The National Football League has had many ups and downs within the past several years. A major scandal that has caused a major uproar with football fans across the nation is delflategate. The New England Patriots were accused of deflating the footballs before the game in order for Tom Brady to have a better grip on the football. This action was very illegal and has now resulted in Tom Brady being suspended until the October 9 game against the Cleveland Browns. Patriot’s coach, Bill Belichick, declared that everything should be fine and they have a lot of faith in their back -up quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo has been in the league for three years, so he has some experience when it comes to the game; however, he has never started an NFL game.
Although deflategate is a major scandal that created a bad reputation for the Patriots, most fans have stuck by and supported the team. It is always said that once you’re a Patriots fan, you are always a Patriots fan. A sixty-year-old fan, John Delcore, even declared that, “It was totally blown out of proportion. I think it all comes down to other teams were jealous and other owners had it in for.” Delcore stating this depicts how devoted fans are no matter what the circumstance is. The media has created a strong image for the Patriots, especially because they haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008. However, the main reason they even missed the playoffs that year was because Brady blew out his knee in week one.
When an all-star quarterback has a critical knee injury, some fans move their focus to another team, yet that was not the case with the Patriots. A team like the Patriots that has made the playoffs eight years in a row and won the Super Bowl in 2014. All of this has built up their reputation and has resulted in them gaining a lot more supporters. The more supporters a team has, the more protection they will have from fans. Personally, I think that Tom Brady’s punishment is well deserved for what he did and he should not receive any special treatment. Brady did a bad thing, and now he has to pay for his actions.
I am a die hard Eagles fan and even have season tickets. My entire family strongly dislikes the Patriots, especially because they defeated the Eagles in the Super Bowl in 2003; my dad and sister were even at the game. I feel that Brady and Bellecheck should have been punished more severely for their actions because it was an unnecessary and illegal thing that they did.
Wow, I remember when all of this was going down. Thank you for the update on the situation. You’ve got to wonder what all of the aspiring quarterbacks that looked up to Brady were thinking when they found out about this. Were you a Patriots fan before all of this blew up, or are you a fan of a different football team? If so, which?
I feel that Tom Brady should be fined and given a worse punishment than he actually received. Tom Brady and the Patriots are very powerful, and they should not be given “special” treatment.
This was a major Super Bowl topic and continues to be popular as time goes on. What do you feel should be the penalty, if any, toward New England Patriots?