Miike Pettine says he has lost respect for cheater Tom Brady
Count Browns coach Mike Pettine as one who thinks the Deflategate report tarnishes the image of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Asked about Brady today, Pettine said that it’s hard not to lose respect for Brady after the Ted Wells report concluded that Brady was probably involved in having the Patriots’ footballs under-inflated.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for him,” Pettine said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “But I lose a lot of respect for guys who cheat.”
I wonder how Mike Pettine feels about the Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer who was suspended for four games for texting during NFL games. The decision came after Farmer admitted he texted the team about plays on the field during the game. There is an issue about the texting being more about who plays on the field, not about the plays on the field.
Matt Bonesteel, Washington Post:
Back in June 2014, before his first season as Browns coach, Pettine said his defensive playbook would be thinner than what one might expect because of a peculiar reason. The initial playbook itself is actually quite thin, and that’s by design. “I don’t put a lot of graduate-level information in it,” Pettine says. “We know in places like New England, it’s only a matter of time that they somehow mysteriously end up with our playbook.”
Pettine told a story of how, at Wes Welker’s wedding, Tom Brady bragged a little bit to Jets outside linebackers coach Mike Smith, who was Welker’s college roommate, that the Patriots may or may not have had possession of a couple Jets defensive playbooks.
Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula refers to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as "Beli-cheat." For years, some opposing coaches have complained that Shula has a built-in edge in every game. Because he is a member of the important Competition Committee - which oversees the rules and, by inference, the officials - others say that officials tend to be cowed by him.
Mike Pettine is a disciple of noted Patriots antagonist Rex Ryan. Those playbooks ended in the wrong hands because Rex would "give them out like candy, anyway."
It is hard to argue with Mike on DeFlategate. In recent years, we have had SpyGate(New England Patriots), BountyGate(New Orleans Saints), JunkGate(Brett Favre) and TextGate(Cleveland Browns). Let us hope that NFL Commissoner Roger Goodell burned those text messages from Browns' GM Ray Farmer. It is safe to say that Ray wasn't calling the Red Cross. He was calling you.
Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire. .
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