TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

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.

• DE Mark Mraz (1989)
• LB Bill Romanowski (2003)
• C Barret Robbins (2003)
• DT Dana Stubblefield (2003)
• DT Chris Cooper (2003)
• SS Jarrod Cooper (2007)
• FB Luke Lawton (2009)
• WR Andre Holmes (2013)
• FB Marcel Reece (2015) - Claims to have ingested it unintentionally

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Each player was suspended for four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. The four from 2003 -- linebacker Bill Romanowski, center Barret Robbins and defensive tackles Dana Stubblefield and Chris Cooper -- were notified by the league by letter that they had tested positive for the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#PEDSgate-1989

AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 9.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: According to former Raider Matt Millen, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis had a sign with the "Raider Rules" posted above the Raiders locker room:

THE RAIDER RULES

1. Cheating is encouraged
2. See rule #1

The Raiders complied in a number of ways. Whether it was illegal pads, too much Stickem®, Al Davis snooping around the sidelines or any other advantage they could take, it was cheating.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: When your owner is demanding it, you coach and players are encouraged to deliver.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Raidergate-1975

AWARDS EARNED: Cojones Ferreas!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Four NFL teams -- the Redskins, Cowboys, Raiders and Saints -- were punished for the way they structured contracts during the uncapped 2010 NFL season. The punishment was for those four teams signing players and frontloading their contracts during the uncapped year to ease the burden during following seasons when there was to be a salary cap.

The Redskins and Cowboys had $46 million in total cap money taken from them which was redistributed to 28 other teams for an amount of $1.6 million per team. The only two teams that did not receive this added money to their caps were the Raiders and the Saints who were punished for what was considered more minor infractions.

The Raiders and Saints, although penalized by not receiving this "bonus" cap money, did not have any cap space taken from them from the $120.6 million cap number that had already been revealed.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The Raiders were not directly punished for their salary cap infraction, but they were indirectly as they were not given the additional $1.6 million in cap space that the other 28 teams were.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Salarycapgate-2010

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: The Oakland Raiders forfeited a fourth-round draft pick for evasion of the player limit.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The Raiders lost a fourth-round draft pick

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Playergate-1980

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: In 1981, the Oakland Raiders forfeited their 5th-round draft pick for illegally sequestering 2 players in 1978

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The Raiders lost a fifth-round draft pick

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Sequestergate-2000

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Former Raiders receiver Tim Brown said that former Raiders coach Bill Callahan threw Super Bowl XXXVII as a favor to his former boss, Bucs coach Jon Gruden.

According to receiver Tim Brown, Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay Buccaneers thrashed the Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII because Oakland was "sabotaged" by Bill Callahan, the team's head coach at the time, who changed the game plan at the last minute.

Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, the Raiders' other starting receiver in the Super Bowl and now an ESPN analyst, backed Brown on his claims in comments to ESPN's "NFL Live". He said the players found it "very unusual" to change everything at the last minute.

Rice said the Raiders' game plan did change on the Friday before the Super Bowl and the team was surprised by that, "because you worked all week long on running the football." On Friday, Callahan put in a new plan that had the team throwing the ball more than 60 times.

"Why would you wait to the last second to change the game plan?" Rice said. He echoed Brown's theory that Callahan might have been willing to let Gruden win the game.

VICTIM: Oakland Raiders

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: This accusation seems totally far-fetched. Who would choose to blow their own chance to be a Super Bowl winning coach (and the future job opportunities that provides) to do a favor for a friend? This will likely remain a "he said, she said" charge, but when the two "he's" are Hall of Fame wide receivers, it adds at least a touch of weight to the charge. Callahan responded to the charge in 2013, saying “To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegations." Three of the coach's former players also publicly came to his defense: quarterback Rick Gannon, linebacker Bill Romanowski, and tackle Lincoln Kennedy.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Tankgate-2003

AWARDS EARNED: Cojones Ferreas!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Former New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan gave a radio interview where he said that when they went to Oakland to play in the 1976 playoff game the field was soaking wet. California had a drought at that time, so he figured the Raiders had done that to slow them down. In 1976, the Patriots were one of the best rushing teams.

Said former Patriots player Steve Zabel, "In ’76 we went 11-3, as a matter of fact, we made it to the playoffs." The Patriots traveled to Oakland to play the Raiders in the first round and found a surprise waiting for them on the Oakland field. “When we went out to play, the field was sloppy, muddy, wet, and the grass was about six inches long.”

