The league has a serious problem and the Pats are at the center of it

This deliberate and calculated assassination of the Patriots brand has whipped people into such a frenzy that each and every single loss to the Patriots will now be met with accusations of cheating by the opponent, media and fans. That is not good for "integrity" at all and BAD for the sport.

Not to mention that I'm starting to worry about Brady's and the team's safety in road games. That is how much the haters are frothing at the mouth...and there has been talk about fans "doing something about them" on other boards from other teams fans.

This is a spectacular failure of leadership at the highest level in the league. Goodell MUST be relieved of his duties as commissioner and the sooner the better.

Who cares? It's funny listening to people cry and make excuses and come up with lunatic fringe conspiracy theories.

I wouldn't worry too much about road games. You can't confuse PFT comment trolls for players on the field. It's not like so and so is going to dive at Tom's knees because PeytonManning18 posts on Coltsfans.com 50 times a day calling us cheaters.

I honestly love the hysteria and stupidity now. The tears are amazing and taste great.

The FU Tour is off to a great start!
Embrace the hate.

Every time the New England Patriots walk onto any field...home, away, warm ups, after half time......Ernie Adams and his special ops unit "Kraft Productions" need to override the stadium audio system and pump in.....

Goodell - Pash - Kensil - Vincent etal all need to be removed ASAP.

sb1 said:

Not to mention that I'm starting to worry about Brady's and the team's safety in road games. That is how much the haters are frothing at the mouth...and there has been talk about fans "doing something about them" on other boards from other teams fans.

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This is my biggest fear. That some deranged fan will want to hurt someone on the team.

You're absolutely right. This is a very toxic, hate-filled environment. And the media and the League are oblivious to what the consequences might be.

Are you guys really going to do this to yourselves all freaking season?

You're still living in the pre-Framegate world.

Much like this country, the NFL is suffering from a serious lack of competent leadership!

view the Patriots as the police, when the leader of the league/country sides with those who lie and make false accusations, then further fuels it with anti police/patriots rhetoric you get policemen getting executed and the Patriots accused of everything from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the JFK assaination.

Goodell must go, and a strong, honest leader must replace him and then clean house and open up all the files and clearly state what did and did not happen. until that is done, this anti-Patriots garbage will continue.

borg said:

Every time the New England Patriots walk onto any field...home, away, warm ups, after half time......Ernie Adams and his special ops unit "Kraft Productions" need to override the stadium audio system and pump in.....

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I tell ya....I'm real proud of how they kicked off the season last night.

For years this team has been winning with class and respect and that was never returned by the NFL, the media, their opponents (most of them) or other fans (in general)

You never (within reason) want to gloat or be overly boastful of your own accomplishments but y'know, they are entitled to it.

They are sick of being kicked, stabbed and punched.

Time to do the punching.

The New England Patriots franchise took a major victory lap last night. They were Michael Jordan and Larry Bird talking to whomever was guarding them and saying, "You are already beat. I'm awesome, you suck. I always win. You don't and I'm right now reminding you of it. You don't like me because I always win. That is your problem- not mine."

Its like the Kelly LeBrock commercial....

The "woe is us" crowd is becoming more insufferable than the "Patriots are cheaters" crowd.

You guys give them power by being so emotionally affected by baseless, laughable stupidity.

Let's go to the political forum so I can get you all riled up by claiming we never landed on the moon, since apparently that would make you really sad and ruin your entire day.

I'm loving it. In fact, I would love nothing more than to see the "pity bus" loaded up with so many opposing fans that a waiting list, as long as it is for Pats seasons tix, needs to be implemented.

Short of burning down their hotel cutting the breaks on their bus there is very little opposing fans can do. It's all talk and they are frothing cause this is the only way their simple minds can comprrhend how the pats have been so dominant for so long. Cause you know actual preparation practice and execution is unheard of.

Unleash the hounds.....

PATS16N0 said:

Who cares? It's funny listening to people cry and make excuses and come up with lunatic fringe conspiracy theories.

I wouldn't worry too much about road games. You can't confuse PFT comment trolls for players on the field. It's not like so and so is going to dive at Tom's knees because PeytonManning18 posts on Coltsfans.com 50 times a day calling us cheaters.

I honestly love the hysteria and stupidity now. The tears are amazing and taste great.

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Unless it's a guy like TJ Ward.

I saw a DL from Pitt last night at the end of the first half give TB a little tap on the butt as in good game or whatnot as he ran into the locker room.

I believe TB and the Pats have too much respect from active players. I think what they did in the SB with "fully inflated footballs" ended that fiasco in the minds of the real players. Just read what Michael Bennett had to say about TB.

