Top Ten Reasons Why People Hate the New England Patriots

By: Cassidy Warson

This is a pretty historic game for both teams.  On one side, there’s a team in the Atlanta Falcons that are making only their second trip in team history to the big stage. The last time they made it this far was in 1999 when they played the Denver Broncos and lost a heartbreaking game 34-19. This time they plan to make history as they go to win their first Super Bowl with their high flying number one offense in the league.

On the other side, there’s a team in the New England Patriots that have been a dominating force in the AFC since the turn of the century when Bill Belichick took over as the head coach in 2000. As well as when Tom Brady took over as quarterback behind an injured Drew Bledsoe a year later on September 30, 2001. This would also be the day he would win his first game against the now future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, in a 44-13 blowout win. Since Brady has been a Patriot, he has taken his team to six Super Bowls and have won four of them with those two losses being against the Giants in 2008 and again in 2012.

There’s been some pretty good recent history for the New England Patriots. However, there’s also been some bad history along with it that give the team quite a reputation and with that reputation, other NFL fans of other teams have some sort of hatred for the team.

In an article on www.foxsports.com, there’s an article, by Brett Smiley, that was published on October 20, 2016 that lists eleven reasons why people hate the Patriots.

The list starts with “Rule Bending (Part 1)” – An early example of the Patriots “bending the rules” took place in 2004 in the AFC Championship game against the Colts.  During this game, New England made as much contact as they could “rerouting” the Colt’s receivers, even beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage, winning in a 24-14 contest. As a result after this game, the league said that it would be much stricter on enforcing the rules of pass interference and illegal contact beyond five yards.

“Rule Bending (Part 2)” – In another instance, the New England Patriots triggered another rule change. This happened after the 2015 season game against the Baltimore Ravens in January. Most NFL teams use “pick” plays. Pick plays are used to help get other receivers free, but the Patriots made it challenging for the referees by frequently running routes to try and trip up the defenders. Much like the Colt’s game, the off-season also resulted in a new rule that bans players with an eligible receiver’s jersey number to report as an ineligible player and line up outside the tackle box.

“The Rule Breaking” – The Patriots were investigated after the first game of the 2007 season in week one after being accused of spying on the Jets and their signal calls leasing up to the week one contest. Also, in the recent two years, the Patriots were blamed for deflating their footballs in the 2015 AFC Championship game against the Colts.

“The Continued Specter of Cheating” – Teams that come to play the Patriots, come cautious with a little paranoia. They don’t know what the Patriots will have up their sleeve when they are playing at home. For example, in the week leading up to the 2005 Colts-Patriots Divisional Round in the playoffs, which was played at the Patriots, the Patriots left their re-sodded turf uncovered during rain showers. They kept it uncovered when they even had a tarp to protect the field.  Then, ten years later in 2015, the Steelers would come to the Patriots in a week one showdown and complain about headset malfunctions.

“The Tuck Rule” – In the 2002 Divisional Round, when it was the Raiders playing at the Patriots, that’s when it is said that people noticed who the quarterback, Tom Brady, really was when he made a play tucking the ball back after it looked like he was going to throw it. On that play, Charles Woodson knocked the ball loose and the Raiders would recover the ball. However, after further review of the play, the call got overturned because the officials said that Brady was attempting to “tuck” the ball into his body, meaning that Brady had thrown an incomplete pass and did not fumble. Then the “Tuck Rule” was made.

“Media Worship and Favoritism” – It’s a solemn fact that the Patriots play in more prime-time games than the Tennessee Titans do. It’s also a fact that the Patriots undefeated season in 2007 became an obsession with the media. Lastly, it’s also a fact that any story about the Patriots will have more page views than when stories are written about other teams.

“The Slogans” – The main slogan that is said is “Do your job” and the other “The Patriot Way” are something people hate hearing all the time.

“The Fans” – For a team that has made it to the Super Bowl and has had multiple winning championships, people aren’t much fans of the New England Patriot fans.

“Their Sheer and Utter Dominance” – Ever since 2001, the Patriots have won thirteen division titles in the AFC East.

“Bill Belichick” – Ever since leaving his head coaching job with the Jets, Belichick has led the Patriots to winning seasons every ear but his first.

“Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.” – Coming out of the bottom of the draft at pick “199,” Tom Brady has had a pretty successful career and is still looking to add more to it. A lot of fans from other teams don’t like him because he has been known to whine to officials about contact and getting penalties called in the Patriot’s favor.

Those are the eleven different reasons why people hate the patriots according to www.foxsports.com. 

Here at Waldorf, some students are not exactly fans of the Patriots either, such as students Caleb Gilbertson and Bryce Elm.

“It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s that I hate that they win all the time,” Gilbertson said.

“They’re a bunch of cheaters,” Elm said.