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The Patriots
and Cheating
By Mike Stegall
By now, almost everyone knows about the big “Deflate-Gate” scandal that
involved the New England Patriots of the N.F.L. and their playoff game
last January. The Patriots were accused of intentionally letting
the air out of some of the game balls, thus making it easier to grip in
cold and wet weather, to gain an advantage for their All Star
Quarterback, Tom Brady. In a week 11 game against the
Indianapolis Colts, their equipment manager suspected foul play when
safety Mike Adams picked off two of Tom Brady’s passes and the balls,
he said, felt “squishy”. After months of investigation by the
National Football league and lead investigator Tom Wells, they have
concluded that the 2 equipment managers, Jim McNally and John
Jastremski, had indeed illegally deflated the balls after they were
checked by officials in pre-game.
Although the report specifically did not say Tom Brady was involved, it
found it incomprehensible that he did not know about it, and text
messages between the 2 and Tom Brady strongly suggest that Brady was
the instigator. So why is this a big deal? It’s just air in
footballs, right? Who cares? Well, the league should care,
and we all should feel a little cheated by this. As a former
official, it is our job to see the game is administered fairly for both
teams. Let the players decide by skill alone the outcome of the
contest, with neither team having an illegal advantage. That is
why there are rules.
You and I may not like the rules, and some don’t make much sense, but
the rules are the rules, and must be administered as fairly as humanly
possible. The bottom line in all of this is the Patriots cheated,
period.
Although the Patriots were much better than the Indianapolis Colts, and
would have probably won anyway, the Patriots victory is now
tarnished. There are several to blame for this, including the
League itself, the officials, The Patriots, and those involved,
including Tom Brady. The league is responsible for allowing this
investigation to take way too long and hoping it would go away because
the Patriots owner, Bob Kraft, is on several committees, including the
broadcast, compensation, and competition committees.
The league is also at fault for allowing the game balls back into the
hands of the team once checked. The officials should have been much
more diligent in their duties, and should have known something was
amiss. They blew it. You can feel a football and tell if it is
underinflated very easily, ask any High School umpire. Finally, the
Patriots are really at fault because they have a history of not quite
playing by the rules, and allowing Tom Brady and the others to
KNOWINGLY cheat.
The real story though is what does this teach our youth about
competition? That win at all costs is all that matters?
That cheating to win is acceptable? Maybe I’m old fashioned, but
when I played I wanted to beat the best of the other team without any
outside influences. I wanted to win because my team was better,
not having to win by cheating. If you have to cheat at anything,
then you are saying you’re not good enough to win by yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of ways to win within the rules
that some might consider cheating but really aren’t. An example
would be an offensive lineman trying to get away with holding without
getting caught. That is an official’s judgment call, sometimes
you win, sometimes not. That’s not cheating because it’s in the
eye of the official, and that varies. The Patriots knowingly and
on purpose cheated, and the sad part is they didn’t have too.
They were much better than the Colts that day. So why do
it? I really don’t know why.
The only thing I can think of is that is the Culture of the team.
This is not their first transgression, remember “Spygate”? Makes you
wonder what else they have gotten by with, doesn’t it? Now,
the league must punish a Super Bowl Champion, they have no
choice. If they don’t, they are saying it is o.k. for the
Patriots to cheat, but nobody else. I wonder how the New Orleans
Saints will feel about that. Their coach, Sean Payton was
suspended for a year for NOT KNOWING that his team put out a cash
bounty on certain players. Coach Belichick said he knew nothing
of the footballs being deflated. Will he get the same
treatment? Tom Brady, the all world, do no wrong, headliner of
the league, has been the poster boy for what to do and how to
act. Will he be punished? And what about the equipment
people, who actually did the deed? Tough questions for a league
that prides itself on its “Brand”.
This stupidity by people who should know better sets a bad example for
everyone. This is the perfect example of why you never want to
cheat. Look at all the people who are now in this mess who really
had nothing to do with it. The scouts, the front office
people, the security people, the stadium workers, are all affected by
this. Would you put your friends and family in a situation that
would cause people to look at you with a wary eye? Do you want
people thinking you are a cheater, or part of a culture of
cheating? I personally do not think this matter should have gone
this far. Now that it has, the league has to punish their top
team in front of the whole world because someone cheated. Coach
Belichick probably needs suspended, the two employees need to be fired,
The League’s marquee quarterback needs to be suspended for some games,
maybe half of them, and a huge fine needs to be paid by the team
for “lack of institutional control”.
Sound harsh? Ask the New Orleans Saints if that’s too much for
cheaters.
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