if you'd been paying attention, Ken, you'd know that they were studying the signs for use at a later date, not that game in particular. Here's a great email from ESPN:
"I was watching ESPN2's showing of the '98 wild-card game between the Packers and 49ers where Young connects with T.O. to win the game. On Green Bay's last drive, Favre called a dummy audible on his TD pass to Freeman because (his words) he knew the 49ers had decoded all of their signals since they had played so many times in the last few years. Watching this, I was confused, since certain writers had convinced me that Belichick's attempt to steal signals was the first time this ever occurred in football and potentially threatened to ruin not just the Patriots, not just the NFL, not just sports, but according to Gregg Easterbrook, the very fabric of American society. Now we know it's been going on since 1998, at least. So I guess we'll be OK."
This thing is so overblown, it's a joke.
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