Anyone still feeling sorry for the New England Patriots after their Super Bowl loss this past Sunday should reconsider for at least two reasons. First, the organization has five titles to its name already. Second, the organization is full of backstabbing cheaters.
That last point was always a little suspect. When footballs deflated during playoff games, the Patriots had plausible deniability. And when signals got stolen, the Patriots said spying was just part of the game. But they have no excuse for what happened Tuesday.
Three weeks before heading to Minneapolis to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels agreed to move to Indianapolis to coach the Colts.
Then he changed his mind.
McDaniels, arguably the most sought-after coaching prospect in professional football, didn’t just change his mind. He changed it at the very last minute after Indianapolis welcomed him publicly to the city, after the Colts hired other assistant coaches specifically to serve under him, and after the two storied organizations had apparently made peace.
For years, the Colts and the Patriots were synonymous with rivalry. Every time the two played with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady under center, brilliant football ensued. After Manning moved to Denver, the rivalry died down, aside from a heartbreaking Colts loss to the Patriots in the 2015 AFC Championship game.
But that enmity seemed over when McDaniels agreed to take the head coaching job in Indianapolis. One prominent sportswriter even suggested that the Colts-Patriots relationship was thawing.
Then McDaniels broke his word and humiliated a city that was trying to welcome him with open arms. He said something about not wanting to uproot his family — something the new assistant coaches had just done for him.
But there is an upside to the coach’s cowardice.
We love sports because sports are a manifestation and a distillation of the most heroic moments of life. They teach hard work, perseverance, and honesty. While McDaniels doesn’t possess those virtues, that doesn’t mean the coach can’t teach them. Colts fans have a new true villain in New England: McDaniels. He is now presumed to be the heir to Bill Belichick who, while definitely dirty, was never proven to be a liar and a cheat. McDaniels is both of those things.
By snubbing their city, the Colts have new reason to hate the front office in New England. By backstabbing Indianapolis, McDaniels restarted a rivalry.
The teams play in Foxborough, Mass., next season. The entire Colts organization will be extra motivated. I can’t wait.
