See full statement below.
However, there were conflicting reports about the Patriots coaches shutting down headsets because of the “grounding issue.” Rachel Nichols reported that the Pats coaches did indeed shut down their headsets.
.@Michele_Tafoya reporting the #Patriots coach-to-coach headsets were shut down until the #Steelers' headsets were fixed. All back on now.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 11, 2015
After his team’s 28-21 loss, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that headset problems are “always the case” at New England’s Gillette Stadium. When asked to clarify that there are constant headset problems when his team plays in New England, Tomlin cut a reporter off.
“I said what I said,” Tomlin told the reporter.
Tomlin / headsets pic.twitter.com/DzjpvfnHEf
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) September 11, 2015
Another reporter told Tomlin that his indication that there are always audio problems in New England was a “very serious indication.”
“I’m not indicating nothing,” responded Tomlin, cutting off the reporter again. “I’m telling you what happened.”
Given the recent controversial history of the Patriots — Deflategate and Spygate, namely — tonight’s incident certainly will raise a few eyebrows. In fact, just this week Sports Illustrated detailed how Gillette Stadium often has headset issues.
From SI:
Headset failures are not uncommon around the league—Sun Life Stadium in Miami, for instance, is notorious for frequency issues. But representatives from several teams told SI they have experienced problems with the coaches’ equipment at Gillette—echoing a complaint from the Jaguars after their 2006 playoff loss there, when coach Jack Del Rio said his team’s headsets “mysteriously malfunctioned” for most of the first half. In May, Browns linebacker Karlos Dansby told ProFootballTalk.com that his on-field headset stopped working when his Cardinals played the Patriots in 2008, and he does not think it was an accident: “They gonna do what they gotta do to win. It’s just how they operate.”
Home teams are supposed to provide certain communications equipment, but opponents often don’t trust the Patriots to do it. One team griped to SI that New England supplied a corroded battery pack. Another current head coach brings his own equipment because he doesn’t trust the Patriots to supply anything of quality. A representative of a third team says the Pats provided headset gear that looked “like it had been run over by a lawn mower. Frayed wires, the speaker is all chopped up. . . .”
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters after the game that the “communication system wasn’t very good.”
“They told us they were on the verge of shutting it off, then they got it working,” he said. “It was a problem the whole game.”
Belichick said that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady almost had to switch helmets toward the end of the game because he “couldn’t get plays in” to his in-helmet earbud.
The NFL has its own gameday frequency coordinators that are responsible for preventing radio interference. From the NFL’s website:
On the field, the NFL has a fail-safe for its coach-to-player communications: a backup frequency for each team, which can be used during the game with NFL Football Operations approval. If a coach’s belt pack is affected by interference, sideline technicians maintain coach-to-coach communications by connecting the pack to a 100-foot cable for a wired connection.
It’s unclear if the league used these backup frequencies on Thursday. We’ve reached out to the NFL for more details and we’ll update when we hear back. Here’s a statement it is issuing out tonight:
The NFL releases a statement on the headset issue. pic.twitter.com/EPruz4BZZ2
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 11, 2015
Many of you have been asking about the headsets, so here goes: statement from the NFL on who is responsible for what. pic.twitter.com/TYsQMlsyM6
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 11, 2015
The headsets themselves are made by Bose, which inked a sponsorship deal with the league before the 2014-15 season.
In other football tech-related news from Thursday evening, NBC commentator Al Michaels mistakenly referred to the Microsoft Surface used on the sidelines as an iPad.
