An Ignorant 49ers Reporter Claims That Bill Belichick Ruined The NFL
Regardless of how much Bill Belichick accomplishes with the Patriots, there will always be some idiot trying to discredit his accomplishments. San Francisco 49ers writer Grant Cohn of The Press Democrat is so distraught about the Patriots winning ways that he released an article claiming Bill Belichick has ruined football.
According to Cohn in The Press Democrat:
The NFL would be better if Bill Belichick never coached.
I write that even though I look forward to watching his team, the New England Patriots, play in the upcoming Super Bowl. I appreciate his mastery of football schematics. I consider him the best coach in NFL history.
But, his legacy is negative.
Nothing can change that.
Belichick already has achieved more personal success than any other NFL coach. He has seven Super Bowl rings — five as a head coach and two as a defensive coordinator. But, his personal success came at the expense of the league. Damaged its integrity. Took advantage of its spirit. Made it less relatable to fans.
Belichick is like Al Davis in certain ways. Davis was one of the most successful people in NFL history, but he also moved the Raiders without permission from the rest of the league, and subsequently sued the NFL. That’s his legacy. Suing the league is very bad.
Belichick cheated. That’s even worse.
You remember what he did. From 2000 to 2007, Belichick videotaped other teams’ defensive signals. And his lifelong friend, Ernie Adams, decoded them. For eight seasons, the Patriots illegally stole teams’ signs and knew what plays opposing defenses were running before they ran them.
In 2007, Belichick’s former defensive coordinator, Eric Mangini, told on him. The league fined Belichick $500,000 — more than it had fined a coach ever before. And it fined the Patriots $250,000, and took away their first-round pick in 2008.
Imagine if Mangini hadn’t blown the whistle. Imagine if Belichick had never have gotten caught. He might be stealing signals in the upcoming Super Bowl.
His violations are no different than Barry Bonds taking steroids or Pete Rose betting on baseball. Those two players were great for long periods of time, but they are not in the Hall of Fame because they dishonored baseball.
Belichick dishonored football.
His destructive impact on the NFL goes far beyond ethics and cheating.
He took advantage of the NFL, and undid everything that made it the most popular league in America.
These allegations have been put to bed and Cohn is grossly over exaggerating. Everyone knows there was nothing illegal about stealing signals a practice that has been going on as long as football has been around. The NFL didn’t even think enough about it until they sent out a memo to all teams prior to the 2007 season. For whatever reason Belichick decided to defy Goodell out of spite and didn’t find it serious enough to not troll his former defensive coordinator during his first game as head coach. This was not the first time a team filmed from an illegal area and it certainly will not be the last. With today’s technology, any random fan sitting in the stands can be holding on to technology that would make the cameras used in the 2007 game against the Jets obsolete. You would have to be ignorant to believe no coaching staff is secretly leveraging an advantage to this day.
Don’t be hating on Belichick because he knows the rules better than everyone else. Belichick did not ruin the interest in the league. If anything Belichick created a dynasty recognizable around the world, comparable to the New York Yankees. Belichick created a team so great that opposing fans are unable to sleep at night from the fear of the Patriots repeating as champions. Comparing Spygate to HGH is absolutely ridiculous, if Cohn wants to compare it to baseball it is like stealing signals which is a minor infraction and normally a slap on the wrist. The reality is every team is doing it one way or another. You still need to guess correctly and execute. This is nothing like getting caught with HGH which gives a player a clear advantage over the competition and is an 80 game suspension.