Over the past several years, I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog. In fact, I created this blogger.com account in 2011. Over the last four years or so, there have been many topics that I thought might be my "first" blog entry: my faith, my changing political views, climate change, the Cubs, fatherhood, etc. I have had no shortage of ideas, and yet, I'm a perfectionist and a procrastinator. Some might tell you that I procrastinate because I am perfectionist -- that it is an "all or nothing" proposition for me. If it isn't perfect, why put it out there?
That changes tonight.
Hello, my name is James, and I am a New England Patriots fan.
I should be proud of that statement, but tonight, I am anything but.
I grew up a Chicago Bears fan, and my transition to Patriot Nation took place gradually over the better part of decade.
You see, I have been a Colts hater since they moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis. Growing up in Indiana, the Colts were always on TV. Naturally, each Sunday I would root for the Bears, but I would also root for whatever team was playing the Colts. As the Patriots were a division rival of the Colts throughout the 90s, I began rooting for the Patriots, at least two weeks out the year.
I remember watching the game where Drew Bledsoe was knocked out -- effectively ending his run with the Patriots. Tom Brady took the reins, and I was hooked. Why? I have no idea. How could I root for a Wolverine?
Moving to Boston in 2003 completed my transformation to Patriot Nation. The Patriots were now my team, and upon moving back to the Chicagoland area sixteen months later, well, thankfully I had the NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV.
So, it is not always easy for me to be a fan of the Patriots. The vast majority of my closest family and friends are Colts fans, and while I relish the rivalry, it is a lot more fun to celebrate the Pats' winning tradition than it is to try and defend their controversies.
And for the record, I cannot defend cheating. I cannot. The vast majority of my career has been spent in roles of integrity, where I have been forced to investigate and assess the ethical and legal decisions of others.
The integrity of the game is very important to me.
Spygate was difficult enough, and it forever tarnished Bill Belichick's legacy in the eyes of most non-Patriots fans. Perhaps rightfully so. But over the years, I have grown numb to that story -- he got caught, he paid his debt to society, and I forgave.
Fool me once...
Now comes the story that 11 of 12 footballs did not meet the NFL's standards -- and by standards, I mean rules -- during the AFC Championship Game against the Colts on Sunday.
A few points I need to make:
1.) It does not matter to me whether or not the Patriots benefitted from the deflated footballs. That is not the issue. Yes, the Pats owned the Colts and Andrew Luck over their last four contests. Yes, the Pats outscored the Colts 28-0 in the second half of Sunday's game -- AFTER the footballs were taken out of play.
It does not matter. The footballs failed to meet specifications.
2.) It does not matter to me if no game official noticed the balls despite handling them on every Patriots possession in the first half. They inspected the balls 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to the game, and they checked out. They followed the protocol outlined by the NFL.
But, it does not matter, 11 of 12 footballs failed to comply with the rules of the game.
3.) It does not matter how Aaron Rodgers feels about the rules or that Brad Johnson used to pay ball boys to manipulate each game ball to his exact liking and specification or that Minnesota used to heat its footballs or that... or that... or that...
It does not matter. Somebody somewhere broke the rules.
Fool me twice...
I find it extremely difficult to believe that the balls deflated on their own, and Gronk certainly did not score 11 touchdowns. (see his twitter post)
Maybe a ball boy acted on his own. Maybe s/he knew that Tom Brady gave an interview a few years ago where he mentioned that he liked to throw deflated footballs in the cold & rain. Maybe, just maybe...
But I know better.
The NFL will conclude its investigation over the next day or two. My guess is that they will have less evidence against the Patriots than they had in adjudicating Ray Rice's discipline.
And without evidence, it is hard to hold any one person responsible, but the organization should be punished -- harshly.
If it is proven that Belichick ordered or even had knowledge of this act, well, he should get no less than what Sean Payton received for Bounty Gate. (I completely agree with the sentiment of Jackie MacMullen's article on espn.com.)
For the record, I love Bill Belichick. I think he is one of the greatest football minds out there, and I have never seen a coach study the game and prepare a game plan better than he does.
But, I cannot condone cheating -- especially not a second time.
On Mike & Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio), Greeny compared Belichick and Deflate-Gate to Nixon and Watergate. By most accounts, Nixon was going to win the 1972 election easily. Thus, there was no need for the campaign to orchestrate the Watergate break-ins. Yes, I am oversimplifying here.
Deflating 11 of 12 footballs for Sunday's game probably had no effect on the game, but that does not matter. It is further evidence of a complete lack of respect for the integrity of the game.
I truly hope I am wrong about all of this. I do. Like I said, I love Belichick. I love Tom Brady. I love the organization that Robert Kraft has built.
Deflate-Gate will not cause me to root for the Seahawks next Sunday, but it does give me pause when I think about my respect for the Patriots and what they stand for. If punishment is warranted, Mr. Goodell, make it hurt so that I never have to go through this again.
