Opposing fan reaction so far

I thought I'd start a thread that people could post about the reactions they've heard in person from fans. I live in Texas which seems to be pretty neutral in terms of Pats hatred. Not one person I've talked to or that has text me today thinks this report proves anything. One person, a Texans fan, has told me all along that if they were found to be in violation of the rules, they should be punished. His response to the report was "if you don't have real proof, this is a non story."

Even a Broncos fan questioned the halftime psi readings, based on two gauges being so far apart.

Obviously not everyone will be as fortunate as I am to be around so many level headed football fans, just know it's not universally believed outside New England the Pats are guilty.

Needless to say, the vast majority of fans aren't that level headed and they will use this as more ammunition against the Pats.

F&ck these people. All of them.

I imagine anyone with a bias against the Patriots is more than satisfied that an "independent" investigator has determined that the Patriots "probably" tampered with the footballs and are not going to parse through any of the particulars or challenge any of Wells' findings or assumptions.

An objective observer may be curious how Wells arrived at this conclusion but may or may not be curious enough to wade through the particulars of 243 page report.

Meanwhile, the sports media will keep pushing the anti-Patriots narrative so that casual observers will simply believe it to be true.

I'm sure it will be overwhelmingly anti-Patriot. I've been kind of embracing the title of Villain for awhile now. Had so many years of the Patriot Way and the goody two shoes can't do nothing wrong image and now are pretty much universally hated. I kind of like it in a strange way. I throw down the thunder on opposing fans and by the end of the conversation they are convinced the Pats are awesome. Or at least that's the way I walk away from the conversation.

The biggest thing to me is people fear what they don't know. They can't understand the Patriots success for so long. It's unprecedented and at the point where Patriots dominate the headlines and the standings. The term "they hate us cuz they ain't us" does apply here. If Leonard Nimoy were alive I would love for him to do one last episode of "In search of." The Sustained Patriots success. All of the conspiracy theories, rumors would be a show worth watching. They all want to believe it's something wrong/evil so any little thing they can to disprove the Pats they cling to. If they had stakes I'm sure there would be burnings in Foxboro.

Reddit was amazing. Most people thing its at most a fineable offense for Brady, and the lack of actual proof of anything damning (Tom hates overinflated balls, that's all I got from their texts) is another NFL screwup waiting to happen.

Does this count? [Haven't read it, given the author.]

http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/borges-brady-may-find-he-s-not-1st-ballot-hall-famer

blackglass3 said:

Reddit was amazing. Most people thing its at most a fineable offense for Brady, and the lack of actual proof of anything damning (Tom hates overinflated balls, that's all I got from their texts) is another NFL screwup waiting to happen.

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You must only read the top comments. I felt the opposite, actually.

I really don't think this report is changing anybody's opinion. Those who though this was the worst thing since 9/11 will still think so. And those who didn't really care will still don't care.

I don't care one bit what other fans believe and I'm so sick of Pats fans worrying about this.
It'a all about the games on sunday, the wins and loses..everything else is a side show. Some Pats fans seem to have a complex worrying about how their team is perceived..whydoes it matter? Just give me championships and I'm happy.

sambam94 said:

Just give me championships and I'm happy.

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There is that salvation. I hear some shmuck on the radio etc. going on about the integrity of the game, I am ready to fight. Then thoughts of XLIX change my reaction. Feels like a left hook to the speaker's jaw.
Boom. We'll be back, good buddy. Find another excuse.

I can't wait until the season.

The haters have already identified themselves long before this fiasco, so all it does is help them sharpen their claws and coalesces the bonds between them.

Who gives a crap?

I just did a quick read on the cowboys board and it's simply impossible to read more than 10 posts, too much nonsense, people talking out of their asses without even reading the report or being aware of the many flaws and suspects in this investigation.

sambam94 said:

I don't care one bit what other fans believe and I'm so sick of Pats fans worrying about this.
It'a all about the games on sunday, the wins and loses..everything else is a side show. Some Pats fans seem to have a complex worrying about how their team is perceived..whydoes it matter? Just give me championships and I'm happy.

