With the misadventures of Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Chris Henry, and any other miscreant we've forgotten about finally fading into the background, it seemed our focus could shift to the birth of a new NFL season. But with just one weekend of the 2007 schedule in the books, controversy has surfaced again in the form of misdoings on the sidelines by the New England Patriots.

On Sunday, a member of the Patriots organization was caught shooting video of the New York Jets' bench as the team sent in defensive signals. NFL security confiscated the video camera and videotape, and shipped it to commissioner Roger Goodell, who, in turn, invited Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to New York for a little sit-down.

Tuesday ESPN's Chris Mortenson confirmed that Goodell has concluded the Patriots did in fact violate rules that all teams had specifically been warned about by the new commissioner. And now the team faces sanctions that could include the loss of multiple draft picks, suspensions, and/or fines.

In my view, players who give themselves a competitive advantage through illegal sources (and are caught) are suspended and fined, so the same should apply in a situation such as this. If Belichick knew about this, which it's hard to imagine he didn't, then he should be suspended and fined. And as a deterrent to others who might be tempted to do anything similar in the future -- or are already doing it at this time -- Goodell should show he means business by stripping the team of a valuable draft pick or two.

The really sad part about this is it leaves a cloud hanging over what the franchise has accomplished in recent years, and leaves a nasty little stain on this century's first dynasty. We'll always wonder now, was Belichick a genius or was he operating on an unfair playing field?

Patriots Logo courtesy of the National Football League