I grew up during the Fearsome Foursome days and names like Lombardi, Nitschke, Tarkenton, Staubach, Stabler, Czonka, Joe Greene, Simpson, and Dobler were mythic icons that I respected though I revered Gabriel, Snow, Olsen, Youngblood, Robertson, Mack, Deacon, et al. So over the years, guys like Farve, Reggie White, Clay Mathews, and Rodgers have won my respect as part of the game I love. No, I don’t hate the Packers because they are part of history that makes the game special.
It’s guys like Belicheat, Norton, Romanowski, Meshawn, Carroll, Arians, and Holmgren that have caught my ire because each, though they achieved their levels of success...diminished the game itself by either action or word. The previous generation of Patriots were a team I liked with Plunkett, Tippett, Fryar, Buoniconti, and Flutie, but the current iteration represents everything I hate about selfish corporations that sacrifice what’s good for the sake of what wins.
Stepping off the soapbox now.