Re: NFL 2015-2016 Season - Maybe extra points actually ... matter? Wha
I can wait. Redskins fans are nothing if not patient. Sooner or later, "that which I don't like" will screw up again, and again, and again, and maybe something will finally stick. I don't expect anything of substance to happen anywhere in the entire league until Goodell either retires is removed anyway.
Just to pick at this: you wouldn't consider two 1st round picks, a 4th round pick, 1.75M from the team, and 500k from the coach penalties that "stuck"?
Nope. Just means that some people on the team would have to sacrifice their weekly diamond earing purchase for about a month. Penalties need to hurt. Not tickle.
Especially when you consider that the 'offenses' they were busted for were the equivalent of jaywalking? Filming is STILL allowed, just not from that spot on the field, and no one cared at ALL about the balls until AFC Championship game. It's happened plenty of times, and never been more than a 25k fine if anyone cared to even mention it. Rodgers came out on TV and said he likes to get them over pumped, and we even had a NFL ref STEALING game balls during the game, and no one cares about any of that. Seems like those penalties "stuck" just fine given the 'crimes', not sure what you think the penalty would have to have been to finally "get" the Patriots...
Yep. Typical Brady defense. Everyone else is doing it, so...
And for fun: as a Redskins fan, where's the beef with the Patriots? They rarely ever play you, so no 'cheating' or bad beats. Not in the same division/conference, or even rivals. Not physically close by. No trades where they took advantage of a stupid owner, no coaches or name players that jumped from one team to the other. Basically can't think of any bad blood or connection at ALL there, so I don't get the hair across your ass on this one. Steelers or Eagles want to whine, ok. Colts leadership seems to do it professionally, but at least got to hang their "Participant" banner again this year. Ravens just seem to like poking at other people, even while their players are literally murdering people and getting away with it. But the Redskins? I just don't see any connection there.
I admit I'm a bit of an odd duck in this regard. It's not a matter of division rivalry or historical grudge or anything like that, but rather
individual acts by people at the top that I focus on. Those acts can tarnish and haunt an entire team for a lot of unwary fans, but the smart ones focus on the source of the problems.
For example, despite having been a Skins fan for over 30 years, I was positively in awe of Tony Romo and the Cowboys in week one against the Giants and such an amazing, almost impossible, comeback. I think only Peyton Manning would be the only other QB in the league that could pull that off today. If it weren't for Romo's recent injury, he was well on to being one of the league's greatest players. Do I dislike the Cowboys as any good Redskins fan should? No. If anything, I dislike the Giants more. I still can't forgive L.T. for wiping out Joe Theisman so long ago. I still remember the day it happened like yesterday. And Joe always said he'll leave the game when they carry him out in a box. Well... I was particularly offended when I was forced to cheer for the Giants against the Pats in both 2008 and 2012.
Conversely, for a team such as the Steelers, which I actually like, but I despise Ben Roethlisberger and his little off-the-field antics that should have landed him - and KEPT him - in jail.
Same thing with Michael Vick - a despicable human being engaging in dog fighting. Yeah, he went to jail and "did his time", but in ALL these people, it's a matter of character. I don't believe for a second that they are rehabilitated or "sorry". I think the only thing they were sorry for is that they got caught. Do I hate the Eagles for it? Absolutely not. If anything, I hate Philly fans. It's like a whole city of thugs up there.
Ndamukong Suh of the Dolphins? If ever there was a player that needed to be permanently ejected from the NFL as a whole, he's it. Do I hate the Dolphins? Absolutely not. They have enough on their plate to worry about than to keep him from kicking someone in the head every game.
See a pattern here? It's
not about the team.
Enter the Patriots, it's not so much the team itself, but the members of the leadership at the top, including Belichick and Brady. You will always disagree with this, so I couldn't really care less what you or any other New Englander with sycophantic tendencies thinks, but I despise the cocky, almost arrogant, smarmy and almost-politically-astute way both of them shirked their way out of the problem. People hate that more than the allegations of cheating. It reminds everyone of corrupt politicians. Yeah, they're still a powerful team with a lot of talent and they'll work their way to the top as they've always done, cheating or no, and that's fine. Understand that, if they do win the SB again, nobody will care outside of Boston, 'cause it's just the Patriots. Whether they cheated or not to get there is no longer relevant. It is the perception of guilt that condemns them from this point forward, regardless of anyone's understanding of reality. Any outcome in favor of the Pats will be meaningless. When people cheer at the Super Bowl, it will always be the Bostonians vs. everyone else in the Free World.
Yeah, the Redskins and many other teams are proven cheat more than the Patriots, but the Patriots will always be the ones that truly got away with it. Perception
always trumps and dictates reality.
