NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came down on the New England Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichick, and he came down hard.

He fined Belichick the league maximum $500,000 and the Patriots an additional $250,000 for breaking the league video-taping rules on Sunday against the Jets.

In addition, if the Patriots make the playoffs this year they lose their first-round draft pick next year. If they do not (yeah, right) they lose their 2nd- and 3rd-round picks.

Coach Belichick had this to say about the penalty:

“I accept full responsibility for the actions that led to tonight’s ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused. I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career.

As the commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week’s game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.

Part of my job as head coach is to ensure that our football operations are conducted in compliance of the league rules and all accepted interpretations of them. My interpretation of a rule in the Constitution and Bylaws was incorrect.

With tonight’s resolution, I will not be offering any further comments on this matter. We are moving on with our preparations for Sunday’s game.”

I’m not sure how they could do it, but they need to guarantee that the $500,000 check submitted to the league does not have Bob Kraft’s name on the signature line.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com