My hot takes on Tom Brady’s suspension

I have a confession to make.

I don’t hate Tom Brady.

In fact, I’m very envious of him. I’m envious that he gets to bang a super model and has 4 SB rings. I’m envious that he’s been the franchise QB for a team that has made my team their bitch for the last 15 years or so. I just can’t hate the man because I wish we had one just like him. Still, I don’t blame you for hating their version of #12. Why wouldn’t you? You are a Bills fan. He’s crushed the hopes and dreams of this fanbase almost as much as the key figures who constructed the Bills over the years. And that’s probably why I don’t hate him as much as I hated Dan Marino or Bryan Cox as a kid. The Bills themselves should be ashamed of how crappy they have been over the last 15 years. At least during the 90s it was competitive between Miami. It really meant something to hate another team because you knew at the end of the day it would come down to Miami vs. Buffalo. Bottom line, I had bigger things to hate like the ineptitude of the Bills failures.

I tend to think most opinions made about Brady and deflategate in Buffalo stems from the baggage we have towards that team to go along with the moral compass of cheating. Its always great to crap on the best. That’s sports. Cheering for the best -who aren’t you- to fall on their faces is a time honored tradition. I remember the Bills were that during the 90s. I think that asshole Rick Reilly coined the phrase of the Bills being the “Serial killers of the Super Bowl”. There were a number of fans and lamestreamers outside of the (716) who took pride in the Bills not being as good as they were from 90-93 when they were obviously in decline.

I’m pretty confident if Tom Brady was your QB, 90% of the fanbase/media in that city would find a way to weasel out of the punishment. Jeremy White has been tweeting non-stop about Boston radio since last week about their hosts/fans trying to play the blame game. If JW was based in Boston, his hometown apologist ass would be singing the praises of Brady and acting like it was a wild witch hunt. Hey, you know those asshole fans rallying behind Brady by handcuffing themselves to each other, well, I’m willing to bet Bills fans or any other fan base would be voicing their displeasure probably in that regard and then others would laugh at them. Pissed off because fans are raising money to pay for Tom’s fine? Well, Sabres fans and local businesses tried paying for Lindy Ruff’s fine after the Neal/Drury incident when half of Canada hated the Sabres for inciting a brawl. All fans are belligerent. But hey, that’s being a sports fan. Anyone who isn’t us is the enemy and those who are us get our undying affection and a pass for fucking up. Being a fan of a specific team gives you the rights of passage to be kind of a hypocrite when it comes to other teams.

Now, do I believe Brady and the Pats should have been punished? Yes.

You broke the rules. Again.

Do I think there should be a giant * next to Brady’s name? Hardly.

This isn’t a baseball player doing steroids where its abundantly clear there was a day and night outcome by doing so. The crime most of the time has to fit the punishment. To label someone as a cheater has deferring variations in sports. This instance is different than saying Barry Bonds is a cheater. Its case by case. Cheating on your taxes to get an extra 500 bucks back vs. embezzling millions of dollars from a company are two different methods of cheating.

Tom Brady still had the game of his life against a Seattle defense that dominated Manning, Kaep, Newton, Brees and Rodgers in their previous 5 playoff games. He’s still very fricken good and I’m willing to bet the Pats will probably still win the division because they always do and this will probably just piss him off even more so he could play better. If I am a Boston fan, I couldn’t care less about this because they have 4 SB titles and the NFL isn’t talking that away from them. Why the fuck should they care what I or anyone outside of Boston thinks at this juncture? 4 games is hardly the end of the world for that team and since the 24/7 sports cycle always looks forward to the next story rather than the past story, this will probably be forgotten a year from now while what he’s accomplished in Boston will live on forever.

I’d be more than happy to endorse cheating in an NFL game if that meant my team could get 4 SB titles. Of course, “My” is, and will always be the key here.