The Hills Have Eyes, & Cameras ------------------------------ By Woody Paige The Denver Post Tinker, failure, jester, spy. I am not a spy. Well, just that once. However, outrageous assertions by the Raiders prior to the 1977 AFC championship game were blatantly false. I was forcibly removed (by rent-a-cops) from the parking lot at Oakland's headquarters when a team executive claimed I had been "sent by the Broncos to spy on practices." In early January of 1994, two days before the Broncos played the Raiders -- then in Los Angeles -- in a playoff game, I did sneak into an apartment complex outside the Raiders' complex and surreptitiously watched a workout -- for my own amusement and to get even. (Without my help, the Broncos lost 42-24.) I did not spy on the San Diego Chargers -- even though their 15-acre practice compound in Mission Valley, with two 100-yard grass fields and a 50-yard area covered in artificial turf, is conveniently located near the hotel where I stay and is surrounded by wooded hills where an interloper can hide and seek information. And I believe, beyond (reasonable) doubt, that Mike Shanahan never spied personally or used minions to spy on the Chargers' practice, as is charged. Spygate has come to the Broncos. According to a September Yahoo! Sports dot-com article by sports writer Jason Cole, the Chargers "increased their security several years ago at a hill overlooking the practice field . . . during weeks they played the Denver Broncos. Why? It turns out Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had been hiring spies to videotape the Chargers' practices. The NFL had been aware of it for several years (at least one NFL official had seen one of the tapes), but didn't step in because it was considered a team issue." No sources were quoted. When the San Diego Union-Tribune asked Chargers general manager A.J. Smith last week about the issue, he declined a specific response, but said: "Ever since I was hired as general manager (in 2003) I went into (added security) procedures. Why'd I go into those procedures? I won't go down those roads." The Broncos officially would not comment. Bill Belichick opened this can of platyhelminthes when he ordered the taping of opponents' defensive hand gestures during games. But spying has always existed in football and other professional sports. A marvelous book, "The Echoing Green," documents how the 1951 New York Giants utilized a telescope to steal opposing catchers' signs -- and relay them to the batters. Papa Bear George Halas, it has been claimed, paid young men to listen to and film other teams' practices. The old Kansas City Chiefs were accused of being the worst spying offenders -- by Al Davis, who was accused of bugging AFL teams' locker rooms. The Broncos purportedly had two spies a long time ago at a San Diego workout, writing plays on the inside of paper cups. A former NFL coach told me at the recent Super Bowl in Arizona that his team cheated regularly. "We did everything you can imagine to get information on the teams we were playing. The more technology, the easier you can get stuff. It's common in the league," he said. Belichick was caught. Now, Congress is involved. A few days before the Super Bowl, a new accusation -- that Belichick and the Patriots taped the Rams' walk-through on the eve of the 2002 Super Bowl -- surfaced. Last summer I met a golf club assistant in Maui, and it turns out he was the guy alleged to have done the videotaping. His lawyer is negotiating a deal with the NFL. Belichick said the videotaping of the Jets last season was "a misinterpretation" of league rules. He has denied the Super Bowl charge. An NBA player said his team knew the opposing team's plays better than its own players. "We stole all their play numbers. We had a spy at their practice, sweeping out the stands. I saw the coach hold down three fingers, and the forward I was guarding ran to the baseline. I told him he should be out at the 3-point line." The Rockies had a third-base coach who could steal signals from the other third-base coach. Shanahan admitted years back that he hired lip-readers to distinguish what coaches said on the sideline. Belichick's title with the Broncos in 1978 was "director of film." Who knows what he did then? Other teams have disguised employees as photographers and -- ye, gads -- sportswriters to participate in espionage during games. Nathan Hale would have made a good NFL spy. "I regret I have but one life to lose for my Patriots." If Shanahan were a master spy instead of a mastermind, he did a pretty nice job of it until lately. From 1995-2005, the Broncos won 16 of 22 games against the Chargers -- and five of six after those new security procedures were instituted by Smith. Maybe the Broncos were vastly superior to the Chargers. The last two seasons, the Broncos lost all four games to San Diego and finished 9-7 and 7-9. Where was Mata Hari when the Broncos needed her -- and could she play defensive tackle? I'd rather the Broncos concentrate on free-agent signings than spying.