New England Patriots Essay

For nearly two decades, one team has dominated the NFL in a way that the league has never seen before. The New England Patriots led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have created the greatest dynasty in NFL history, posting thirteen division titles over the last fourteen seasons by winning 76% of their games, a league’s best over that span. The crowning achievements of this dynasty are their five Super Bowl championships, no other quarterback and coach duo has ever won more than three Super Bowl championships. With the way the Patriots have dominated the NFL since the early 2000’s it would be assumed that most, if not all, NFL observers would respect the accomplishments of this team. However, the opposite is true and there

These accusations have been relatively consistent and several have been proven to be true. The first notable claim of the Patriots cheating was made by St. Louis Ram’s running back Marshall Faulk following Super Bowl XXXVI which saw the New England Patriots defeat Falk’s Rams. Soon after the Rams’ defeat Faulk claimed that the Rams had ran red zone plays that they had never revealed prior to the Super Bowl and the Patriots repeatedly adjusted to their play calls flawlessly. He believes that the only New England could have predetermined audible calls prepared for the Rams’ new plays was if they had “seen it and knew what to do” (eliteldaily.com, 2015). Faulk also said that quarterback Kurt Warner and head coach Mike Martz who were both members of the Rams at the time would back these claims. These comments by Faulk are important because while the have not been proven true or false, over the next few years more players began to accuse the Patriots of cheating and their claims matched Faulk’s as well as the cheating that was later confirmed by the NFL. Meanwhile New England went on to win two more Super Bowl championships before

First reported by ESPN, was news that the New England Patriots had been caught by the NFL recording practices of their rival the New York Jets in an effort to steal the Jets’ signals and play calls (CBS News, 2007). Dubbed ‘SpyGate’, eight tapes were recovered by the NFL proving that the Patriots had illegally taped Jets’ practices, this was the first tangible and factual evidence of the Patriots cheating. With all of the controversy surrounding the Patriots, the team slipped up at 18-0 and were defeated by the New York Giants in Super Bowl 42. Patriots Owner Robert Craft and head coach Bill Belichick later admitted to these cheating claims and were fined a total of $750,000 and lost a first round draft