Too Much Gray Area
Posted by pauliesplatform on May 17, 2008
The fallout from the NFL’s “Spygate” affair makes one thing perfectly clear to me: Bill Belichick should not ever be considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. I don’t care how many games or Super Bowls he wins, they are all tainted because of this fiasco. After watching former assistant Matt Walsh’s first TV interview on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” there’s just too much doubt about who knew what and when. For me, there are two unanswered issues that should taint Belichick the rest of his career. Number one, if the spying was worth nothing to him why did the team keep doing it and take steps to hide it? And number two, why is Belichick saying that Walsh’s version of the story is wrong and that he doesn’t recall things when he supposed to be such a genius coach? Those two things just don’t sit right with me. People who are innocent of something will always vociferously proclaim their innocence verbally. Belichick has not done that because he can’t. He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But instead of explaining his reasons for it, he plays dumb and hopes it all goes away. Well, he can’t have it both ways. Continuing to play dumb will always allow people to question the veracity of his coaching skills. He’s better off trying to explain his reasons for the spying while admitting he was wrong. We all know why he did it- because winning takes precedence over everything else in his life, including integrity. That’s common knowledge about Belichick and is the reason why people equate the Patriots to the New York Yankees, who also desire to win at all costs. I’m sorry, this spying story takes Belichick out of the discussion as far as the greatest coaches ever. There are just too many questions and shaky answers to them. Like Richard Nixon, whose Watergate scandal always clouds the great moments of his presidency, Belichick should suffer a similar fate in the annals of the NFL because of this incident. If it’s possible, he’s even more arrogant than Nixon. At least Nixon knew he had to resign. Belichick would never approach doing that. In fact, he won’t even explain himself. That tells me all I need to know.
