The Super Bowl that should not have been!
The NFL is contradictive at the very least
The NFL talks about how their players coaches and organization needs to act a certain way for many reasons,but mostly because there are a million children who look up to and emulate their players. As Charles Barkley once said,and it is not verbatim,but was to the affect,"It is not our job to raise your children." Well no sir it is not,but our children especially those who come from terrible places,see that if this guy can do it then so can I. Whether that be in a positive or negative way. So while it is not their responsibility,whether you like it or not,there are going to be children looking up to you and it is your responsibility to do the right thing. Just because you are a sports star it does not put you above the law or the rules of the NFL for that matter.
Now that being said I absolutely need to make it clear that I don't condone the behavior of players such as Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson,but I will say this. They were punished by not being able to play the game at all. They were suspended for at least the entire season. Josh Gordon,suspended for one year. Granted he's on his third strike, point being he can't play the game. New England Patriots deflate 11 of 12 footballs and what punishment do they get? Losing first round draft picks. How could you allow them to play in the Super Bowl? I am an avid football fan. I love the game wholeheartedly! But,this is disgusting to me. You are showing every single child who watches that it is okay to cheat because the consequences won't be that harsh. Roger Gooddell is sending mixed messages and I feel that everyone should be punished equally. So he is contradictive and unfair. Don't talk about kids watching and emulating and talk about how punishment will fit the crime and then allow the Patriots to play in the Super Bowl after being caught cheating multiple times now. I'm sorry as I stated earlier, whether this organization and everyone in it likes it or not,these kids emulate much of what you do. If you don't want to act right for yourself and the sake of being an upstanding citizen. Do it for the kids who are watching everything you do.
I can't fathom how they could allow them to play and it blows my mind. How could Tom Brady stand there and lie about not feeling a difference in the footballs? He is a quarterback,his livelihood is throwing a football almost everyday of his life. I sat watched and listened to all the sports channels and heard so many great players and sportscasters discuss the fact that in their opinion Tom Brady was a liar. I am a die hard Steelers fan and some may say that affects my opinion. It does not. Had it been Ben Rothlisberger. Well I would have been standing herr saying the same about him. This is about the integrity of the game. In my opinion Tom Brady does not deserve the accolades he received after the Super Bowl nor does he deserve the MVP. He stood in front of millions of football fans and lied .I have zero respect for Tom Brady but had he come out and admitted what he did then I would have gained an iota of respect for him.
I do understand all the economics and politics involved with the game and why they realistically would not replay the Colts-Patriots game. Between the revenue that would be lost and the fact the whoever won the game replayed,would not have enough time to prepare for the Super Bowl. But where do we draw the line? When did money become more important than morals? Richard Sherman let his opinion be known that he doesn't see the Patriots being punished any further because the owner of the Patriots is good friends with Roger Gooddell. Really people?!? Is this how the NFL is going to be? I would love nothing more than to see football for what it should be. An amazing full contact strategic game that just pulls you in. What it is right now is a joke and it makes me crazy to think there's nothing that can be done to rid the league of someone like Roger Gooddell.