Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The Asterisk


Don Shula, former coach of the Miami Dolphins, recently suggested that if this year’s New England Patriots finish the season with a perfect 19-0 record, there should be an asterisk next to the record. In case some of you have forgotten or are unfamiliar with the circumstances giving rise to Shula’s comment, let me revisit what happened in week 1 of the NFL season this year. During a game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, officials discovered that a member of the Patriots’ staff was operating a video camera to capture footage of the Jets’ coaches across the field on the other sideline, presumably to steal their defensive play calling signals. NFL rules explicitly forbid a team’s use of a video camera for any purpose other than filming action on the field. The officials quickly confiscated the video camera and the game ended with a convincing Patriots victory.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acted swiftly in response to the scandal, now popularly known as “spy-gate,” by stripping the Patriots of a future draft pick and levying a $500,000.00 fine against Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the scandal is that not only was the Patriots’ video camera use expressly forbidden by NFL rules, shortly before this incident, the league sent a memorandum to every NFL team emphasizing and reiterating that such video camera use was forbidden. Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Bill Belichick feigned ignorance by alluding to “his interpretation of rules about a video taping procedure,” but it was clear to anyone with an IQ above 80 that Belichick is a cheater, and possibly worse, that the entire Patriots organization is a group of cheaters.

In the days following the revelation that Belichick openly defied the NFL and cheated, most sports broadcasters and commentators criticized him for breaking NFL rules, but most downplayed the possible impact the video taping could have had on the game because, after all, the taping was discovered in the first half and the Patriots dominated the Jets throughout the game.

Since the incident, the Patriots have dominated the NFL, compiling a 9-0 record and winning all but one of their games in convincing fashion. In a sport ruled by the axiom “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” the spy-gate scandal quickly faded in significance as sports media personalities quickly grew weak in the knees watching Tom Brady and Randy Moss hook up for one touchdown connection after another. Suddenly, what was once an embarrassing blemish on the Patriots’ young season became an annoying little memory that served to distract Brady worshipers from the task at hand – to coronate Tom Brady as greatest NFL QB ever and to rename the Lombardi trophy after the genius Belichick.

After the Patriots’ recent victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the likelihood of an undefeated season for the Patriots has increased dramatically. Recognizing this possibility, Don Shula weighed in on the Patriots’ season. (Shula coached the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to finish a season without a loss.) He obviously has an interest in the preservation of his legacy, so it was not terribly surprising to hear him say that if the Patriots finish the season undefeated, their record should go down in history with an asterisk next to it to indicate that spy-gate tainted their accomplishment.

Shula’s comments have sparked harsh reaction from virtually the entire sports world. Commentators are resurrecting their arguments that the video taping probably did not aid the Patriots much at all and that it only happened during one game. Moreover, they argue, the Patriots have played so well since the incident happened that it is obvious they did not even need to cheat in the first place. These Patriots apologists completely miss the point.

The following example is illustrative: I recently took the Colorado bar exam. As part of the exam, I took the Multistate bar exam, a difficult 100 question multiple choice exam most American law school graduates must pass before receiving their license to practice law. The exam was, as advertised, very difficult. When I received the results of my exam, I was surprised to learn that I passed by a fairly comfortable margin. Let’s pause for a moment, and imagine that while answering question #79 of the exam, in a moment of weakness, I had looked over at another student’s scantron sheet and copied his answer. Let’s also imagine that I answered the other 99 questions completely on my own. Should I receive a license to practice law? Under the Patriots apologists’ reasoning, absolutely! After all, I only cheated on one question and, as it turned out, I passed the exam by much more than one question, so my cheating proved unnecessary. This argument is flawed and completely fails to recognize the crucial elements of integrity and honesty. While I realize that receiving a license to practice law and an NFL game are not perfectly comparable, the comparison is compelling. A lawyer’s honesty and integrity are essential to the proper functioning of the judicial system. An NFL team’s honest, good faith compliance with established rules is essential to the legitimacy of the sport, not to mention the good reputation of the team’s coaches and players. If NFL fans had no assurance that the outcomes of games on the field were the result of fair play and equal opportunity, the league would hardly be the multi-billion dollar entity it has become. Ultimately, the taint in the Patriots’ season comes not from the extent of their cheating, but from the fact that they cheated at all.

Shula’s comments concededly came from a biased source, but they are nevertheless meritorious. The Patriots, without argument, have put on a spectacular offensive display this season. However, no number of offensive yards or Tom Brady touchdown passes can remove the pall of suspicion and disgrace under which the Patriots fell when they knowingly cheated. The proverbial bell cannot be un-rung. The Pats tainted their season. They deserve an asterisk.