I think there's a classic rift exacerbated by the propagandistic trumping-up of all things anti-Patriot by the NFL in some kind of frustrated JETE fever dream.
There's inside vs. outside thinking.
Inside NE's fanbase, we're an incredibly successful single team, the first dynasty in what was supposed to be a dynasty-proof system. We did everything right. Then we got whacked for where in the stadium we put cameras - which turned into, in the public mind, this unimaginable surveillance and intel operation Bill learned how to do in Annapolis from frogmen and navy seals.
Where do you put the proportionality of what actually happened? Where do you put the League's purpose for its vendetta?
Around the 2007 timeframe, I and some others here asked a lot of the questions (mainly through links to publicly known information) about the issues.
We didn't get too far with an information push, but we at least gathered the info.
You can see a viewpoint close to what we arrived at here:
The timeline is insane, and it shows pretty much what the headline of the above article says -- not this gangster takeover of the league through "cheating."
Take a look in the linked article. A good lead in is where it refers to "the camera scandal--the first one." That was the JETE filming the Pats. It's a glimpse into how the league dealt with the JETE abuse of the camera policy.
But facts rather than torchbearing mob-mentality is the insider NE thinking.
I think these guys think they can just lay aside the greatest body of work of any head coach in the NFL because of allegations of "Cheating." Players and coaches have made slanderous allegations that
they were the real champions, because they would have been the better team if NE didn't cheat. Well, you can't prove or disprove a counterfactual, except to demonstrate that what's been exploded into this dynasty-explaining story was practiced by other teams without any real concern by anyone.
It's gospel in "Outside thinking" that everything BB did comes with an asterisk and so on and so forth. Okay, maybe don't punish the players because deep down they know we ruled this league. But certainly whack Belichick.
I don't like the guy personally. I used to think he was magic, but that progressively lessened. Best coach in NFL history? I think that's intact, just judging by results. But in the "Was it Brady/Was it Belichick" debate, though I would have loved Brady to be proven wrong when we lost him and still had BB, well, we got the answer really.
They needed each other, but BB needed TFB more by the end.
Anyway, I don't think it's a mystery. I think if there are no "scandals" he's first ballot. And if there were no Patriots dominance, there would be no "scandals." The HOF comes with an asterisk...
* Induction is subject to rumor. innuendo. and snark, and is not a pure indicator of one's contribution to the sport. The gold jacket might as well be a Century 21 outfit with a cheap and meaningless shield sewn on.
He'll get in. They just had to do this to keep stoking the excuse machine as NE enters yet a third period of dominance.