One shoe dropped last week, the hammer fell yesterday. The New England Patriots are guilty of cheating, or maybe more so arrogance, or just stupidity.

A future Hall of Famer quarterback besmirches his reputation with the ticky-tack tampering with footballs. Tom Brady, what were you thinking?

A legendary owner, benevolent, rich, so well respected, heads an organization tainted by a second cheating scandal in less than a decade. Robert Kraft should re-examine the culture of his football franchise.

The coach, likely headed to Canton for enshrinement, always looking for an edge, will lose his quarterback for a month, and more importantly, another lst round draft pick, for something that never should have happened. The only question is whether Bill Belicheck really cares?

So here we sit, the aftermath of “Deflate gate”. Tom Brady suspended for 4-games, costing himself 2M in salary, having to sit out critical games against the Steelers, Cowboys and Buffalo.

Owner Robert Kraft and his franchise gets tagged with a 1M fine, for what people in the locker room did, supposedly unbeknownst, to the coaching staff. They lose another lst round draft pick, much like they did during the Spygate scandal of 2007, that cost them 750,000 and a lst round pick.

Belicheck lives in his own world, scheming, scamming, always trying to find ways to win a critical game. I wonder if the compilation of all the things he’s done, from illegal videotaping, to illegal formations, to backing out on a New York job to flee across the New England border for this job, ever comes back to haunt him with Hall of Fame voters.

Patriots players, fans, and even some in the Boston media say the tampering with game-balls had little effect on the outcome of the 45-7 playoff win over the Colts. But it was the “intent” to cheat that has to be held up to the light. If you let one thing slide, what happens when the next sin is committed?

And you wonder, if Roger Goodell now heads up an industry overflowing with bad people. In his reign, he has had to deal not just with Deflategate, but Spygate (Patriots), Bountygate (Saints), Drug-gate (Colts), Cap-gate (Broncos), Gambling-gate (49ers), and Hazing-gate (Miami). All things owners and coaches got themselves involved in.

Just think of what has transpired recently, the DeBartolo gambling scandal that led to his expulsion; the Broncos cap issues: the Irsay drug scandal; the Patriots illegal taping sessions: the Saints hit list; :the Dolphins hate list; and the brassy attempt to tamper with balls in New England. Distasteful to you?.

All this on the left hand.

That’s because the right hand has to deal with Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, La’El Collins, and so much more so recently.

The popularity of the NFL is at an all-time high. They seem immune to all the things that are happening on their watch. One wonders if the money and power of the game have corrupted the owners of the game, and the players in the game? Or maybe these are just a few isolated incidents, in a league where there are good owners and great people playing the game?

Brady was stupid; Kraft has become arrogant; Belicheck is no longer trust-worthy. Hard to believe the stars on the field and on the sidelines, have reverted to pulling off sleazy stunts like this.

I hope the NFL continues to ramp up the big time discipline, money and draft picks. If that’s what it takes to clean this game up, so be it. A great game should not have to be ruined by not so-great people. .

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