YTC emailer Gene adds:

"Your Squishgate story of the Oakland Raiders playoff game versus New England in 1976 does not tell the whole story. Here is a little ditty about california weather.

Every summer, from May until October, most of california is in a drought; it does not rain at all. Except for the coastal regions, which Oakland is right smack dab in the middle of a prime rain area. The San Francisco Bay Area gets an average of 40 inches of rain each year. Oakland is no exception. I lived in Bezerkeley, went to the UC during that time. It rained all that week before the game. Not a hard driving rain, just a nuisance rain.

I remember the day of that playoff game well, as I had coveted tickets, but my friend and trainers daughter died a few days before and her funeral was on game day. I went to the funeral.

I drove from Bezerkeley, CA (6 AM or so) to Sonora, CA (arriving at 10 AM) transitioning from a light rain to a full fledged snow storm. After the funeral, I was invited to the house. We sat in my trainer/friends front room and watched the game. The Raiders were on the ropes for most of that game. Oakland did not seem to have a problem running the football. Ken Stabler did not seem to have a problem setting up to pass.

The on field problems seemed to be on the part of New England as they did not have that nice astro turf of their home diggs; a fact oft repeated by the on air announcers with every slip and fall of a New England player. The only player on the New England side of the ball was their Tight End, Russ Francis.

What was always rumored on Bay Area radio (dedicated sports talk stations were unheard of in those days), was if the Raiders were going to play a team with a particularly dominate or fast running back; like the Buffalo Bills with OJ Simpson, Al Davis would always make sure the grass received an extra dose of Ammonia Nitrate (which makes grass grow real fast) a week or two ahead of time.

I am NOT a Raider fan. I just have a different perspective of that day and the previous few days as to the life events that happened."

VICTIM: New England Patriots

PUNISHED? No

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Squishygate-1976

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler was a great player. He was also an accomplished cheater.

Stabler was known to improvise, even if it meant breaking the rules, in order to win. Many opponents claimed he greased his jersey so he could slip out of their grasp. In a game in 1977 against the San Diego Chargers, the Raiders were down by six points with a few seconds left on the clock. They were in the red zone and Stabler was attempting to pass one as the clock was expiring. His receivers were covered, so Stabler fumbled the ball forward as he was being dragged down to the turf by a Chargers defender.

Running back Pete Banaszak then batted the ball towards the end zone where tight end Dave Casper kick the ball into the end zone and fell on it. The Raiders won, despite the Chargers protesting the play. Stabler confessed later on that he fumbled the ball forward on purpose. The NFL rules committee soon placed a rule that no more “lmmaculate Deceptions," or “Holy RoIlers” would be allowed ever again.

A larger part because of Stabler, the new rule stated that on fourth down or any down in the final two-minutes of play, if a player fumbles, “only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball.”

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Stablergate-1975

AWARDS EARNED: Schoolyard Cheating!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 1.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: In the 1960s, Oakland Raiders coach-and-later-general managing partner Al Davis once pretended to be a reporter after a game and interviewed a player from the opposing team about the plays his team had used successfully against the Raiders.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: Not punished, but this is one of the funnier Spygate versions out there.

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Spygate-1965

AWARDS EARNED: Points for Creativity!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

TEAM: The Oakland Raiders

SEVERITY:

SUMMARY: Although several Raiders skill players used Stickum -- including Fred Biletnikoff and running back Mark van Eeghen -- CB Lester Hayes made his name with the stuff. He rubbed it on his hands, wrists and forearms, slathering it as generously as a beachcomber applies sunscreen on a South Florida summer day.

The reason? The Raiders played so much bump-and-run coverage that Hayes needed to ensure he could keep his hands on opposing receivers and disrupt their pass routes. It worked. Hayes became so dominant, he earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1980 after intercepting 13 passes, along with five more in the postseason.

Hayes used so much Stickum even his teammates thought he went overboard. "You practically had to pry the ball loose from him whenever he got his hands on it," said Ted Hendricks, a former Raiders linebacker.

Stickum was ruled illegal after the 1980 season.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

SHARE: http://YourTeamCheats.com/OAK#Stickumgate-1977

AWARDS EARNED: Falsely Accused!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

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/OAK#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/OAK#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/OAK#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/OAK#Scrapsgate-1960

AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0