New England Patriots: The Truth Behind the Hatred

Another week has passed and another team has fallen victim to Tom Brady and his undefeated New England Patriots. Following this weekly ritual are the usual grumblings of Pat haters from across the country.

Throughout recent months, I have noticed that more and more people are becoming quite vocal about their deep hatred for the Brady Bunch. I found it a bit odd at first, then slightly humorous, and then mildly irritating.

Then, one day last week, I realized that I had begun to climb onto this already overpopulated bandwagon. I caught myself actually praying to the Almighty (Vince Lombardi) to “PLEASE let the Eagles beat the Patriots!”

As the final seconds ticked away and Bill Belichick carved another "W" into his belt, my mood quickly headed south…but why?

Why was I so angry at this amazing team for winning yet again? I’m a die-hard Cheesehead! Neither of these teams mean a thing to me so what gives?

Then my mind had drifted to the real question. Why are the Patriots the most hated team in the NFL?

In order for me to get to some answers, I had to take a step back (off of the bandwagon) and analyze what was really happening. I had to listen to what people were saying and try to decipher what they really meant. Here are just a few examples of what I heard:

1. Bill Belichick is a cheating, smug jerk!

I’ll start with the cheating.

EVERY TEAM HAS CHEATED to some degree—Bill Belichick just got ratted out. I’m not saying that cheating is the right thing to do, but it has been happening since Morten Andersen kicked his first field goal over 180 years ago. It will continue to happen until competition no longer exists.

As far as Coach Belichick’s smug personality...does he owe us anything other than what he has already given? Do we know him on a personal level? Have we seen his real personality when the cameras are off? I recently saw a clip of him during practice before the Pro Bowl last year chatting with Peyton Manning and he seemed quite pleasant.

2. The Patriots run up the score.

First, I would like to say what so many others before me have said: If you don’t want them to run it up, then kick your game up a notch or two and stop them!

But in all reality, if it were your team handing down the punishment you would, without a doubt, be passing out high fives like a teenage boy who just copped a feel in front of all of his buddies.

3. The Patriots have already won three of the last six Super Bowls—give somebody else a chance.

This hardly even deserves a response. If they are good enough to win the Super Bowl even 10 times, then they deserve it as much as any other team.

As I thought about all of this I finally came to a conclusion—the real reason we hate the Patriots.

If the Patriots manage to end the regular season at 16-0, they will have effectively placed an asterisk beside every other team record for years to come. Sure your team might have the best regular season record next year or the year after that, but unless they go undefeated (which they won’t) they will always be compared to this year's Pats. And the thought of it makes you almost physically ill. No matter how good they play, no matter how many records they break, they will still have that asterisk.

Unless the regular season is extended, your team can never be better than the 2007 New England Patriots. As a Green Bay fan this is even hard for me to swallow. But instead of wasting my energy on a team that means nothing to me, I will focus my thoughts on the team that I have loved since I could throw a football—the Green Bay Packers.

GO STEELERS!