My hometown New England Patriots have proven beyond a reasonable doubt how fast an organization can fumble away its reputation. Raise your hand if you thought Randy Moss’ reputation would be higher than his head coach when the season started.
It took owner Bob Kraft years to build one of the most well respected brands in the NFL, if not all of professional sports. Along the way the Pats won three recent Super Bowls and became the class of the league. In the time it took to click on and off one video camera, they are now being labeled as world-class cheaters and their harshest critics are located in the shadows of Gillette Stadium - namely their own fans.
“We’re the bad guys and it seems like everyone out there hates us,” Geoff Gottbrecht, a senior on the BC High School football team, told The Boston Globe. The Pats were always looked upon as the team that worked the hardest to find ways to win. Now, the team’s sportsmanship is being questioned on a national scale. “It’s really disappointing. This really sets a bad example,” said Mitch McClune, another BC high student.
You can argue this is all on coach Bill Belichick’s head and not the Pats, but he’s tarnished the reputation of the entire team and, in the process, added another negative notch in the belt of the NFL, which I alluded to last month is facing troubled times. This week’s “Inside the NFL” show on HBO spent a chunk of time on the New England cheating scandal, players off season arrests (comparing the NFL to a season of The Sopranos), and pointing out that a recent poll found politics is viewed as more honest than pro sports these days.
The Patriots have a lot of work ahead of them and there will be no fast-track reputation makeover for them. They are going to have to earn their way back up the reputation standings one step at a time. How they fare will depend greatly on how their embattled head coach handles himself starting with this week’s penalty.
0 comments ↓
This post has no comments.
Leave a Comment