Jets players expressed their concerns to the NFL Players' Association regarding hidden locker room cameras at team facilities, according to a report from the New York Daily News.
The report says players noticed "what appeared to be surveillance equipment hidden in smoke detectors in the Jets locker room." In recent weeks, players on the team alerted their findings to the NFLPA, and the NFLPA forwarded those concerns to the NFL in late October.
Sources told the NY Daily News that the NFL claimed the cameras have been there since 2008 and concluded players were aware of the cameras, and that the cameras weren't violating any rules. As a result, no further action is required by the Jets, sources told the News.
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More importantly, league sources told the Daily News that the league "concluded that players were aware of the cameras." However, if that was the case then why did players feel the need to alert the NFLPA? Also, the Daily News spoke with former and current players who said they were not aware of the cameras.
"I’m pissed," a former Jets player told the Daily News. "That’s our space. Why would you have a camera in there? That’s bulls—."
The Jets, per the Daily News, insist the cameras are there for "internal security purposes." In a statement through a spokesperson, the Jets told the Daily News, "We are aware of the situation, and will have no further comment at this time."
Jumbo Elliott, who played on the Jets from 1996-2000 (and again in 2002), responded to the Daily News' story by saying the team did this when he was there as well.
They did this back when I played too. Alarming.
— Jumbo Elliott (@JumboElliott76) November 7, 2020
Elliott wasn't the only one with a strong reaction to this report.
This crosses so many lines and needs to be addressed by the @NFLPA and @NFL. Not only is it a violation of privacy (a locker room where players change), but it compromises the theory that the locker room belongs to the players and is their sanctuary. https://t.co/7QRPOk2kwI
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 7, 2020
ProFootballTalk was also able to confirm some of the Daily News' reports. PFT confirmed the NFLPA received complaints from Jets players and "the union is contemplating the appropriate action to take in response to the discovery."
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that the Jets view the cameras as serving a legitimate security purpose, aimed at protecting the players. The cameras aren’t monitored; the evidence captured is reviewed and used only if an incident occurs (like, say, a linebacker punching a quarterback in the mouth) in the locker room.
The Jets contend, per one source, that the cameras violate no laws and comply with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Jets contend, per the source, that the league and players are aware the cameras exist; the source says that, over the years, players have asked the team to review security footage in the event something has gone missing from the locker room.
PFT adds that punishment is unlikely as the league believes the presence of surveillance cameras falls within the scope of "management rights" under the collective bargaining agreement.
