With all of the allegations surrounding the New England Patriots and “DeflateGate” it’s worth noting that the Seahawks weren’t exactly squeaky clean either.
There’s two sayings in life that can perfectly describe Super Bowl XLIX: “cheaters never prosper” and “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”
When it comes to both the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, cheating helped both prosper and both indeed tried, which led to both finding their way to the big game in just over a week.
With the country engaged in “DeflateGate” as the Patriots were found guilty of having 11 of their 12 game balls under-inflated in their win against the Colts in the AFC Championship game, RantSports was quick to remind us that in 2011, the Seahawks had more PED violators than anyone in the NFL. Star cornerback Richard Sherman tested positive but won his appeal after an arbitrator determined there were flaws in his urine sample.
Sherman went on to say that half of the players in the NFL use Adderall, which is still against the rules and still happens in the league today.
Which brings us to the current controversy surrounding New England.
First and foremost, the idea that the Patriots should be banned or disqualified from Super Bowl XLIX needs to end. That’s not happening. The Pats would’ve had to do way, way worse and get caught in the act in order to actually be disqualified. At the same time, the Colts would’ve had to lose by less than three for that to happen.
In yesterday’s press conferences, both quarterback Tom Brady and Bill Belichick denied having any knowledge about “DeflateGate” with Brady practically “trolling” the media about it.
“We’re gonna be fine,” he said. “This isn’t ISIS. No one’s dying.”
(Well played Tom, well played.)
The only thing that’s dying, or died for that matter, after yesterday’s set of press conferences is the Patriots credibility.
If this were any other team, while non-fans would scream bloody murder if they were caught or suspected of cheating, ignorance would be an excuse. But with “SpyGate” in 2007 and “DeflateGate” now, well, after a while the Pats seem more and more like the little boy who cried wolf.
Neither had any kind of excuse to explain what happened to the balls in the time between the initial inspection two hours and fifteen minutes before kickoff through the game.
While this latest scandal the NFL finds themselves in what may be the most ridiculous one in recent history, this latest scandal is the last thing they needed in regards to the integrity of the shield — a shield of which is as weak as a wooden shield during the dark ages at this point. The NFL is stll trying to repair the damage from the horrid response to the Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy domestic abuse cases and now has to deal with this at a time when the entire world is watching.
Which brings us back to Seattle.
Yes, they haven’t been caught cheating or using PED’s since 2011, however with New England’s recent controversy and Seattle’s past rearing its ugly head back in the minds of sports fans and the internet, one can only wonder what else Seattle might have been doing during the last three seasons since 2011. To get that good and that hot can be suspicious especially as a team is set to go after their second straight Super Bowl title, which would mark the first time a team won back-to-back titles since the 2003-04 Patriots.
Remember kids, it isn’t illegal if you don’t get caught (cough… Patriots… cough).
Super Bowl XLIX will still be played in a week from Sunday, and it will be between the New England Patriots and the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Whether either team wants to find a way to inflate or deflate an advantage, this year’s Super Bowl is proof that cheaters can in fact prosper.
Because if you’re cheating, you’re definitely trying.
Next: Where do the Patriots rank among all 32 NFL franchises all-time?