Anyone who feels that this incident "taints" the NFL or the Pats or the sanctity of the game is straight up delusional with what football is about and has been about. That "legacy" (the "good old days" that people like to conjure up whenever new rules are implemented to take big hits out of the game) were the same "good old days" where cheating and gamesmanship were the name of the game.
The Raiders, as much as we might roll our eyes at their Tuck Rule silliness, are undoubtedly a critical part of NFL history and lore. They also used to have a sign in their locker room which said "Rule #1 - Cheating is encouraged. Rule #2 - See Rule #1". Fred Biletnikoff was notorious for using so much stick'um on his hands that teammates would refuse to hi-five or shake his hand in-game or post-game.
How about the 49ers? We remember "The Catch" and Montana's heroics. Do we really remember (or care about) their salary cap shenanigans? Or that they were infamous for illegal leg whips?
Or the Giants and Bill Parcells who used all sorts of "home cooking" to gain an edge - including having someone open up the door at the windy end of the stadium when the opposing team was attempting a FG.
Or the Cowboys. You know the team whose head coach (Jimmy Johnson) would rummage through his opponents trash to try to find any notes or hints of a gameplan.
Or all of the players in the 70's and 80's who used pine tar, stick'um, soaked their jerseys in non-stick cooking spray, taped metal rods into their wrist guards (to stun opposing linemen), created fake casts made out of concrete-type substances and - yes - used deflated balls.
Where is this idea that football is a noble game where no corners are ever cut, no edges ever sought come from? Football, like every sport, is full of ultra-competitive people. You don't make it to the highest level without trying everything you can to one-up your opponent. From stealing signs, to doctoring balls, altering fields, piping in noise, turning the heat up in a domed stadium, having radio communication mysteriously go out, doctoring your jersey, taking drugs (steroids, greenies, Adderall, HGH whatever), twisting guys' ankles or knees in pileups, etc - it's a part of the game.
People want to stop following the Patriots because some balls were deflated? Are you under the impression that the Patriots, and evil ol' Bill Belichick, are the only team which are doctoring balls? That other teams aren't doing similar things? Even after Brad Johnson says he paid some guys to doctor balls? After all the myriad reports of QB's and (some) coaches dismissing this as a pretty normal part of the game? When has there ever been an era of football without cheating? You think the Patriots of the early 2000's weren't using performance boosting drugs or trying "home cooking" on their field/stadium? You think there weren't guys jacked on 'roids just because they weren't caught? Are you under the impression that the 70's, 80's, 90's - hell ANY classic moment in ANY classic football game didn't involve guys and teams which were cheating somehow?
The only reason this is worth any discussion is because Roger Goodell is an ego-manaical power-hungry wannabe dictator who applies rules and punishment with no semblance of consistency or logic. He does whatever he thinks will satisfy the masses and if that fails, he will hire some former athletes and their wives to sigh, in a very forlorn manner, at a camera #NoMore. Were it not for Goodell being a reckless and incompetent buffoon who very well might suspend Belichick for the Super Bowl, this entire thing would be (and should be) viewed as a hilarious waste of time by anyone with a semblance of understanding as the game's history and the nature of football (and any professional sport).
Win a ring and who the eff cares.
