TruthSeeker56
Silver Member
I am a "transplanted" New England Patriots fan (I have always been a "closet" Pats fan), and when I moved to New England from the midwest 10 years ago, I embraced my "home team", but I still love my Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, and all other sports teams in Cleveland and Detroit.
With Cleveland and Detroit having some tough years in football (my favorite sport), it's been easy to cheer for the Patriots. There are also some "connections" with the Patriots and my Ohio and Michigan roots. Bill Belichick's first head-coaching job was with the Cleveland Browns, and Tom Brady played for the Michigan Wolverines.
I am not a Belichick fan by any stretch of the imagination, which I will explain later. I RESPECT his coaching ability, but I don't respect the man or some of his methods. Belichick is a "throwback" coach, which is refreshing in this day and age of coddling players and allowing the "inmates to run the asylum". If you don't bust your ass for Bill Belichick, you are GONE. If you don't buy into the Belichick "system", you are GONE. If you aren't ready to suck it up and play through injuries, you are GONE.
The NFL is littered with former Belichick players who were either released or traded because they didn't fit into "the system". This year Bellichick unceremoniously dropped Brandon Meriweather (a former 1st round pick and two-time Pro-Bowler) and James Sanders (a starting safety). Lawrence Maroney and Richard Seymour are but a few of the many high-round draft picks who were unceremoniously dumped on the Belichick scrap heap.
During Bill Belichick's tenure with the Cleveland Browns, he committed the biggest cardinal sin in Cleveland football history. In 1993, he unceremoniously released local hero and starting quarterback Bernie Kosar during the regular season, and replaced him with Vinnie Testaverde. Belichick's explanation? Kosar was suffering from "diminishing skills" (even though he was only 30 years old at the time). Belichick has later admitted that releasing Kosar was the biggest mistake of his coaching career.
Bernie Kosar has always been a football hero of mine. He was the "native son" who restored football prominence to Cleveland. His record of 308 consecutive passes thrown without an interception stood until 2010, when Tom Brady broke it. His record of 489 passing yards in an NFL playoff game still stands today.
Back to Belichick and the Patriots. It appears as though the New England Patriots are the most HATED NFL team in the league. Not too many people outside of the northeast like Belichick or Brady or the Patriots as a whole.
Why is there so much animosity towards the Patriots? Is it because of their 10-year reign of success? Is it the whole Massachusetts/New England "blueblood" mentality? So what is it?
With Cleveland and Detroit having some tough years in football (my favorite sport), it's been easy to cheer for the Patriots. There are also some "connections" with the Patriots and my Ohio and Michigan roots. Bill Belichick's first head-coaching job was with the Cleveland Browns, and Tom Brady played for the Michigan Wolverines.
I am not a Belichick fan by any stretch of the imagination, which I will explain later. I RESPECT his coaching ability, but I don't respect the man or some of his methods. Belichick is a "throwback" coach, which is refreshing in this day and age of coddling players and allowing the "inmates to run the asylum". If you don't bust your ass for Bill Belichick, you are GONE. If you don't buy into the Belichick "system", you are GONE. If you aren't ready to suck it up and play through injuries, you are GONE.
The NFL is littered with former Belichick players who were either released or traded because they didn't fit into "the system". This year Bellichick unceremoniously dropped Brandon Meriweather (a former 1st round pick and two-time Pro-Bowler) and James Sanders (a starting safety). Lawrence Maroney and Richard Seymour are but a few of the many high-round draft picks who were unceremoniously dumped on the Belichick scrap heap.
During Bill Belichick's tenure with the Cleveland Browns, he committed the biggest cardinal sin in Cleveland football history. In 1993, he unceremoniously released local hero and starting quarterback Bernie Kosar during the regular season, and replaced him with Vinnie Testaverde. Belichick's explanation? Kosar was suffering from "diminishing skills" (even though he was only 30 years old at the time). Belichick has later admitted that releasing Kosar was the biggest mistake of his coaching career.
Bernie Kosar has always been a football hero of mine. He was the "native son" who restored football prominence to Cleveland. His record of 308 consecutive passes thrown without an interception stood until 2010, when Tom Brady broke it. His record of 489 passing yards in an NFL playoff game still stands today.
Back to Belichick and the Patriots. It appears as though the New England Patriots are the most HATED NFL team in the league. Not too many people outside of the northeast like Belichick or Brady or the Patriots as a whole.
Why is there so much animosity towards the Patriots? Is it because of their 10-year reign of success? Is it the whole Massachusetts/New England "blueblood" mentality? So what is it?
Last edited:
