If there’s any consolation for Kurt & Brenda, I’m pretty sure the batteries in Belichick’s video camera ran out while trying to bootleg U2’s soundcheck. The Boston Herald’s John Tomase provides a lovely distraction just a day prior to Super Bowl XLII.
According to a source, a member of the New England video department filmed the Rams™ final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXVI. The next day, the Patriots upset St. Louis, 20-17, on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri for their first championship.
A walkthrough involves practicing plays at reduced speed without contact or pads. It is common for teams to film their own walkthroughs and practices.
According to a source close to the team during the 2001 season, here™s what happened. On Feb. 2, 2002, one day before the Patriots™ Super Bowl game against heavily favored St. Louis in New Orleans, the Patriots visited the Superdome for their final walkthrough.
After completing the walkthrough, they had their team picture taken and the Rams then took the field. According to the source, a member of the team™s video staff stayed behind after attending the team™s walkthrough and filmed St. Louis™ walkthrough.
At no point was he asked to identify himself or produce a press pass, the source said. The cameraman rode the media shuttle back to the hotel with news photographers when the Rams walkthrough was completed, the source said.
It™s not known what the cameraman did with the tape from there. It™s also not known if he made the recording on his own initiative or if he was instructed to make the recording by someone with the Patriots or anyone else.
The next day, the Patriots opened a 14-3 halftime lead on the Rams, who were 14-point favorites and operators of an offense known as œThe Greatest Show on Turf.
The Rams didn™t begin moving the ball until the fourth quarter, when their 14-point rally pulled the teams into a 17-17 tie with less than two minutes remaining. Tom Brady [stats] then led the most famous drive in Patriots history for the winning field goal.