Your Football Place

No team in any sport, arguably, has had as much success as the Patriots have over the last few years. Because of the competitive nature of football, it is much harder to run a dynasty in this sport than in any other. For that reason, three championships in four years is as impressive of a mark as in any sport. But recently, many Patriot-haters have taken the Bill Belichek cheating scandal out of proportion and used it to degrade the team’s success.

Let me start out by saying that what Bill, and perhaps the team as a whole did, was wrong. Everyone knows that coaches are under pressure to win and will do anything to win. But cheating purposefully in any way is just wrong. If he were any other coach, he probably would have gotten fired over this. But no one would fire a three-time Superbowl winner for a minor cheating scandal.

With that said, this matter has been taken way out of proportion. The Patriots players were not aware of this going on. They should not suffer because of a mistake their coach made. Look beyond the scandal and you will see that the team regularly shuffles players in and out. Would players really keep this cheating a secret if they knew? Eric Mangini sure didn’t when he left the team, why would a player cut by the team for financial reasons?

The point is, if you want to rag on Belichek and call him a cheat, go ahead. It is probably true. But Patriot fans and players had nothing to do with this and the team still went out and earned their championships. The players still go out and play their butts off to win close games. And they don’t deserve to be booed for “cheating.” You can boo them for other reasons, their success, their arrogance, whatever. But don’t be petty and jeer for the wrong reasons. It isn’t worth it.