If you haven’t heard by now, that saga that you thought was over just found a way to work it’s way back into the limelight. In just a week since the Tom Brady four game suspension was overturned, ESPN dropped a bombshell on what was thought to be a closed case in 2007’s “SpyGate”.
If you haven’t read the article, please do so as it lays out tapestry so eloquent I can’t begin to do it justice. The important takeaway is from multiple sources that come out and make the Patriots and the NFL look pretty bad. It seems the NFL was not fond of letting one of their ” Golden” franchises be tarnished or let the league come under scrutiny of the government. The relationship that once seemed to symbolize a working friendship now just seems the antithesis of that: A deep scorn for one another. Robert Kraft once seemed too chummy with Rodger Goodell and now it seems there is no return for such a relationship.
It became much more clear as to why the NFL decided to go after the Patriots so hard and conversely why the team fought back. Today there were no winners, just losers. To say the “Deflator” seemed damning is nothing compared to some of the accusations that ESPN has laid on the Pats and more namely Bill Belichick. “Darth Hoodie” played the league and the commissioner like Palpatine playing Anakin Skywalker (sorry for the Star Wars reference) in Revenge of the Sith.
All of this seems petty to some and others (most) are sick of the entire ordeal. Make no mistake, deflated footballs or not, the Patriots have and did whoop the Colts recently not because of ball pressure or other intel they might have collected in somewhat shady methods, but rather because they were the better team. I hate admitting that as a lifelong fan, but that is the truth. Peyton Manning was asked about all of this suspected cheating from his days in Indianapolis, but as the classy individual that he is, he deflected the answer instead of saying “Hell yes I knew they were cheaters. Why do you think we always had trouble in New England?”. That would never come from his mouth even if he felt it might have some merit. Tony Dungy had long suspected strange occurrences there in Foxborough and has eluded to that after his coaching career ended in 2009. Dungy is the type of person not to sensationalize information so I’d say there could be some truth to some of his claims.
So what can the Colts do about all of these allegations? Nothing. However, the team can move forward this year and forget all of this crap and just play damn good football and let the chips fall where they may. The Colts could do more by walking up to the Patriots and punching them in the mouth, drop the mic and walk off the field with Tom Brady and Belichick pulling out the “Play Better” speech or the “We’re preparing for X”. It’s time that fans let it go. The “Patriot Way” appears to be lip service and we know exactly what that entails.
