PATRIOTS FIGHT BACK

An organization with a history of sketchy adherence to rules will now take on the organization that makes those rules and also has a thin connection with ethical behavior.

The New England Patriots, who had said they would abide by the NFL’s findings in the Wells report on DeflateGate, will not. They will fight for Tom Brady’s honor, which is, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, apparently more than he did.

Brady’s failure to cooperate fully with the NFL investigation of the deflated footballs at the AFC championship game helped earn him a four-game suspension by the NFL and a permanent tarring of his reputation. The Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of future draft picks. They’ve got quite a resume, these Patriots.

The Patriots lured Bill Belichick away from the New York Jets – he quit as Jets head coach in 2000 after one day – and then had to give up draft picks to the Jets to secure him. They were petty when Eric Mangini left their employ to become the Jets’ head coach. And they were penalized by the league (Spygate) for impermissibly videotaping opponents’ signals on the sideline.

Owner Robert Kraft, a powerful voice in the league, no longer seems like he will be a dependable ally for Commissioner Roger Goodell. This relationship is starting to look like the one the Oakland Raiders and their owner, Al Davis, had with Pete Rozelle. And the Patriots are starting to look like the rogue Raiders.

The NFL’s “punishment … far exceeded any reasonable expectation. It was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence,” Kraft said in a statement, blasting a “one-sided investigation.” Brady will appeal and, Kraft said, “has our unconditional support.”

A case that started with underinflated football has moved to overheated rhetoric. A team with eight Super Bowl appearances and four titles (including the most recent) is now an ethical outlier. One of the game’s biggest starters has been deemed a cheater.

Perversely enough, this can only make the NFL more popular. Who doesn’t like a good soap opera?
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .