Jerome Bettis’ Cheating Accusation At Patriots Doesn’t Hold Up

The New England Patriots were accused of cheating Tuesday.

No, not for anything they’ve done lately, but from a disgruntled former foe that seems to be misremembering things.

Jerome Bettis came out of the woodwork Monday, alleging the Patriots cheated in their matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2004 AFC Championship game on the “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast.

The Hall of Fame running back alleged the Patriots knew the Steelers’ hand signals, which led to a fourth-and-1 stop early in the game. Here’s what he had to say:

Who normally goes to the sideline on timeouts? The defensive captains, right? They told the nose guard … they pulled him to the sideline. Big 400-pound guy, he don’t want to go to the sideline and come all the way back. What he want to go to the sideline for? They yelling, made him go to the sideline and I always thought ‘What he going…’ He went all the way to the sideline and back. They stopped us on fourth down. That’s a critical play in the game. They had our signs and they called a timeout to get them ready for that play because they knew it was coming. No questions in my mind. I remember vividly because I thought, ‘Why is this big dude going to the sideline?’

The funny thing about that recollection, is that it’s entirely wrong.

The Patriots never called a timeout before that stop, with their only first-half timeout coming later in the second quarter, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic. He also happened to misremember that he fumbled on the play, setting up a New England touchdown on the very next play.

Ted Washington, the “big 400-pound guy” Bettis was referring to, wasn’t on the Patriots in 2004. He was instead talking about Keith Traylor, who weighed in at a cool 340 pounds.

The Patriots have had plenty of cheating allegations pop up over the last two decades, but this might be the flimsiest.