MINNEAPOLIS -- Here we go again.
In an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, former Eagles linebacker coach Steve Spagnuolo said the Patriots were stealing signals in Super Bowl XXXIX.
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The man who crafted the defensive plan of the decade a few years later as defensive coordinator of the Giants recalled having conversations in game with then-Philly DC Jim Johnson.
”I remember through the course of the game Jim {Johnson} saying, ‘They’re getting our signals. They know when we’re blitzing . . . try to hide it,” he said. “I remember distinctly thinking, ‘I don’t think so Jim, just concentrate on calling the game.' ”
But Spagnuolo said those fears were confirmed when they watched the game over that night, a game the Pats won 24-21.
"When you go back and look at that tape, it was evident to us,” he said. “We believe that Tom [Brady] knew when we were pressuring him because he certainly got the ball out pretty quick."
New England Patriots
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When he got the chance to meet the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII a few years later, this time as the Giants DC, Spagnuolo went to great lengths to make sure his signals were not getting swiped by the then 18-0 Patriots. It resulted in a shocking 17-14 New York win that ended the Pats quest at perfect, a defeat that still eats at Tom Brady even to this day (see his Facebook post Tom vs Time).
“There’s no question -- I wasn’t going to let that happen in the 2008 Super Bowl after the 2007 season,” said Spagnuolo. “We made sure we had two signal callers, and we were protecting against that.”
Spagnuolo has been making the media rounds this past week, largely because of what he did to the Pats a decade ago.