TEAM: The Detroit Lions

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Ndamunkong Suh is a dirty player who freely use illegal hits as part of his game to give himself an unfair advantage against his opponents. From his wikipedia page:

"Suh has been criticized in the media by other players and by the NFL for his aggressive style of play and has been fined a total of $216,875 by the league for four violations in the first four years in his career. In a poll of fellow players conducted by the Sporting News, Suh was named "the dirtiest player" in the NFL. As of December 2011, he had been flagged for nine personal fouls in his first two years, the most of any player in the league in that time frame. He was named the NFL's "Least-Liked Player" in a Forbes-publicized Nielsen report in October 2012."

Suh lowlights since 2010 (via spotrac):

• DT Ndamunkong Suh (2011: suspended two-games for stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith)
• DT Ndamunkong Suh (2012: $30K for kicking Matt Schaub in the groin)
• DT Ndamunkong Suh (2013: $32K for roughing the passer)
• DT Ndamunkong Suh (2013: $100K for a low block)
• DT Ndamunkong Suh (2014: $70K for stepping on the ankle of Aaron Rodgers)

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Suh is an embarrassment to his former team and to the league in general.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Suhgate-2011

AWARDS EARNED: Repeat The Cheat!Champs of the Cheat!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 6.0

TEAM: The Detroit Lions

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Following a review and hearing, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ruled in 2014 that the Detroit Lions violated the NFL Anti-Tampering Policy by telling the media about the Lions’ desire to acquire players then under contract to the Kansas City Chiefs and by having impermissible contact with a player (or his agent) under contract to the Chiefs in 2010.

As first reported by FOXSports.com, the Chiefs brought tampering charges against the Lions for comments made by defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham in 2013.

As a result of the Goodell's ruling: Detroit had to forfeit its seventh-round pick (acquired from the Denver Broncos) in the 2011 draft, and Kansas City and Detroit switched fifth-round picks in 2011.

VICTIM: Kansas City Chiefs

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Detroit forfeited its seventh-round pick in the 2011 draft and swapped its fifth-round pick with Kansas City.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Tampergate-2010

AWARDS EARNED: Goalie for the Dart Team!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

TEAM: The Detroit Lions

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are used by players to illegally improve athletic performance above what legal training and preparation can do.

Players who illegally improve their performance unfairly penalize players who follow the rules. They not only put those players at risk for physical injury, but they also affect their economic livelihood by impacting their perceived value and their ability to secure appropriately-valued playing contracts.

SEVERITY = 0.5 video cameras per punished incident. Includes all documented infractions from 1960 to present with this Wikipedia page as the primary source.

• FS Tommy Bennett (2001)
• DT Shaun Rogers (2006)
• OLB Travis Lewis (2012)

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Each player was suspended for four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#PEDSgate-2001

AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: The Detroit Lions

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Alex Karras, an All-Pro defensive tackle for the Lions, was forced to sit out the 1963 season, suspended by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on NFL games and associating with gamblers. Karras had placed at least a half-dozen $50 to $100 bets.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Gamblegate-1963

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: The Detroit Lions

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Former Detroit Lions owner George A. Richards got in trouble with the league in 1940 over a tampering charge with a college player prior to the draft. Richards was fined $5,000 and then sold the team.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Richards was fined $5,000 for tampering.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Tampergate-1940

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Tampering with free agents is rampant, it's laughable and it is against the rules (PDF). It's so bad across every team in the league that the NFL had to create a three-day legal tampering period. However, tampering still regularly occurs long before that annual three-day window opens. On March 9, 2015 the league once again felt compelled to warn all 32 teams about not tampering.

Why is tampering considered a problem? Because tampering with players still under contract makes it difficult for clubs to re-sign their own talent. It also puts those few teams that actually follow NFL guidelines at a distinct disadvantage. In many cases, contract agreements are in place days before any negotiations are allowed to begin.

This isn't fair, it isn't legal, and it is blatant cheating by the teams who engage in the practice.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but...

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell is doing all he can to curtail and punish the "commonplace" practice, although it admits that there is so much tampering that it is hard to police it all.

The CheatPoints earned for this leaguewide cheat is for all of this team's tampering incidents that have gone undiscovered or unproven. If specific instances are discovered, they are punished on top of this leaguewide penalty.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Tampergate-1960

AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: it's a common complaint around the NFL. In late, close games, the helmet communicators of visiting teams suddenly "malfunction" and stop working. It has been accepted as standard practice in the league. Are you on the road and the game is close? Then you are going to have problems with your headset.

In recent years, the Patriots have accused the Colts of doing it and the Jaguars have made the same charge of the Patriots. The Redskins accused the Buccaneers of disabling their headsets, and Tampa Bay accused Dallas. The Giants openly bragged about doing it way back in 1956. The charges go on and on and on.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Headsetgate-1980

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Stealing your opponent's signals has always been common and never been illegal.

Said former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, "We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that." Admitted former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson: "When I came into the NFL, back in 1989, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we sync it up with the game film.' So I did it." Bragged, former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan: "Our guy keeps a pair of binoculars on their signal-callers every game, with any luck, we have their defensive signals figured out by halftime. Sometimes, by the end of the first quarter."

NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell confirmed this himself in 2008, saying that the issue was not stealing signals, that is allowed "and it is done quite widely." The issue is where and how you record them. If you chose to videotape them, then (after 2006) you have to do that from a league approved location. If you hire lip readers, they can do it from your coaches lap, if you want.

After 2006, examples of allowed videotaping locations are: the luxury boxes, media booths and other enclosed spaces. Expressly prohibited locations are the sidelines, the field, locker rooms, the coaches booth or any other place accessible to team coaches and staff. The point of the rule is to not allow the footage to be useful in the current game.

Prior to the September 6, 2006 memo and, 2007 follow up, from NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson, there was no league restriction on filming location, which is the reason the memo was sent.

Many NFL head coaches have downplayed the significance of the practice, saying that attempting to decipher opponent's signals was a long standing practice and entirely common throughout the league.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell suggested that the responsibility was on teams to conceal their messages, not on the ones trying to steal them. During his news conference before the 2007 Super Bowl he said that any coach who did not expect signals to be stolen was "stupid."

Prior to 2006, every NFL team is assumed to have done it, but none of them broke a rule. You can't punish something that is not prohibited. Filming from the sidelines was not prohibited until 2006 and filming your opponent's signals from approved locations has never been prohibited, even today.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Spygate-1960

AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Sign an opponent's recently-cut player to your practice squad to get intel on their plays, signals and tactics. This is not illegal and is a leaguewide practice.

Said one player, who chose to remain anonymous as he was still in the league as of 2015, "If teams have an opening at a certain position, they might not be looking for perhaps the best player to fill it on their practice squad. Instead, they might go for someone who has access to the opposing team’s playbook."

“Let’s say we’re playing the Jaguars in seven days and you want to know more about their playbook. From time to time teams will sign people off of practice squads. You don’t have to put them on active roster so if there’s a need for more depth at linebacker and you’re playing Jacksonville, there would be more of a chance to sign a linebacker off the team you’re about to play’s practice squad and hoping that the person you’re about to sign will divulge information about the playbook.”

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: Not illegal.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/DET#Scrapsgate-1960

AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0