The never-ending saga of the New England Patriots

It will just not end.  The New England Patriots, perhaps the NFL’s most polarizing franchise, has been accused of cheating once again.  If this is your first time hearing about this you may want to get out from under that rock in which you’ve been living. 

“Deflategate” – the new controversy the Patriots have found themselves embroiled in – involves deflating footballs below the acceptable amount to gain an illegal competitive advantage in games.  This occurred in their conference championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.  Despite the final score of 45-7, many people doubt what kind of effect it really had on the game. 

A subsequent investigation was launched into the incident to see if deflating the footballs was a deliberate action or an unintended result of bad weather or simple human error.

After a series punishments handed down by the NFL onto the Patriots and star quarterback Tom Brady were protested in federal court, the patriots went away unscathed.  This decision, much like the Patriots franchise, has been polarizing.  Some are overjoyed, while others are furious.

However, although the Patriots being involved in another cheating scandal (after their “spygate” scandal in the early 2000s) may seem like a PR nightmare, the real loser of this case has been NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the man who decided and handed down the punishments onto Brady and the Patriots.

Brady was initially suspended 4 games without pay, a very harsh punishment to say the least, especially when regarding past disciplinary actions put in place by the NFL. 

For example, when Ray Rice was caught on video physically assaulting his fiancé, he was only suspended 2 games.  The problem here for the NFL is the complete lack of consistency in the punishments handed down to players. 

If there were justifiable reasons to distinguish why a player who beat his fiancé to receive a lesser suspension than someone who may have tampered with footballs, then Brady may not have had his suspension overturned by a judge. 

The problem is it seems Goodell comes up with his disciplinary actions by whim.  There is no concrete decision making behind them, making everyone second-guess his authority and then appeal his rulings, several of which have thus been overturned. 

Goodell is on thin ice as the NFL Commissioner.  He needs to establish his credibility – along with the credibility of the league – in the eyes of the public and media because as of the moment, he and the league are in question.

Now whatever you do, please don’t take this article as me being a supporter of the Patriots.  If it weren’t for Goodell and his inconsistent decision-making, the spotlight would still be on the Patriots and their credibility.  Luckily for them, they have a “savior” in the name of Roger Goodell.