Why is Bill Belichick so Hated?

Ask any football fan outside New England (and some of those inside) what they think of Bill Belichick, and you’ll likely get one of the following responses:

“Cheater.”

“Jerk.”

“Arrogant.”

Take one look at fan sites like The Gang Green, or even in multiple national columns such as Gregg Easterbrook’s, and you’ll read the same kinds of things. Belichick is a ruthless competitor who runs up the score on his opponents. He cheated to get where he is and doesn’t deserve his three super bowl rings. And so on.

If you ask me, it’s because they’re jealous.

Think about it. Belichick has qualities that should be admired. He is extremely successful in a league designed to stop sustained success. He preaches hard work, teamwork, and professionalism (he could win 45-3 and still would tell the press that “there’s plenty of things to work on”), and if one of his players doesn’t follow the team system, they get benched (Brandon Meriweather) or let go (Adalius Thomas). His teams all compliment each other and their coach, and they all act professionally both on and off the field, at least more so than many other teams.

He’s also a brilliant strategist and has figured out how to exploit the NFL draft in his favor, repeatedly trading down for future picks while still getting the players he wants and eschewing the expensive, high-risk top ten picks except in rare cases. His drafting strategy has paid great dividends this year, as the team is getting fantastic contributions from lower draft picks like Devin McCourty (27th overall, acquired by trading down), Aaron Hernandez (113th overall), Rob Gronkowski (42nd overall), Brandon Spikes (62nd overall), Sebastian Vollmer (58th overall in 2009), not to mention signing undrafted Benjarvis Green-Ellis. With all the trades, the Patriots have extra picks in each of the first three rounds in the next draft, which should keep the team competitive essentially until Tom Brady retires.

But ask some people, and all this is invalidated because of Spygate. Now, I’m not going to break any new ground on Spygate, and that’s the problem. There are people who won’t be persuaded by facts and think that Belichick cheated in each of his Super Bowls when all he did was tape defensive signals in one game, a practice that Jimmy Johnson considered to be no big deal and one that was only publicized because the NFL had sent out a memo specifically telling teams not to do it (which suggests that it was previously somewhat widespread). No practices were taped, nor were the tapes in the Jets game (which set off the whole controversy) used in any fashion by the team (and of course, the Jets would change their signals before the next time they played since they knew their original signals were taped). And, since Spygate, the Patriots:

-were undefeated in 2007 until the Super Bowl

-went 11-5 in 2008 with a backup quarterback

-went 10-6 in 2009

-are 14-2 this year.

I can think of two reasons for the universal hate for Bill Belichick and the staying power of the Spygate myth:

1. Everyone is unreasonable and can’t follow basic logic.

2. Everyone is jealous of the Patriots’ success and continually strains really hard to find a reason to invalidate their success. “Brady’s hair” falls in this category as well.

I can understand hating a team because they’re your main rival. So Jets and Dolphins fans, you’re allowed to hate the Patriots. I can understand hating a team if they showboat, trash talk, or act unprofessionally on or off the field. That’s why I hate the Ravens, Jets, Chargers, and (most of) the Steelers. I can understand hating a team because of their fans (Cowboys, Eagles) but every team has obnoxious fans. And I’m in the minority on this, but I extend my dislike of particular teams to ones with owners who swindle cities and use public money to build themselves billion-dollar stadiums (Yankees) or as a temple for their religious beliefs (Colorado Rockies). But if there’s an opposing team who plays the game the right way, doesn’t show off, doesn’t talk trash, doesn’t assault women, and isn’t involved in shady off-field incidents, but is highly successful, like, say, the Indianapolis Colts, I find it pretty hard to hate them. So why is it so hard for the entire country when it comes to Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots?

(Source: flickr.com)