In 1987, Pete Rose was coach of the Cincinnati Reds, but as
we learned later he was also an addicted gambler. The results of his placing of
bets on baseball – allegedly on his own team from time to time – led to his
being banned from Major League Baseball. That lifetime ban continues today
despite ongoing efforts by Rose and others to get him reinstated and
potentially get included in the Hall of Fame.
This black mark for baseball was made even worse when it
went through what is often referred to as the “Steroids Era,” a period of time
that likely began in the late 1980’s and lasted until just a few years ago.
Some of the bigger names in baseball – Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, Alex
Rodriguez, to name a few – have been linked to steroids and have been kept out
of the Hall of Fame as a result of their reputations. With no link to steroids,
these three as well as several others would likely be locks for the Hall of
Fame, based on the numbers they posted while under the influence of
performance-enhancing drugs. What those numbers would look like without PED’s
is something we will never know.
For baseball, this represents the cheating that has taken
place during my adult lifetime. The National Football League, on the other
hand, has another cheating issue that has marred its reputation, but this one
has always been centered on one team – the New England Patriots.
The cheating began in 2000 when the Patriots began
videotaping the hand signals from coaches signaling in the plays. This
systematic videotaping coaches relaying in the plays was a clear violation of
NFL rules and it continued through 2007 when the Patriots were caught
videotaping the signals of New York Jets’ playcallers during the season opener.
Spygate, as it is called now, became known to the NFL itself as that time, and
was one of the first major conflicts involving commissioner Roger Goodell.
For this years-long cheating that allowed the Patriots to
know the plays beforehand, coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the team
was fined $250,000 and the team had a first-round pick taken away. It seemed
like a slap on the wrist for a cheating scandal that likely made the Patriots a
dynasty-like team during those eight years (six playoff appearances, four AFC
championships, three NFL championships).
Having not learned their lesson and faced with the reality
of not having won any Super Bowls since they were caught cheating in the
Spygate scandal, the Patriots found a new way to “bend the rules.” Presumably
to accommodate quarterback Tom Brady, Patriots staffers were instructed to
deflate the footballs to a more preferred – and illegal – level of air. Thus,
we have what is now called “DeflateGate.”
The cheating worked yet again. The Patriots won a fourth
Super Bowl that season. However, Goodell was steadfast at not just offering up
a slap on the wrist this time and instead were handed a million dollar fine,
the loss of first- and fourth-round picks, and Brady was given a four-game
suspension.
I give this history lesson on the eve of yet another Super
Bowl appearance by the Patriots, who have thus far never won a Super Bowl in
years in which they weren’t eventually caught cheating. History tells us that
they will either lose or that if they win, they did so by cheating to give
themselves an advantage they couldn’t otherwise attain on their own.
Root for whichever team you choose to pull for this Sunday
and may the best team win. But if the Patriots are the victors, be assured
there will be a team of NFL investigators pouring over everything because they
know exactly who they are dealing with when it comes to the Patriots and
competing on an unfair level. Once a cheater, always a cheater.
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