The Asterisk on New England’s Winning Season

I can’t tell you how much I hate the New England Patriots. I have always hated them, but now I hate them more than ever.

Last Sunday’s matchup between the Pats and the Colts was truly an exciting game to watch and, at the time, I respected New England’s fourth-quarter comeback to beat Indy 24-20. What came after the game is simply ridiculous.

Coach Bill Belichick and the rest of his unbeaten New England cronies suspected Indianapolis of pumping up the crowd noise inside the RCA Dome during the game. This – coming from a coach who admittedly cheated earlier this year – is one of the most absurd allegations I have heard. So absurd, I am not sure to take it seriously.

Apparently, an “odd reverberating sound pattern could be heard on the CBS broadcast, but not inside the stadium,” reported The New York Times. A statement released by NFL officials said CBS had explained the “unusual audio moment” as being the result of tape feedback. With that, the NFL cleared the Colts on Monday of the charges made by the Patriots.

“We trust this will put an end to the ridiculous and unfounded accusations that the Colts artificially enhanced crowd noise at the RCA Dome in any way,” the Colts told the Times in a statement.

Belichick also said after the game that the Patriots’ coach-to-quarterback communications weren’t working.

“What all was going on, I can’t tell you but I can tell you that from a functional standpoint, the coach-to-quarterback was basically useless,” Belichick told the Times.

Boohoo. I could respect the fact that they made adjustments without their communication line to win the game, but to come out and whine like he did and then make accusations of increased noise is embarrassing. They are, after all, in the NFL and are paid high salaries to run an offense. The team could have done without the bitching and moaning after a grand victory.

Let us not forget that these allegations are coming from known cheaters in this season’s “Spygate” controversy. Early in the NFL season, the Patriots were fined $250,000 for recording defensive signals to opposing players on the field. They must also forfeit a first-round draft pick next year if they make the playoffs, or second- and third-rounders if they don’t.

A Patriots’ video camera aimed at New York Jets coaches (one of which who is a former Patriots defensive coordinator) was confiscated by league officials during the first quarter of the team’s 38-14 win over the Jets last September.

The Pats undefeated season and their cheating is on everybody’s mind, even if they don’t admit it. Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips told Peter King on Inside the NFL just before their loss against the Pats that it is on everybody’s mind.

“Hey, New England was caught cheating and it is a black mark on their success,” Phillips told King.

But then Phillips later retracted his statement by saying on ESPN’s Mike and Mike Show that, “I think it’s ludicrous to demean a team, an organization that has done a great job and won all those games, and deserved every bit of it. They won all those championships. They deserve every bit of what they got.”

More recently, former Miami and only season-long undefeated coach Don Shula pulled the same stunt by initially telling the New York Daily News that, “The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.” Shula compared the Patriots scandal to that of the asterisk on Barry Bond’s homerun record.

But, like Phillips, Shula changed his tune after he made those comments.

“If they run the table, and they win all the games, then they are doing it within the rules of the NFL,” Shula told ESPN’s Mike and Mike. “And there shouldn’t be any asterisk to it. That would be the accomplishment that they made. It would be the best in all of sports.”

I, for one (I know I’m not alone), have already attached an asterisk on any good thing the New England Patriots accomplish from here on out. They cheated. They are no better than other past cheaters, like Pete Rose. It is too bad for them if they become the second team in NFL history to go undefeated because they cheated early on.

Nobody really knows (besides Belichick) how long the Pats have been cheating but I guarantee the Jets game wasn’t their first time. So yes, the Patriots may win out and they may be their fan’s champions, but the rest of us aren’t fooled, just like Barry Bonds didn’t fool the rest of the world.

At some point the Pats’ luck will run out. I can’t wait to see the tear-soaked Grinders in Boston when their undeserved triumph ends.