The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsSince Bill Belichick took charge of the New England Patriots in 2000, the franchise have won 12 AFC East divisional titles and 4 World Championships, an incredible record, however the coach and the whole organisation is looked upon with mistrust, cynicism and even been called cheats, why is this?
In 2007, the Patriots were accused of video taping their divisional rivals, New York Jets, defensive coaches signals during a game, to help them call their own offensive plays to beat this. The Patriots denied this but were found guilty by the NFL and fined accordingly.
A previous Patriots coach claimed this happened long before they were indeed caught, as far back as 2001, but this was never proved but many had there suspicions.
In 2015, Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, in the AFC Championship match 45-7 in Foxborough. After the match it came to light that 12 of the 13 balls used were deflated, under the required weight, a deflated ball makes it easier to throw, catch and less likely to be fumbled.
Would the Patriots still have beaten the Colts?, yes, but another episode does them no favours of going beyond what is expected of sportsmanship. Patriots went on to be crowned world champions, but this episode does take the gloss of this championship.
The sad thing for me is that the memory people will have of people like Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork, Rob Gronkowski etc, and of indeed, New England Patriots will be of great NFL players and coach and a winning organisation, however will always be those saying however they did this not on a level playing field , and for me that means their reputation will be tarnished in the history books forever.
