Rarely do we get to applaud officials, but this is one of those time. On the opening weekend of the NFL season, Coach Bill Belichek felt like he might need an edge later on when the Pats face the Jets in Foxboro, so he did what he’s done before: order up the cheating video guy. That’s right, the Pats got caught video taping the Jet’s coaching signals Sunday at The Meadowlands, apparently a fairly big no-no in the NFL. Exactly how far down low on the embassment scale does this act of pathetic bush-league tactic fall? Well, Coach Belichek may get away with his no-personality, boring dolt sweatshirt routine in press conferences, but this one may actually affect his team (on top of the recent steroid accusations). Now let’s see the league give Belichek and the Patriots what they deserve.
How do you think Tom Brady feels right about now? A week ago he was a lock for the Hall of Fame, and this weekend he’ll be the biggest target the NFL has seen in a long time. For the remainder of the year, and probably for the remainder of his career, fan and players are going to wonder just how much of Brady’s brilliance and success over the years is his own and how much is because his cheating coach provided him with an unfair advantage. Indeed, much like Peyton Manning, when we think of Brady we think of the master stragist, surveying the defense making adjustments at the line, then burning the defense. But maybe he was cheating. Maybe he know about a weak-side blitz and that calling a countering screen pass was just an obvious call. Just about any decent quaterback can call a successful audible if his coach flashes in the defensive play beforehand. And so the careeer of Tom Brady, along with that of Belechek suffers permanent damage. The Pats have been slapped by the league, but it could have been worse. Belechek could have been suspensed on top of the fines ($500,000 for him and $250,000 for the team) and draft pick docking and probably should have been. As for how the fans treat him, well, that remains to be seen. For me, I look forward to seeing how Brady handles his transition from golden boy to cheat. Oh, and by the way, my Sports Illustrated came yesterday with a reference to Brady as God on the cover, so there’s that.