Us against the world

May 15, 2008, 3:07:28 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ

It’s fortunate for the Patriots that they can put the Spygate scandal behind them with the regular season still three and a half months away.

It’s probably fortunate for the Chiefs, too.

They’ll face a daunting enough challenge going to New England on September 7 and opening against a team that’s coming off an 18-1 season, yet undoubtedly remains hungry after losing the Super Bowl. The Chiefs don’t also need to be facing a team on a mission, even a misguided one.

While the NFL has its share of ugly issues, cheating by a coach seldom is one of them. Spygate didn’t involve just any coach. It has featured three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick, the league’s highest-profile coach and who’s piled up as many critics as victories.

The Patriots’ punishment – loss of a first-round draft choice and $750,000 in fines — should guarantee that the Chiefs won’t encounter the espionage practiced by the Patriots in last year’s opener against the Jets. A Patriots employee was caught violating league rules by videotaping defensive hand signals from Jets coaches. A league investigation revealed this was a common practice by the Patriots.

The closing of Spygate this week, with Commissioner Roger Goodell saying no further action will be taken against the Patriots, also should guarantee that the Chiefs won’t be facing a team with a chip on its shoulder. Chances are the Patriots now will do their best to put the scandal behind them rather than use it as an excuse to circle the wagons.

Anybody taking note of scandals in sports, politics or business should realize by now that those held responsible for misdeeds are not famous for their contrition or accountability.

They’re often more famous for alibis. They were singled out, supposedly, because somebody was jealous of their success. Or the media sensationalized the issue. Or their accusers lied. The miscreants somehow try to portray themselves as victims.

We see this in sports all the time. College players and coaches refer to a recruiting scandal as a “distraction,” as if it were created by somebody else. Allegations of misdeeds supposedly are reported only to sell newspapers or boost television ratings.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has questioned the motives of former NFL players who as ESPN broadcasters have criticized the Patriots’ illegal videotaping. “They say the craziest things,” Brady said, and added that ESPN should be taken no more seriously than MTV.

His reaction is disappointing, though not surprising. And it runs counter to apologies by Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft to their rivals at the most recent league meetings.

Many a player, though, becomes combative in the face of scandal, and a wily coach can turn that to his advantage. There’s no better excuse for telling players that their next game, if not the entire season, pits “us against the world.”

The Patriots, admittedly, might have been distracted before the Super Bowl by allegations, which have since been proved baseless, that they videotaped the Rams’ walk-through the day before the Super Bowl six years earlier. The Patriots, however, were bothered a lot more by the Giants, who were on a roll and brought a pass rush strong enough to keep the heat on Brady.

It’s a fair guess that the Chiefs, trying to work a bunch of youngsters into the lineup, will be a long way from finding their best stride on September 7. They will be heavy underdogs under the best of circumstances. They don’t need to be walking into a hornet’s nest as well.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former sportswriter and columnist in Kansas City and Miami, Rand has covered the NFL for three decades and seen 23 Super Bowl games. His column appears twice weekly in-season.