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http://www.xtrapointfootball.com/20101216868/2010-archives/december/nfl-rage-are-the-new-england-patriots-cheating-again.html
NFL Rage: Are the New England Patriots Cheating AGAIN?
It's time for some therapy. Every week in the NFL, players, coaches, media, fans, and etc, say or do something that ticks me off. I'm sure that I'm not the only one. So, after all of the games are played from the previous week I give myself and the people that read this article a little therapy. I do this by venting about some of the things people or saying or doing in the ford of NFL football. I just can't give a pass to some of these individuals and somebody has to argue the other side. Let's dive right into some of the topics that people seem to be giving a pass.
There are some things I have on my mind today like why the media still stuck the color of a players skin and why Tim Tebow & Dan Lefevour should start NOW! but what is really bugging me here is the question that no one is asking.
Are the New England Patriots Cheating?
As I expect many Patriots fans to be perturbed by my Rage about two sentences into this, let me first preface this entire piece by restating some facts which I think we have all taken too lightly as time has gone by.
The New England Patriots under the regime of Bill Belichick is an organization of convicted cheaters. The facts that have been both proven and admitted to are the following: The sources of these facts are testimony from then assistant Matt Walsh, the guy who took the video's, Senator Arlen Specter, from his investigation, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Matt Walsh would videotape as part of his responsibility during the game. He then would take the tape, mark it and then hand it off to Belichick's personal assistant, Ernie Adams. He was instructed to do this and did so did this every year starting the 2000 season and continued it for eight years until they were found out.
The Patriots used the videotaped signals they obtained from other teams to their advantage: An offensive player would memorize the signals, watch for them on the sideline and pass them on to assistant coach Charlie Weis, who would then inform quarterback Tom Brady.
"And they had some obviously good results," Senator Arlen Specter said after his investigation.
Matt Walsh himself stated, "If it was of little or no importance, I imagine they wouldn't have continued to do it, and probably not taken the chances of going down onto the field in Pittsburgh or shooting from other teams' stadiums the way we did."
Walsh told us that his superiors coached him on how to evade NFL rules limiting the number of camera operators per team to two, and that team officials instructed him on ways to avoid detection.
With that as the back drop, I was taught that if someone cheated once, they'll usually do it again. It seems to me that in the NFL, the media doesn't read between the lines a lot of times and they wait for a story to break instead of asking if what they are seeing is suspicious or not. The New England Patriots in particular seem to always get a pass. I'm not sure if it's because of Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady or who or whatever, it really doesn't matter.
Think about how many rules have come about because of Tom Brady. How many questionable roughing the passer penalties are called because it was Tom Brady? Michael Jordan traveled on almost every pivot when he played. It was maddening to watch it then and it's no different watching Brady getting catered to now.
Let me ask you a question. Pretend that you are the owner of an NFL franchise and you get to cheat for eight years. You've never won a Super Bowl before, but during this eight year cheating spree, you get to go to four of them and win three. You make money hand over fist, because you become one of the most popular teams (because of bandwagon fans w/o a spine), you sell out all of your tickets, and rake in the profits from sales of jerseys, merchandising, memorabilia, etc. When you finally get caught you'll only be punished by having to pay $500,000 as the owner (Bud Adams got fined $250,000 for flicking the bird). Your coach will remain coach and have to pay $250,000 and of the two first round draft picks you have that year, you only have to give up the one at the bottom of the first round, don't worry you get to still keep the top 10 pick....
There won't even be talk of putting asterisks next to your titles. Would you take the deal? Remember, you get to go to four Super Bowls and win three. More importantly, would you risk it all over again? Sure you would! Who wouldn't?
When the Patriots won their first Super Bowl, they did it as a massive underdog. The quarterback that led them there was a 6th round draft pick that no one felt was anything special. To this day he still gets praise for making no name receivers big time play makers. None of these receivers ever amounted to anything anywhere else. Everyone was sold that these players were special, but the truth of the matter is, they knew what was coming at them.
Exactly how are the Patriots the "Team of the Decade" if they were convicted of and admitted to admitted cheated eight out of 10 years? Why does everyone sweep this travesty under the rug? The Patriots cheated for 3 Super Bowls and got a slap on the wrist! Tom Brady is getting called one of the greatest QBs of all-time! Do we not have a problem with that? Did I travel to another dimension and not get the memo. Is cheating wrong for everyone except for the Patriots? When Patriot fans bring up their Super Bowl wins, the first thing you should say is, "oh, are you talking about when they knew exactly what the defense was going to do?"
The most annoying part of the whole scandal is how the Patriots came out and said that knowing what the defense was going to do, didn't provide them with any type of advantage. Somehow the mainstream media has fallen for this. Are you serious? Why did they do it then? Peyton Manning has been good for years because he reads what the defenses are going to do when he comes to the line. Imagine actually knowing what they are going to do before you break the huddle. Even if they show a blitz, you know it's not coming because you know the effing play! If the cornerback is blitzing, you would know to lob the ball at his man as soon as you snap it.
This brings me to my current point. What does this year's Patriots team have in common with that first Super Bowl team? A lot of unproven players that wasn't suppose to do too much. Tom Brady hasn't thrown a pick in the last 8 games! It's almost as if he knew where the defense was going to be. DOH!
Don't you look at your computer screen in that tone of voice..... Is it so ridiculous to think that this team went back to cheating? What would they be afraid of, if they got caught cheating again? NFL fans have already proven that they'll forgive and forget. What do they have to lose?
Roger Goodell has already proven that he'll take care of his good friend, Robert Kraft. Is Goodell going to jack up the fine to $750,000? Robert Kraft takes baths in $750,000. He tips the pizza man in a $750,000 bill. Kraft would make a 100 times that off of another Super Bowl win. Brady wouldn't get punished and Kraft would just pay Belichick's fine again. Oh, and the Patriots have two first round drafts picks again this year. So they give back the worse of the two, big deal! .
Why is it so unbelievable to think that this team would cheat again? Because you haven't been fed this opinion by Chris Berman, Rich Eisen or whichever talking head you take as gospel. When people get caught in society they don't reform, they get better at not getting caught next time. The Patriots have gotten better at not getting caught.
The Patriots shredded the Jets, Steelers, Dolphins, and Bears defenses. The Patties scored 45, 41, 39, and 36 points against those defenses. This is how those teams rank in points given up and total yards given up. Bears 3rd in PTs 8th in YDs, Jets 6th in PTs 3rd in YDs, Steelers 2nd in PTs 4th in YDs, Dolphins 8th in PTs 5th in YDs. Those are some damn good defenses by NFL standards. It's pretty ironic that they all had complete meltdowns against the Pats. It's almost as if the offense knew what the defense was going to do. I'm just saying......
Yes, this is just one man's opinion and no I don't have video evidence of them cheating in 2010; but I have the common sense to realize that if it was good enough for Kraft, Belichick, and Brady in the last decade, it should be good enough for them in this one. Why not, we'll scream and yell for a few weeks and then it will all be forgotten. Don't worry Pats fans, even if they get caught cheating again, we'll still label them as the team of the decade
Well that's another week of football therapy in the books. I hope I hit on some of the issues that raised your blood pressure. If you have something that bugs you, shoot me an email, if it set me off too we'll talk about it here. After all, this is your therapy as much as mine. See you next week, where I'm sure someone will have done something stupid and I'll beat it into the ground until I feel I've vented for everyone who was upset by it.
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发表于 2011-1-1 01:28
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