You Couldn’t Care Less About Deflate Gate

I have to admit it. I love seeing Pats fans getting their panties in a bunch trying to defend Tom Brady.

It’s as if the spirit of the late Johnny Cochran has possessed each and every Pats apologist since the Wells report’s vague conclusion. And despite how vague the conclusion, Pats fans are personally offended and rushing to Tom Brady’s side as if they’re rallying for a Holy Crusade to defend the Patriot’s legacy. And now more than ever you hear the word legacy tossed around a lot. What will be Bill Belichick’s legacy to the game of football? What will Tom Brady’s legacy be?

The truth is cheating won’t affect their legacies or anyone’s legacy in the NFL.

Why?

Nobody actually cares about cheating in the NFL.

Unless they’re convicted for beating puppies on an elevator on the way to a dogfight, Brady and Belichick are destined for the Hall of Fame. Nobody doubts that Belichick is a football genius and that Brady is one of the greatest passers to play the game, deflated balls or not.

And while there’s talk of suspensions, fines and lost draft picks, no one will consider taking away Super Bowl rings or putting an asterisk next to their names in the record book.

And to all the Pats haters, no this isn’t because the NFL adores Brady and Belichick. This is already the pattern for the NFL and its fans.

Has anyone discussed removing Jerry Rice’s records from the books or taking away his rings even though he admitted to using stickum? Did anyone suggest that Ray Lewis isn’t one of the defining linebackers in NFL history after those deer antler spray rumors? What about the Saints and Bounty Gate? Yes they’re still in recovery from those penalties, but no one has discussed taking the championship away from them.

Instead we choose to remember Rice as the prolific receiver, Lewis as the man with tears in his eyes stirring a fire in his team and Brees leading the Saints and all of New Orleans to victory.

Let’s take a look outside of NFL football. Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Bonds will get an asterisk next to his name for his use of steroids. A few months ago a little league team had its championship stripped from them for recruiting outside of their region to build a super team. Just look at NCAA football, Reggie Bush had to return his Heisman for accepting gifts from sports marketers who wanted to sign him.

The truth is we only talk about the integrity of the game when a call doesn't go our way. We only defend the teams we like.

We don’t actually care if anyone actually cheated in the NFL. We really only care about the drama in NFL football, the kind of moments that are immortalized in NFL films. We love the story of the game and the excitement when you witness a play that makes the highlight reel.

That’s why no one actually cares that Minnesota warmed their footballs this year and got away with a warning (also because they admitted to it rather than trying to cover it up).

But we as fans don’t truly hold football to any real standards of integrity. That’s why Goodell tailors each punishment not according to the crime, but to the public perception of the “crime.” Because we won't stop watching no matter how much teams cheat.