Cheating and scandal have proven unable to shake New England Patriots’ fans from their attachment to the controversial National Football League team. However, the personal off-the-field decisions of three key leaders of the team are proving too much to overlook.
Writing in SBNation January 12, Charlotte Wilder claims New England fans displayed fierce loyalty and doubled their support of the perennial championship contenders through the tumult of the Spygate and Deflategate scandals. But something far worse, in their opinion, may be an unforgiveable sin. “Countless New England loyalists I’ve talked to over the past two months have told me that their idols are wobbling on their pedestals. For some, they’ve shattered.”
What or who could come between New Englanders and the team they love? “Republican President-elect Donald Trump.”
Team owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady have all been outed as – say it ain’t so, Joe! – New England’s “three men out.” They are …Trump supporters!
Wilders’ article is an indictment against them for opposing Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the overwhelming choice of voters in Northeastern states. Though insiders say Hillary spread fear just by walking through the halls of the White House, Trump supposedly ignites fear like no one else. It’s hard to live with the fact that “one of the bluest states has one of the reddest teams” (if one of 53 roster players characterizes a whole team), Wilders laments:
And yet, the Patriots are the only team whose head coach, star quarterback, and wealthy owner have such a long-running, public relationship with the Republican president-elect, who’s one of the most divisive and fear-inspiring figures in the history of American politics.
Wilders acknowledges that non-New Englanders naturally dislike a team that cheats and yet wins all the time. And that Patriots’ fans have spent the past decade defending the team and its “holy trinity” mainstays – Kraft, Belichick and Brady.
Of Brady, she writes, “Speaking badly about ‘Tommy’ in Boston is like trashing the Pope when you’re inside the Vatican: At best, sacrilegious. At worst, a death wish.”
But then along came [insert theme song from The Good, the Bad, the Ugly here]: Trump!
Brady actually said it would great if his friend (of 16 years!) – Trump – won the election! Oh, the horror! And Trump said Brady is his pal and he likes winners like Brady. Call us “cheaters,” but don’t ever call us Trump’s friend!
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The second Patriot out. Coach Belichick, who is leading his team in Sunday’s AFC championship game against Pittsburgh, has his own Trump problem. It’s become public that he wrote Trump a letter of encouragement during the 2016 campaign. Benedict Arnold had nothing as a traitor over the New England coach.
Bring in the third Patriot out, the owner. After the election, Kraft was seen entering Trump Tower. Guilt by association!
None of this is completely surprising to Wilder, who recalled, “There were many pieces written this fall about how many white players supported Trump.” And the holy trinity of the Pats are, after all, white guys. “And the candidate the team is so connected to ran with the most non-liberal (and racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, Islamaphobic, etc.) rhetoric.”
Fans of athletes and entertainers often face the disappointment of knowing the star they admire doesn’t share their political stripes. But this is different, Wilder writes:
Trump’s whole campaign was littered with revelations — such as his refusing to rent apartments to black tenants decades ago, posting anti-Semitic memes, proposing a ban on Muslims from entering the country and forcing them to place themselves on a registry, bragging about sexually assaulting women — that would’ve prompted other politicians to withdraw from the race.
Some of Wilder’s friends are terribly disappointed in their football heroes. Some have stopped watching the Patriots. But some fans now say “(expletive deleted), Brady” and they hate Belichick. For them, “Trump was the final straw that eliminated any feelings of loyalty.” Oh, if only it were as forgivable as tapping into the Houston Texans' coaches’ communications this Sunday.
Wilder noted that fans of other teams “declared they hated New England even more now because they were aligned with a monster,” and pointed out that on the week of the election the Patriots lost to Seattle. It was the only blemish on Brady’s record this season. Cause and effect? Wilder doesn’t say; she merely plants the seed of innuendo. She concludes her attack on celebrities defying New England groupthink this way:
No matter how anyone feels about the team or the president-elect, the two have become as woven into each other’s histories as Trump’s hair is to his head. The difference is that while the rest of the country doesn’t really have a stake in this connection, Patriots fans in liberal Massachusetts who find Trump abhorrent have to grapple with the emotional implications.
Three iconic Patriots are “out.” Will these pariahs ever get back in the fans’ good liberal graces? Maybe. The Patriots are two victories away from a Super Bowl championship. If they win it, we’ll find out if all is forgiven by winning a championship.
