New England Patriots are Cheaters!

Two-tousand, the very first year of the 21st century. Bill Belichick left the New York Jets and became Head Coach of the future (fake) dynasty, the New England Patriots. That year they drafted ten players. One of them was famous quarterback Tom Brady drafted 199th overall. All of the other Patriots draftees would then be forgotten. Everybody who calls themselves a football fan knows the story about Brady and how he won the starting job after a Drew Bledsoe injury, eventually beating The Greatest Show on Turf in the Superbowl. From that point on, the Patriots were know as the team of the 21st century, but do they deserve to be? In the Brady-Belichick era (up to the date of 1-19-15) the Patriots have a quarterback who threw 50 touchdown passes in a single season, the first undefeated 16 game regular season, a .729 winning percentage, 20-8 post season records, six Super Bowl appearances, and three rings (maybe four). So with all of those amazing stats and moments how could they not be the greatest sports team of the 21st century?

In 2007, Bill Belichick got fined the highest an individual person could be: $500,000. The Patriots organization got fined 250,000 and lost their first round draft pick (31st overall). The Patriots had been caught video taping the New York Jets defensive coaches' signals during a September 9, 2007 game from somewhere on the sidelines. What a coincidence, that was the same year the Patriots went 16-0; the first perfect regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Why would they need to spy when they had the greatest team in America?

The St. Louis Rams claimed that the Patriots had illegally videotaped their walk-through practices before they beat them in the Superbowl, reported by the Boston Herald. There are a lot of people that believe the spying didn't affect their achievements. One, if it didn't, why would they have been doing it, and two, when you know what your opponents defense is calling, you're going to do a play that you know will work against them. It's like screen peeking in Madden, if I see my opponent called an all out blitz then I'm going to call a Hail Mary.

In the previous AFC Championship game, the Patriots demolished the Colts 45-7. Due to me not liking New England I was irate and was hoping for an excuse for why they won, but with a thirty-eight point margin of victory, I didn't think there was an excuse. When I woke up the next morning, I found out I was wrong. The NFL is investigating them on use of inflated balls. When I first saw this I though that there couldn't be a dumber excuse, but as I read more I realized that that could create an easier way to a victory.  All the footballs must be inflated within a range of 12.5-13.5 pounds per square inch and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces. The game was also played in the rain and a wet deflated football could be easier to grip. When you give an NFL quarterback, especially Tom Brady a football like that, it's basically like throwing a football with glue on it. Brady's response to this given to WEEI was "I think I've heard it all at this point ... it's ridiculous, I don't even respond to stuff like this." ESPN - On the first offensive play from scrimmage in the third quarter, following a kick return, referee Walt Anderson briefly stopped play to replace a football which could have been related to this issue. I remember watching that play, the refs blew the whistle, ran on to the field and replaced the football. Due to New England's given history of cheating, I find it easy to believe this.

Are six Superbowl appearances the effect of cheating? I believe it is. I believe that the Patriots got through the years because of cheating and luck. I do think that Tom Brady is a great quarterback and that other teams have attempted cheating, but I don't think the Patriots would have as many achievements as they do today had they not cheated.