Politicians join the fray in deflategate

Jabin Botsford/The New York Times

Now that everyone in the football realm has given their biased/unbiased/ridiculous opinion on the deflategate situation who else is left? Now the politicians in D.C. are joining in on the media spectacle.

Let us start with the most ridiculous statement from the Hoosier state, Senator Dan Coates. Being a United States Senator you would think he would be even tempered and reasonable but not this guy. Here are some tweets the distinguished gentleman of Indiana shot out on Thursday.





Let's break this down. First, he said "acceptable response to latest news" which he tweeted on Thursday at 11:05 pm. What news came out on Thursday that conclusively showed wrong doing had been committed? Oh, none, just more speculation? That's what I thought. Second, he says that Belichick should be suspended and Brady be benched. I'm assuming he is talking of the 2016 season since if the Colts went to the Super Bowl the season for the Patriots would be over. He also should have stated that Brady would also be suspended because when a player is benched that means the team, not the NFL, does not allow him to play but I'm just arguing semantics here. The Senator did accomplish one objective quite well, he pandered the residents of his dumpster fire of a state by overreacting to the situation.

An interesting bipartisan response came from the two Senators from Nevada. Dean Heller (R) stated:

As the Senator from the only state where sports betting is legal, it is imperative the integrity of the game never be questioned... When individuals break professional rules to gain unfair competitive advantages, everyone associated with the game is impacted. This type of behavior should never be tolerated.

To be honest he is probably more concerned about minor infractions not hurting the over/under the casinos in his state set than the actual game itself. His colleague minority leader Harry Reid (D) stated:

I can’t believe the National Football League, with the billions of dollars it makes, couldn’t at least determine how much air should be in a football

Personally, I can't believe that a grown man can get his ass kicked by his own exercise equipment.

Even the White House has thrown themselves in on the dog pile via press secretary Josh Earnest. Yesterday the Earnest cracked a joke at the expense of Tom Brady saying:

The one thing I can tell you is that for years it’s been clear that there is no risk that I was going to take Tom Brady’s job as quarterback of the New England Patriots... But I can tell you that as of today, it’s pretty clear that there’s no risk of him taking my job, either.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was asked his opinion on Fox News and said:

...I do see that this franchise in particular has been pointed out in the past and, as a result, raises the specter that something nefarious might have gone on here. And that's probably why it's getting all the attention.

You know, I think Tom Brady is a role model to a lot of people, as somebody who is well-respected as a great football player. I think he did OK in his press conference today.

But I think probably stepping forward and saying a little bit more, like, look, this shouldn't have happened, you know, that it's my integrity -- it's not just the Patriots. It's him. He is the Patriots. And I think he probably should shoulder a bit more of that responsibility.

Given Santorum's past of having extreme opinions he was quite measured in his analysis of the situation. That may be because he is looking to run for president yet again and a lot of New Hampshire voters have Patriots jerseys.

For the sitting members of Congress to sit in judgement of the Patriots is quite obscene. I've always believed in not throwing rocks in glass houses. The latest poll from Rasmussen show that Congress currently has a favorable rating of 7% of likely voters. Perhaps Congress should take some advice from the embattled coach Bill Belichick and just "Do Your Job".

Follow me on Twitter @PatriotsFan1057

Read more of my work here

Benjamin Dawes Post a Comment
Share