DURING THE 2007 SEASON OPENER, a New England Patriots employee was caught red-handed videotaping the New York Jet’s sideline defensive signals — a clear violation of NFL rules. Spygate was born. That the Patriots completed the season undefeated, a feat unmatched since the Miami Dolphin’s perfect season in 1972, only fueled more conspiracy-theory speculation. It was not until they fell to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl’s closing sixty seconds, in what many consider the greatest modern NFL game ever played, that the specters of scandal and scheming were laid to rest.

The Patriot’s skullduggery captured headlines, but it was a relatively minor anecdote on the season. What's far more fascinating is not what is banned, but rather what is allowed, or more correctly routine — the normal 'spies and lies' activity conducted by every NFL team every single week. Competitive intelligence is a significant part of the strategy that makes the NFL the most successful team sport in the world.

It begins with game film analysis, an activity that even in the digital age consumes thousands of hours each season. Scouting reports sift through mountains of intricate data trying to extract that one crucial nugget of advantage. New strategies are tested on the field for the coming weekend’s game, only to be changed, then changed again as more information is consumed and analyzed. NFL players earned the nickname "Gridiron Warriors" by adopting only the best of the U.S. military’s operational strategy and intelligence analysis and honing them to a razor sharp edge. There is no other sport, and very few businesses, that so successfully ensures their product is consistently the best it can be each and every time a customer experiences it.

George Will intimated that "professional baseball is work." If that's true, then professional football is theater. As theater the NFL accepts an enormous responsibility for each game's rhythm, tempo, progression and a myriad of other variables that must be tightly controlled. Every player and coach is an actor, following a script that is still being written as they run out of the tunnels. Managing this complexity is a fascinating marriage of competitive analysis and multidimensional strategy that remains the envy of the sports world.

It's why fans sit through scorching Arizona days and frigid Green Bay nights. It's why football is a thrilling, escapist addiction for millions of people around the world. While game day captures the glory and glamour, most of the real work is done out of the public eye. Before the tailgate parties. Ahead of the pre-game show.

Prior To The Snap.