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Ditto! I also don't care anymore about what other fans think. Stopped caring years ago.

I laugh at Jets fans who love to say that Spygate is the worst case of cheating since the Black Sox scandal because you know if they could trade places, they would in a second.

There are problems with the report, but what reason would opposing fans have to sift through it to find them? None. The conclusions look bad for us and that's all anybody will report or remember.

I live in the middle of Jets/Giants land.... and 90% of my co-workers are fans of either one of these teams. I can tell you that when the Wells report was first released yesterday, I only heard a few comments about the report being out and that the Pats are cheaters (in a douchy wisea$$ remark). But not ONE person rode my balls (no pun intended) coming at me with the "I FCKING TOLD YOU THEY CHEATED" bullcrap. To me, the lack of noise, means they know they have nothing against my Pats.

At any rate, I don't give 2 $hits about what people think. I embrace the hatred and everyone else can go Fck themselves.

Crazy Patriot Guy said:

I thought I'd start a thread that people could post about the reactions they've heard in person from fans. I live in Texas which seems to be pretty neutral in terms of Pats hatred. Not one person I've talked to or that has text me today thinks this report proves anything. One person, a Texans fan, has told me all along that if they were found to be in violation of the rules, they should be punished. His response to the report was "if you don't have real proof, this is a non story."

Even a Broncos fan questioned the halftime psi readings, based on two gauges being so far apart.

Obviously not everyone will be as fortunate as I am to be around so many level headed football fans, just know it's not universally believed outside New England the Pats are guilty.

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I know a few Bills and Phin fans, they say that any reasonable person knows that Brady lied and the Patriots cheated, but it really isn't a big deal. However, they will happily harp on it, because that is what opposing fans do.

Rob0729 said:

Ditto! I also don't care anymore about what other fans think. Stopped caring years ago.

I laugh at Jets fans who love to say that Spygate is the worst case of cheating since the Black Sox scandal because you know if they could trade places, they would in a second.

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I think you are closer to the truth than you may have intended with the comment that Rats fans would trade places if they could. I think the genesis of all of their rodentry is based in the concept that they see the Pats success as rightfully theirs.

If the Pats hadn't stolen BB then the Rats would have drafted Brady and this dominating BB/TFB combo would be THEIR gem that they could display to show how great they are.

But not only are THEY not the ones to have BB/TFB, they belong to their undeserving main rivals who would be nothing without them, as they rightfully should be, and if the Rats can't have them then no one will have them, especially Boston, and they are going to use their influence in the NFL front offices and mainstream media to sully and diminish every Pats' accomplishment.

Nevermind the fact that if the Rats knew BB was going to be so great they could have hired him as HC back in 1997 rather than tamper with Bill Parcells as the Pats were trying to win their first Superbowl ever.

Just as I have heard Rats fans not want to examine the injustice that they committed, and got away with in tampering and stealing Revis, they also seem to forget that the only reason BB was on their coaching staff anyway was because, as Parcells longtime DC, he followed the stolen coach to New York.

I detest everything Rat, and I'm starting to feel that same hatred of the rodent-infested NFL.

I read the comments to Peter King's article (not overly impressive so not linking to it) and was more impressed by professed Patriot and Tom Brady (former) fans calling for suspensions. That article was enough for me to measure the temperature of fans in the NFL. The other team fans there are forming lynch mobs, which is exactly what I expected to see and precisely why I will not be reading the general crap that passes as journalism these days.

Analogies to Roethlisberger and the lack of direct proof offered by fans there? Play back the DA's statement and recitation of the evidence and understand the oh so subtle distinctions between this and that. Blah.

On the Today Show this morning, 73% of people polled said that the Patriots should be stripped of their Super Bowl title. That summarized things well. That is, the typical fan has no idea what's going on.