Sorry, but if the Patriots were politicians, they’d already be guilty, and there would be talk of a re-call or a resignation.
Because in politics, the public can convict you, and even give you a life sentence, for simply an appearance of impropriety or a conflict of interest.
And the Patriots certainly have one.
Plus, in the NFL –where winning is everything–the Patriots also had the motive, the means, and even the opportunity to deflate the footballs if they thought it would help them win.
And, if they thought it would, do you think they wouldn’t?
I admit it, I’m not sure, but if football fans across America were the judges, my guess is the verdict would be guilty.
After all, like it or not, the Patriots do have a prior record.
Remember Spygate? The charge the team videotaped rival coaches for the New York Jets giving signals in 2007.
Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was fined half a million dollars, and–worse–a new nickname–“Beli-cheat”, which will now follow him forever.
Meanwhile, this Super Bowl has become a C.S.I-P.S.I. Episode, where the pounds per square inch in the balls matter as much as the game itself.
I wonder: Is the search on for a small dark room in the bowels of Gillette Stadium–filled with footballs, air pumps , tire gauges, and well-intentioned, but immoral, ball boys?
Maybe. At this point, nothing is too far-fetched.
But it won’t matter if nothing’s found.
Because enough suspicion is already in the air to fill a thousand footballs, and to make anyone who hates the Patriots feel justified.