Sent to Mr. Ryan this morning ...
Bob,
You state that the cover-up is the problem. Well, what exactly is it that is being covered up? No one from the league has suggested that the Patriots were anything but forthcoming in the investigation that followed the Estrella incident at the Meadowlands. Indeed, Roger Goodell himself indicated that Matt Walsh revealed exactly nothing that the commissioner did not know already. There is not a single shred of evidence to support (much less prove) any of the wild accusations that have circulated since last September, accusations that many media outlets have been all to happy to promote and sensationalize at every opportunity.
What Belichick did was wrong. He has taken responsibility and apologized. He paid his fine without appeal or public complaint. I'm not sure what else he is supposed to do.
Belichick clearly explained the rationale for his actions. He cited a passage in the constitution and bylaws to support his reasoning. Now you and others (including the commissioner) may not agree with his position, but to suggest that Belichick's explanation is a lie requires that one person truly knows what another was thinking. I doubt that you could make that claim with a straight face and neither could Roger Goddell. (That anti-Semitic kook Gregg Easterbrook is another story).
Or else you have to actually believe Matt Walsh. The willingness of the press to embrace the ramblings of Walsh as gospel says a lot more about the objectivity of the media than anything else. I guess it makes a better story if Walsh is right.
The mention of Belichick's personal life is gratuitous and you know it. Comparing Belichick to Nixon is not only tired (see Easterbrook), it's lazy, sensationalist, and absurd. Tormented? Paranoid? Please. Just how much time have you spent with the man? Press conferences? Is this the sole basis for your profound personal insights?
From a distance, I would say this. Bill Belichick is driven and ultracompetitive. Why did he tape? He did it because he sought an edge (no matter how small) and because it was a more efficient way to scout a football game. He just simply could not let it be, because the same traits that make him successful also lead him to make mistakes (such as this one). That makes him just like the rest of us - you have to take the whole package. .
His love of football and coaching is palpable. He does not suffer fools gladly and my sense is that he has to deal with plenty. I would also guess that he is not at all at ease with people he does not know well; this might manifest itself as "arrogance" but could be that he is just really introverted. But why bother trying to understand someone when you can attach labels ("arrogant, tormented, ...") and make harsh judgments? What kind of a story would that make?
Maybe someone can answer this question for me. If Bill Belichick is as untrustworty and duplicitous as you say, why didn't this team bail on him? Why did they rally around him and work even harder to do what he asked? Because if that team didn't trust him and believe in him, they'd have cut his throat in a heart beat.
