DeflateGate is picking up steam (air?) today as New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick subtly pointed the finger toward Tom Brady in today's press conference. Regardless of who is to blame in this entire situation, one constant in Belichick's tenure with the Pats, besides winning, has been a bending of the rules. Now, it's fair to wonder if the Patriots are getting sick of these apparent rules violations.
"How many more times does [Patriots owner] Bob Kraft want to feel as deflated as the footballs his team used last Sunday in the AFC Championship Game?" Ron Borges of the Boston Herald wrote.
"How many more times does one of the classiest owners in sports want to stand up and apologize, as he did in 2007 to a room full of his fellow NFL owners following his team's conviction in Spygate, for the sporting crimes and misdemeanors of his coach?"
Belichick was famously fined $500,000 in 2007, the biggest fine in NFL history, for having an assistant video tape the defensive signals of the New York Jets. The franchise was also docked $250,000 as well as their first-round draft pick that year. Now the Pats are under the microscope yet again after it was discovered that 11 of their 12 game balls used against the Indianapolis Colts were not inflated enough to satisfy NFL regulations.
Some have come to New England's defense by arguing that this is a common practice among NFL franchises. Yet Borges doesn't buy that as a good enough excuse.
"Here's the problem: if everybody's doing these things, why does the same guy keep getting caught? And he's supposed to be a genius?"
Rumors of other, err, unfair competitive advantages have dogged the Patriots in recent seasons as well. Extra radio frequencies between the coaches box and the sidelines, additional illegal videotaping, suspicious communication malfunctions for opposing coaches. There is a laundry list of unverified claims against Belichick and the Patriots. Even though the majority of them have never been proven, it still forces one to stop and think.
So what should be done now?
"...If I were commissioner and I was sufficiently convinced the Patriots tampered with those footballs after the referee's examination, I would tell Kraft, in 48 hours I am going to suspend your coach for the Super Bowl unless you do it sooner," Borges wrote.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice...
It remains to be seen how Kraft feels about this growing scandal. But if Belichick was involved in any way, there will have to be consequences for his actions. A Super Bowl suspension would be unprecedented, but it would it also be warranted?
