Enough is Enough: A New England Patriot Fan's Rebuttal

Senior Writer Written on February 17, 2008

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5) In 1969, the honorable Don Shula was the head coach of the Baltimore Colts when the Miami Dolphins contacted him and eventually signed him as their new head coach.

The NFL ruled that the Dolphins tampered with him while he was still under contract to the Colts. His team was stripped of their first round draft pick (which was awarded to the Colts).

Had they not committed this infraction and stolen Shula from the Colts, one could argue they never would have had their undefeated season. I guess that means we need to put an asterisk next to the 1972 Dolphins' perfect season.

The list of examples goes on and on.

You can read about how far back cheating in the NFL goes in this fantastic article: http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stories/1967aug-nflspy.html

I’m not saying the Patriots didn’t deserve the punishment they got. I actually think the punishment fit the crime. But the singling out of one franchise and ignoring the rest of the NFL is both insulting and petty.

If you root for an NFL team that has been around for more than twenty years, odds are I can go back and find an example of them cheating.

I could lecture you all on throwing stones from glass houses, but I’m certain it will fall on deaf ears.

As a Patriots fan who lived through all of the horrible years, the Tony Eason years, the one and two win seasons, I promise you this: I will NOT let NFL fans, former Patriots employees, a ridiculously biased Senator with nothing better to do, or a former Rams player who still doesn’t understand how his team lost 6 years ago ruin the last seven years for me.

Three Super Bowl championships, four AFC championships, six AFC East championships, and the only 16-0 season in NFL history—and we’ll be back again next year even without our first round pick.

Whether you, Senator Specter, the New York Jets, Al Davis, Jessica Simpson, the state of Pennsylvania, or the wonderful “anonymous” commenters who are kind enough to post their Spygate thoughts on every article I write like it or not.

My name is Sean Crowe and I root for the AFC Champion New England Patriots.

SeanMC is a Columnist at Bleacher Report. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.

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