Hate him if you want, he is right about this...in Washington and New York. I can't imagine he remotely has the temperament to be President (considering the ideal of George Washington), but his willingness to bluntly state his world view is resonating with the electorate.

ViperGTS said:

Unless it's a guy like TJ Ward.

I saw a DL from Pitt last night at the end of the first half give TB a little tap on the butt as in good game or whatnot as he ran into the locker room.

I believe TB and the Pats have too much respect from active players. I think what they did in the SB with "fully inflated footballs" ended that fiasco in the minds of the real players. Just read what Michael Bennett had to say about TB.

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I saw that, too. That was James Harrison. Pleasantly surprised by a classy move by him.

Regarding the OPs point, remember that Goodell said he wanted things to be about football on opening night. He can't control the weather and he can't control the functionality of the headsets, but he can influence the commentary by the broadcast crew. Anyone watching knew exactly what the storyline was going to be post-game, unless the league tried to change the narrative. I'm not saying they should have told Collinsworth and Michaels to drop the subject, but the NFL could have prepared some bullet points for them by halftime, so they could let the audience know the league controls the communications, the Patriots headsets were out, too, and this kind of thing happens at every stadium from time to time. It wouldn't have been that difficult or unreasonable for the league to do.

sb1 said:

This deliberate and calculated assassination of the Patriots brand has whipped people into such a frenzy that each and every single loss to the Patriots will now be met with accusations of cheating by the opponent, media and fans. That is not good for "integrity" at all and BAD for the sport.

Not to mention that I'm starting to worry about Brady's and the team's safety in road games. That is how much the haters are frothing at the mouth...and there has been talk about fans "doing something about them" on other boards from other teams fans.

This is a spectacular failure of leadership at the highest level in the league. Goodell MUST be relieved of his duties as commissioner and the sooner the better.

Click to expand...

I fear for Patriots fans going to Patriots games in visiting stadiums. I live in NYC (and have for the past 7 years) and have gone to 3 Patriots-Jets games at the Meadowlands over the years. Last year was definitely the worst experience I had. I actually feared for my safety (and my girlfriend's). Additionally, the vitriol that was spewed was sickening. I expect it to be much worse this year. I will not be going to the Jets-Pats at Metlife this year...

PATS16N0 said:

The "woe is us" crowd is becoming more insufferable than the "Patriots are cheaters" crowd.

You guys give them power by being so emotionally affected by baseless, laughable stupidity.

Let's go to the political forum so I can get you all riled up by claiming we never landed on the moon, since apparently that would make you really sad and ruin your entire day.

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If it was just accusations that never went anywhere, you might have a point. Reality is that even if we follow every rule exactly to the letter we can still lose 1st round picks at any time. Tomorrow the league could announce that they've hired Ted Wells to investigate this. A month from now they can say we more probably than not jammed the communications and BB was at least generally aware. Bye bye 1st round pick in 2017. Appeal, you say? Rodger will hear your appeal shortly. Oh, sorry, Rodger decided he doesn't believe you and decided to uphold his own ruling. Don't like it? Tough cookies. Now, give me a hug.

I'm also a little worried about the "frenzy" mentioned by the OP.

I've been talking to people at work, and they absolutely hate the Patriots. One guy said he'd root for them only if they were playing against Bin Laden. And I live in North Carolina.

I worry about the NFL becoming like the Premier League, where Man U fans can't go to Liverpool without risking their personal safety. I'd hate to see the NFL become like that.

And remember this about Ballghazi: it was never about misconduct. It was about a commissioner probing how far he could go against an unpopular team. The fact that "it's only just the Patriots" almost carried the day for him.

Mr. Plow said:

I'm also a little worried about the "frenzy" mentioned by the OP.

I've been talking to people at work, and they absolutely hate the Patriots. One guy said he'd root for them only if they were playing against Bin Laden. And I live in North Carolina.

I worry about the NFL becoming like the Premier League, where Man U fans can't go to Liverpool without risking their personal safety. I'd hate to see the NFL become like that.

And remember this about Ballghazi: it was never about misconduct. It was about a commissioner probing how far he could go against an unpopular team. The fact that "it's only just the Patriots" almost carried the day for him.

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Almost? It did carry the day! The only thing they didn't get was the suspension. They got the picks and everybody outside New England (and at least 50% of the people in New England) are convinced that the balls were tampered with. He's still in charge. And, he has every incentive to carry on smearing and framing us at every opportunity.

If you want to look at how Framegate turned out and use that to decide whether it could happen again, I'd have to say it's much more likely to happen again now that they did get away with it.