I could never be a Patriots fan; I hate their guts. I previously wrote an article about how my 5-year-old self spent the 2003 Super Bowl Sunday crying my eyes out after the Pats beat my Carolina Panthers by a field goal. However, as an avid fan of the game of football, you can appreciate great teams and great players, consequently, the real reason why we hate on some teams is because they’re just so damn good. Like seriously, why can’t they ever suck?
No matter how we feel about the Patriots and the organization, it cannot be denied that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have truly dominated the game for a very long time. We have come to understand that despite our ill will, Robert Kraft and the Patriots are representative of an organization that has built for long-term success, and for the most part, they have done things the right way.
For about a year now, thanks to ESPN and their consistent wall-to-wall coverage of nonsensical events, you’ve probably heard the term “Deflategate.” It’s a lot to cover, but here’s a shortened version. In 2015, the Pats played the Colts in the AFC Championship game and destroyed them 45-7. In the Colts defense, they weren’t really supposed to be there, they had a terrible offensive line and they simply beat a depleted Chiefs defense to get to the championship game anyway, but I digress. About a week later, reports release that the game balls the Pats used that day were inflated at 2 pounds less than the NFL required PSI. It was a cold and rainy day in January, there were a lot of theories about how the weather could’ve affected the inflation, but the NFL said forget the weather, it’s all the patriots fault.
Long story short, the NFL investigated, found the Patriots “guilty” of cheating. The NFL fined the Patriots one million dollars, and took away their 2016 first round pick in the draft along with their fourth round pick in the 2017 draft. The NFL also planned to suspend Tom Brady for four games without pay in the 2016 season and this is where things got interesting. The NFL claimed that Tom Brady was “generally aware” of the under-inflated footballs, giving him an unfair advantage and called him uncooperative in the investigation due to the fact that he refused to hand over his cell phone records and emails to the league.
With most fines and suspensions, players and the National Football League Players Association (a union that represents player’s interests and rights) appeal them, and basically see if they can get the fine or suspension decreased or erased altogether. The issue is that Rodger Goodell, NFL commissioner and the same person who hands out suspensions and fines, is the arbitrator in the appeals. It is extremely difficult for anyone to believe that they will get a fair hearing simply because it’s impossible for the same guy who handed you the punishment to be unbiased towards you.
The NFL decided to disregard that logic and still allow Goodell to preside over the hearings and of course the suspension was upheld. A couple weeks later, Tom Brady had brought the appeal to the U.S. District Court and they vacated the four-game suspension, Tom Brady played all of the 2015 season and almost made it to another Super Bowl, which would have been a huge middle finger to the league. Last week the NFL appealed the decision and the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated the four-game suspension.
Frankly, I believe that it is utterly foolish to suspend Tom Brady with no legitimate evidence of tampering. Firstly, the NFL hired Ted Wells to conduct the investigation, the same guy who was a lawyer for the NFL in years past, but they actually expected us to believe that he would conduct a fair and unbiased investigation. Secondly, science proved that the weather could’ve had a legitimate impact on the inflation of the footballs, however, the NFL never even tried to accept that fact, instead blaming it all on the organization. Lastly, the legitimate issue here is whether or not the inflation of the footballs had an impact on the outcome of the game, and let’s be honest, the Colts would’ve lost anyway, they were just not good.
Basically, in a long and immature game of tit-for-tat the NFL had gotten what it wanted and that is not about the suspension itself. Almighty, cogent, unwavering power is what the NFL truly wanted. To sit on its bully pulpit and tell the same players that make them all their money that it could never go outside of its small bubble and try to go over its proverbial head.
Since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement Rodger Goodell has made himself judge, jury, and executioner and his overwhelming power needs to be dealt with. I hope more people attack his authoritarian ways and work to create a better system for the league and for the players. I stand with Tom Brady because this situation alone speaks to the NFL’s front about its care for integrity. No matter how much I hate the guy, he is a role model, doesn’t really do much wrong.
However, we got guys in the league going to jail, abusing their wives and children, but yet they’re still making money, there’s no fight from Rodger Goodell to keep them out of the league. I stand with Tom Brady because no matter the NFL’s intention this event has affected his legacy, and he’s too great of a player to be known to some as a cheater. The NFL again has made a huge mistake and I hope soon that there is someone who will see the error in their ways.
