America's Most Hated: Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, left, and quarterback Tom Brady could be America's most despised duo. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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Jordan Raanan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on January 30, 2015 at 10:30 AM, updated January 30, 2015 at 11:25 Am
PHOENIX ‐ There's an anti-red, white and blue outbreak spreading across the nation prior to
Super Bowl XLIX. It has nothing to do with anti-Patriotism. It's simply anti-Patriot, New England that is.
It's an outbreak that had overtaken New Jersey/New York long ago.
Jets fans have despised the Patriots since Bill Parcells became coach there in the early '90s. It reached a new level when Bill Belichick resigned via napkin as the Jets coach to jump to New England, where he has been ever since. Rex Ryan only fanned the distaste with those blue-collar tea dumpers from god-damn New England during his six seasons as Jets coach.
The
Giants, meanwhile, faced the Patriots in their last two Super Bowls. They heard way too much about how the Patriots were the greatest team ever assembled. The Giants had no chance to win either time. Wrong. Sorry, New England, the Giants and their fans didn't bow to your greatness. They beat you ... and still dislike you!
And now, with Deflategate at the forefront of the nation's conscience, the rest of the country has joined the party. The New England Patriots have quickly overtaken the Dallas Cowboys as America's Most Hated team, if they weren't already.
Colts fans, Jets fans, Giants fans, Eagles fans, NFL fans are jumping on the Seahawks bandwagon for Super Bowl XLIX.
It's a combination of forces, beginning with the Patriots' history of cheating (Spygate) and now the potential of another similar scandal. Eleven of their 12 footballs were found underinflated in the AFC Championship Game. Coincidence, right? That combined with the Patriots' prolonged success with Belichick as coach and Tom Brady as quarterback has made it en vogue to hate the Patriots.
New England tight end Rob Gronkowski views it as little more than the price of business.
"Just laugh at it. Laugh it off. It's part of the game," Gronkowski said this week. "If you really don't have any haters, you're not doing anything right. I feel like this organization is doing a lot right now."
The Patriots are in the Super Bowl on Sunday for the sixth time in 14 years. They've won 10 or more games in 13 of those 14 seasons.
That's pretty good. It's enough to make America sick, even if their quarterback is the golden child.
Deflategate has only added to the vitriol. The Patriots have been called pathetic cheaters and crooks, among other things. They've been declared guilty in the public's eye based on past history and circumstance. As much as they have tried to block it out, everybody knows it's there, even if they downplay its importance.
"I really don't pay attention, whatever is in the papers is written or whatever is said," star cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "There are going to be distractions and adversity is going to strike during the season. That is just normal with football season. It is going to come up."
But this isn't your normal situation. This incident has pitted the entire nation against New England come Sunday. The Seattle Seahawks have officially become America's Team, even to those with little or no connection to the franchise or city.
If the Patriots win on Sunday, inevitably fingers will be pointing in their direction. A dark cloud will hang over the victory in some football fans' eyes. The Patriots won the Super Bowl because they cheated along the way, the haters will say.
"I don't care about it because we're not cheaters," wide receiver Brandon LaFell said. "I'm always the one, I don't care what people care think about me besides my family. I know my guys in my locker room are my family. I know we didn't cheat. We didn't cheat."
Safety Devin McCourty has the perfect response queued and ready to go as well. All it's going to take is a win on Sunday.
"If I have a ring on my finger, [it won't bother me] at all," he said. "I'll let them look at my ring."
Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index....k_tom_brady_and_the_new_england_patriots.html
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are only two of the ten biggest reasons the Patriots are one of the most hated franchises in professional sports. (EPA/CJ Gunther)
