Unbeaten Patriots? Don't forget that taint
Oct. 19, 2007
By Mike Freeman
It was 8:30 a.m. earlier this week when the phone rang and the voice of Don Shula crackled on the other line. The reason Shula is someone to be admired -- besides for being the coach of the only undefeated team in modern NFL history -- is because of what would happen next.
Shula always tells the truth, no matter how blunt, no matter how uncomfortable it might make the room. He was asked about the New England Patriots and if they finished the season undefeated would that unbeaten season be tainted because of Videogate and the accompanying cheating accusations. Shula didn't hesitate in his response.
"Well it would have to be," Shula said. "That's not going to ever go away (the videotaping scandal). That's going to be talked about forever. They were fined $500,000 right? They lost how many draft picks? That tells you about the seriousness of what they did."
Shula makes it clear he has great respect for Bill Belichick as a coach and Tom Brady as a quarterback.
"Tom is at the top of his game," Shula explained. "I think they have everything going for them. They just look so strong. They are not going to lose many, if any, games."
Yet Shula also makes two other points. His first is this Patriots team is probably the biggest threat ever to the Dolphins' mark.
Second, if New England does go undefeated, Shula believes their achievement would suffer from an eternal blemish because of the videotaping scandal, a blemish that is nonexistent when it comes to the unbeaten Dolphins.
A New England undefeated season, in Shula's eyes, would not be the same as Miami's.
Certainly Shula is biased and there is a fatherly, protective quality to his comments, but his remarks raise an interesting question: If the Patriots did make history, would the two undefeated seasons be seen by history as equal?
We're a looooonnng way from undefeated talk with the Patriots, I know. Particularly since New England has to play Indianapolis in two weeks and the Colts could very well win that game. As Belichick might say to his team: If any of you talk about a (expletive) undefeated season, I'll wipe the floor with your (double expletive).
Shula is without question right about one thing. If New England does beat Miami this week and then the Colts, the Dolphins' historical achievement would see its greatest nemesis.
The Patriots are playing with the kind of chip on their shoulder we have never before seen in professional team sports. They want to win a championship to prove that the others weren't a fluke.
And if they did and went undefeated in the process, would there be a taint?
Some fans and people in football would say yes.
The problem in sports is we love conspiracies. There are always going to be people who think the Patriots cheated in the past and are still cheating now. They will say Miami is truly the undefeated team because there is no such scandal associated with that group.
In effect, to some, an undefeated Patriots season would weaken what has become an impenetrable nostalgia regarding the unbeaten Dolphins.
There is so much fascination and respect for that era no one wants to damage or eradicate it. That is what some fans -- and even some people in and around football like Shula -- believe would happen if the Patriots equaled Miami's achievement.
Shula was asked if he and his Dolphins are beginning to consider gathering and preparing the bubbly for if and when the Patriots lose.
"A lot of that stuff with us popping champagne has been totally overblown," Shula said.
If the Patriots go undefeated, what won't be overblown is the analysis of their place in history and the belief -- possibly erroneous, possibly true -- that they will forever suffer the taint of Videogate.
http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/10419004
