I should state right off the bat…I HATE THE PATRIOTS! I am a Jets fan so it comes with the territory. Belichek was our coach for 5 minutes…no really it was 5 minutes and then he handed a note and bolted out the door. Brady might never have seen the field if our linebacker Mo Lewis did not send then Patriots quarterback, Drew Bledsoe into the stratosphere with a hit. The Patriots win a lot. The Jets beat them more than most but it is not even close in totality.
I can handle the Jets losing cleanly and in spectacular fashion. It’s the Jets. It’s what they do. The Packers fans was stunned by the manner in which they lost in Seattle
Former Pats assistant and at the time Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini blew the whistle on the Pats habit of spying in the opposing teams defensive coaches so they could study their signals. This would give the offense the advantage of knowing what to audible out of thus increasing their chance for success. The defense called an all out blitz and they know it is coming so they may hit the hot receiver and he can run to daylight for a touchdown. If they did not know what was coming maybe Brady gets sacked. Big difference. This revelation lead to Belichek being fined $500,000 and the Pats losing a first round draft pick. Pretty steep one would think.
In reality it pails in comparison to the amount of money raised by winning playoff games and titles. Those mean the stadium is open longer for more revenue. More concessions. More advertisement dollars. The workers in the area make more money at the local bars. The Patriots sell more merchandise. Players get long, rich contracts. For the rest of their lives they are winners and are compensated as such. They get more prime time games which means more exposure which means the chance to make even more fans. Success is a windfall.
Conversely the losing teams face a stadium that will not host playoff games. That means less revenue, less concessions, less merchandise. Less work for the area workers. Less revenue for the area businesses. The opposing teams are not champions but instead also rans which means they will not be hailed as conquerers. Many will be released. Coaches will be fired. Lives are altered.
This latest episode of cheating says the Patriots deflated game balls which would make it easier for them to throw and catch in the inclement weather that they played in. Is that why they beat Indy? No. Indy stunk that day but it does show a willingness to disregard the rules in the game that leads to the windfall of the Super Bowl. Why wouldn’t they cheat whenever they felt they could get away with it? Clearly they knew this game would have greater scrutiny than most. They barely beat the Jets twice this year. Maybe they were cheating. Maybe it helped them win. Maybe if the Jets had won Rex Ryan would still be the coach. It goes on forever.
The NFL relies heavily on being a great game to wager on. Nobody wants to wager on something that is not on the up and up. Ask the WWE. Does anybody with a brain wager on their title matches? If the fans no longer believe all the teams are playing on the same er playing field they will lose interest in betting, attending, and supporting the sport. That is the one thing that can hurt the NFL. The Patriots have already shown that fines and loss of draft picks will not deter them. If these allegations are true Brady & Belichek must be suspended for a year starting before the Super Bowl. Belichek because it is widely reported he knows everything that goes on with his team. Brady because it would have been on his orders as nobody would mess with the footballs unless he wanted them a certain way. If there is another incident after that Kraft should be forced to vacate his championships as clearly he would indicate either a willingness to allow this or complete lack of control.
The Patriots no longer get the benefit of the doubt and doubt is the one condition the NFL can’t play their games in.