Keidel: Should Bill Belichick Be Banned From The Super Bowl?
By Jason Keidel
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Bill Belichick, the Keyser Soze of the NFL, equal parts power and lore and deception, is back at it. And, as in classic 1995 film, The Usual Suspects, it's not hard to follow the line to the man bearing the black hat.
We know I don't share your affinity for our local football teams. My father is from western Pennsylvania and raised me accordingly. But as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since 1976, I assure you I harbor no affection for the New England Patriots.
Indeed, during Big Ben's first full season (2004), the Steelers went 15-1, with a gold-plated path to the Super Bowl. Then, New England came into town and whipped my beloved black & gold in the AFC title game. They also beat us in the 2001 AFC title game before beating the Rams in the Super Bowl.
And now I, like many of you who have fallen under the guise of great coaching, wonder if we lost due to New England's dominant play or something more dubious.
The Patriots, well, Bill Belichick, is now squirming under the scrutiny of a fed-up fan base who are tired of Spygate, Deflate-gate, and every other gate gained by their coach who's now called "Belicheat" by Don Shula. The Don Corleone of coaches, with the most wins in NFL history, Shula shares our contempt for the Patriots head coach.
Shula is not a man given to tantrums. Neither is Marshall Faulk, who is still smarting over the loss to New England in the Super Bowl well over a decade ago. The Hall of Fame running back is fairly certain that the Pats knew almost everything the Rams ran in the first half of that game, and insists that once they changed their play-calling vernacular, they couldn't be stopped the rest of the game.
Now the media and the masses are pondering the punishment. What do we do with the man? No one disputes that Bill Belichick is the Patriots, that he's the moon, sun, yin and yang of the franchise. Tom Brady aside, no one is more the face of the franchise than the ornery coach with the hobo-chic wardrobe, ornery persona and an epic appetite for an edge, no matter the laws of his land.
And even as a hater of all things New England, from the football team to the accents to Ben Affleck, it's still hard to say for certain that Belichick should removed his headset for the Super Bowl. Who, in their hearts, really wants that? How do we decide, honestly and earnestly, between what's fair and what's fun?
Who wouldn't savor a staring contest between Belichick and a thousand media members? It's a better, more galling, gripping, and graphic penance than snatching a draft pick. Media sessions are Belichick's personal inferno, straight-up torture from the dog-eared pages of Dante Alighieri.
It serves two masters. It punishes the hooded miscreant right away, and then the league can follow up with even more punishment, perhaps peel off a second- and third-round draft pick from the Patriots. Even though Robert Kraft is considered a class act, he should pay, as well, as Belichick has been his coach and consigliere for over 15 years, and knows his record and rap sheet better than any of us.
Not to mention if you ban Belichick from the game, you might as well hand the Lombardi Trophy to Pete Carroll now. And while coach Carroll is hardly a neophyte when it comes to bending the rules -- he left USC while the football program was in flames -- not even the Seahawks coach wants to win the Super Bowl by default. Ripping the keys to the kingdom from Belichick doesn't serve you, the public, and you deserve the best game possible on February 1.
And there's the larger question, the greater and more poignant narrative. The serial nature of their rule-bending ways, their pathological need to cheat. How do we process or punish the Patriots when this is hardly their first transgression? And why do they so blatantly break the rules when they don't have to? They could have defeated the Colts using Nerf or beach balls.
Belichick is the football iteration of Winona Ryder. He's got 20 grand in his pocket and still steals the bracelet, sliding it into his purse and slithering out the glass door. Guess he just didn't realize that while he may be watching his foes far too closely, he's also being watched with equal fervor.
When you've got a rap sheet, the cops come calling whenever there's a crime in your vicinity. Is that wholly inconvenient and unfair at times? Sure. But when you're not only the emblem of head coaches, but also its top miscreant, it's fair to be quite frustrated with Belichick's epic allergy to fair play.
Patriot apologists will insist this is just a case of convenience, that this is piling-on of the highest order. And, like in a typical human hill on the gridiron, we're taking our cheap shots, poking the Patriots in the privates while it's easy.
Nonsense. If there's any overkill, it's on the part of the Patriots and their patriarch. It's not unique to football, but football has made it clear that winning trumps ethics. From the smaller infractions of extra clothing for a college player to the atrocities at Penn State, we've seen the more successful coaches get away with way too much off the field simply because of their record on it.
Belichick must pay. And payment must be considerable, both honest and earnest. Fine him and the franchise. Take two draft picks. Make it hurt. But don't wrench his headset from him before February 1. We all lose if the Patriots lose before the game begins.
Follow Jason on Twitter @JasonKeidel.