Former Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez defended the New England Patriots somewhat on Friday in the Deflategate scandal.
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Ever since the AFC Championship game, all anyone has been able to talk about has been Deflategate and how much of a scandal it has been. Sides have been very much drawn in terms of who is on who’s side with many believing the controversy is stupid while others are losing their minds over it.
Future Hall of Famer and former Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is somewhere in the middle though, as he thinks the Patriots should be punished by the NFL to some sort of extent, but he thinks it’s ridiculous to have them forfeit the Super Bowl.
Per the Sporting News:
"“I don’t care what kind of ball they were playing with. They would have went out there and whooped the Colts’ butt,” the former Chiefs and Falcons tight end said. “It’s not as much of a game-changer as they try and make it out as. And this is coming from a guy who caught the ball for a living. If you have a softer ball, I don’t see how it’s that much of an advantage.”"
The Patriots forfeiting their Super Bowl appearance is rather ridiculous considering the huge margin by which they beat the Colts. Even several Colts players have come out and said they were beaten pretty soundly, deflated footballs or not.
Defensive player D’Qwell Jackson, who inadvertently may have started Deflategate, said he couldn’t feel the difference in the ball he intercepted from Tom Brady, which was subsequently investigated by the officials.
Gonzalez went on to make his next point, which the vast majority of people who are not Patriots fans seem to agree with.
“If they cheated, and they can prove it, the consequences need to happen,” Gonzalez suggested. “This isn’t the first time they’ve had some controversy around the Patriots. I definitely think the commissioner needs to step in and take away a draft pick or give them a big fine. But it didn’t have anything to do with the game.
Basically Gonzalez is saying what most rational people have been saying on the scandal. The Patriots shouldn’t have to forfeit anything to do with the Super Bowl, because they won by such a wide margin, but they should be punished because it’s obviously a pattern of behavior.
Either way, as Tadd Haislop of Sporting News points out, the Patriots won’t be living this one down anytime soon. If they end up winning the Super Bowl next Sunday, there will likely always be an unofficial asterisk next to the win by those who do think they got there illegitimately.
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