I didn’t want to have to write that headline. But after too

By Daniel Person • May 7, 2015 8:05 am
I didn’t want to have to write that headline. But after too

I didn’t want to have to write that headline. But after too many conversations that followed those basic lines last night, I felt compelled to.

In case you somehow missed it, headlines about racial relations in the United States, ongoing war in the Middle East, and delusional people who think they’ll be the next president of the United States have been pushed way down the page by a new report showing that the Patriots are cheaters. Tom Brady himself probably knew that his team was using deflated ball, which helped keep fumbles to a minimum on their offence.

Since this cheating probably helped the Pats get to the Super Bowl, in which they beat the Seahawks, the thinking goes that the Patriots’ title should be vacated and handed over to the Hawks.

Not typically the way it works.

The champ title could, theoretically, be revoked, and there are people who are calling for that. But that doesn’t cause it to be handed over to the runner-up.

Just ask Pete Carroll.

When his USC team’s 2004 championship title was revoked on account of major NCAA violations by the football and basketball programs at the school, the title didn’t go to Oklahoma. There just isn’t a champion of record for that year.

Nor, when the Minnesota Gophers basketball team vacated all their wins in 1997 (they made it to the Final Four), did those losses turn to wins for the other teams.

These are both college examples, because it’s a lot easier to cheat in college (aka there are a lot more rules). The NFL has never revoked a Super Bowl title, so who knows. Maybe the precedent won’t matter.

But the best Seattle can probably hope for is there not to be a Super Bowl champ for 2014 (which is probably already the case in most Seahawks’ fans minds.)

Really, it’s hard to say whether this news about the Pats is sweet or sour for Hawks fans. On the one hand, it gives the Super Bowl a certain moral righteousness, a “we took on the bad guys” glean. Then again, it’s just one more thing that may keep us up at night: If only they had given it to Marshawn; if only Lockette had been on his route; if only the NFL could get its shit together to not allow cheaters to march through the playoffs. If only. If only.