The 30 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All-Time - Elliott Kalb [121]
“I take responsibility for it,” he continued. “Even though I felt there was a gray area in the rule and I misinterpreted the rule, that was my mistake and we’ve been penalized for it. I apologize to everybody that is involved—the league, the other teams, the fans, our team—for the amount of conversation and dialogue that it’s caused.”
This explanation and pseudo-apology are the only real defense of the Patriots to be made. Patriots General Manager Scott Pioli and owner Robert Kraft issued similar statements, each indicating that they just wanted to move on. For the purposes of this chapter reaching a conclusion, I’ll grant them their wish.
As for Goodell, he has continued to defend his baffling decision to destroy the evidence, saying that he has “nothing to hide” and that destroying it was the right thing to do to keep it out of enemy hands.
MY OPINION
With all due respect to Al Davis, who had been curiously burned by the refs in big games before (see: Reception, Immaculate), I’m going to have to chalk the Tuck Rule fiasco up to bad officiating, or rather the interpretation of a bad rule. Not a conspiracy. As horrendous as it was, it was still just one call in one non-championship game, and it didn’t decide anything in and of itself. Raiders fans are just going to have to let that one go. Eventually.
I’m also going to rule out any connection between the Patriots’ success and the Bush administration. It’s a seductive if entirely ludicrous theory, but there’s no evidence of any kind to support it other than the coincidence of the team’s name. Besides, Bush’s record in professional sports does not indicate an aptitude for successful administration. Baseball’s Texas Rangers never reached the postseason in the five seasons he served as their managing general partner and traded away slugger Sammy Sosa shortly after he arrived on the scene. His last year with the Rangers, 1994, was (and is) the only year since 1904 in which no World Series was played.
Spygate, however, is another story altogether. Despite Belichick’s statements to the contrary, I believe that he and his coaches willfully and knowingly cheated. I also believe that Commissioner Goodell made an effort to conceal the extent of Belichick’s transgressions and destroyed the tapes because they revealed significantly more than what had been reported to the public.
The league, with the help of an adoring media, had helped build the Patriots into the model franchise of the NFL. In the salary cap era, the Pats had managed to win three championships (and four conference titles) by stressing team over individual achievement, yet in doing so, saw their MVP quarterback develop into the face of the league (and Stetson). By beating St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI, the underdog Pats had lifted the spirit of a nation still reeling from tragedy, uniting us all through a common, patriotic ideal. Then they won again. And again. And they did it—they’d like you to believe—the right way. So how could the league come out and admit that it was all a hoax? How could they and their network partners continue to sell all those pickup trucks and cases of beer, not to mention rhinestone-studded Tom Brady jerseys, if it were all proven to be a lie?
Goodell made a point to draw attention toward his quick and decisive action in fining Belichick and the Patriots those exorbitant, unprecedented sums. But doing it so quickly, without even knowing the full extent of their transgressions, leads this writer to believe that Goodell actually knew a lot more, and was afraid of where a real investigation into the matter might lead. His proclamations about maintaining the integrity of the game were, therefore, in the words of Shakespeare, those of “an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Just like Senator Specter, I’m not buying it.
Obviously, I have no way of knowing how much Goodell or his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, actually knew about the