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I have a major problem I am about to discuss with you. It is how the New England patriots got away with the football equivalent of murder ( Spygate) and received a slap on the wrist. I have a big problem with this because I am a die-hard Steeler fan. I was an adolescent during the Steelers famous Super Bowl run in the 70’s.
I became a fully fledged, card carrying member of Steeler Nation during the nineties. I started going to all of the games down Three Rivers Stadium beginning with Coach Cowhers tenure. As an adult, I was fully vested in their wins and losses. If we lost, the rest of my Sunday sucked as well as Monday.
The Steelers suffered two losses to the Patriots in AFC championship games at home in 2001 and 2004. First of all the Patriots should NOT have even been in the 2001 game at all. Charles Woodson clearly made Tom Brady fumble, which would have effectively ended the game and sent the Raiders to Three Rivers Stadium, instead of the Snakeriots.
The Tuck rule has not been called since; it was a bullshit call that started a bullshit dynasty.
There were several mistakes made in that game made by the Steelers which could have helped us get over the Patriot hump. One was the extreme loyalty Cowher showed to Jerome Bettis. Bettis was having a great year that year, but he was coming off of a groin injury, and he was less than effective. The coaching staff kept calling on Bettis, but he couldn’t respond because he was hurt. Bettis had nine carries for eight yards.
Amos Zeroue was clearly the more potent of the two that day. He scored in the third quarter, and set up another score with a key third down reception. I feel if Cowher had relied on him more that day we may have had a different outcome. Bill Cowher was the best regular season coach in NFL history. Too bad he always choked in the playoffs. That’s another article though.
Kordell Stewart also had one of his less than stellar games, throwing three interceptions. Here is where it gets interesting. Everybody, me included wanted Kordell’s head. After the game I vividly remember Hines Ward saying that he felt the Pats were one step ahead of them all game. “Oh they knew,” “They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game here at Hienz field”. They knew a lot of our calls. There is no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff.”
I chalked it up to Bellicheck preparing them well for the game. I was wrong. He cheated my Steelers out of TWO chances to go to the Super Bowl, and they are listed as a dynasty. Dynasty my ass, Punk ass cheaters, humps...
I spoke with former Steeler Mike Logan at a local restaurant about the subject of the Pats cheating. He told me during the 2004 A.F.C Championship game that the Patriots were adjusting to their blitz calls sometimes before the Steelers even called them. They had the defense very confused, and were not able to defend the field like they usually do. He told me he still holds a grudge to this day because their cheating “cost me two rings.”
James Harrison echoed these sentiments. “I should have another ring. We were the best team in football in 2004, but the patriots, who we beat during the regular season, stole our signals, and picked up 90 percent of our blitzes in the Championship game. They got busted for it later, but hey, they’re Goodell’s boys, so he slapped em $500,000 and burned the tapes. Was he going to rescind the Super Bowl? Hell No!” Hey James, I wouldn’t piss on Goodell either bro.
Bill Bellichek knowingly cheated
The NFL refused to seriously investigate the allegations
The NFL destroyed the evidence.
I feel like throwing a brick through my own T.V whenever I hear the patriots referred to as a dynasty. They stole their championships in 2000 and 2004 just like bush stole his elections. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to connect the two, but I can’t make that reach yet.
I know this is revisionist history, but without the cheating, the Steelers are looking at a possible 5 Super trips during the years 2000-2010. We could have won FIVE rings; the 2000 Steelers would have been on par with the 70’s Steelers, at least Super Bowl record wise. Talent wise they still would have been behind in my opinion.
My biggest problem is with how the NFL swept this all neatly under the rug, and NEVER questioned the validity of the patriot championships, and everyone regarding Bellicheck as some sort of genius guru. Without cheating he has as many Super Rings as I do. If you let me know every signal my opponent has before the game, I’ll be a considered a great coach as well. He is a FRAUD, and hasn’t won a Super Bowl since he got caught cheating.
If Bill Bellicheck was on fire, I wouldn’t piss on him. I would throw gas on him, and make him hug Roger Goodell. Where there is smoke there is fire, I wish the commissioner had grew some balls, and at least properly sanctioned them, but he slapped them on the wrist. Robert Kraft (patriot’s owner) paid the $700,000 in fines with his pocket money. That’s probably the cost of one of their gaudy, stolen Super Bowl rings.
Ron Porter
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