Patriots lost any right to claim moral superiority

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 by the NFL for his role in Spygate. Bob Rosato/SI

The NFL's new villain started out as a goody goody.

It is hard to remember now, with all the talk about stealing signs, running up scores, refusing post-game handshakes and stomping on opposing logos. But the New England Patriots used to fashion themselves the etiquette police of professional football. They patrolled the league like a second commissioner. They enforced good manners.

When Indianapolis Colts' kicker Mike Vanderjagt declared in the 2005 playoffs that New England was "ripe for the picking," the Patriots eviscerated Vanderjagt for showing a lack of courtesy. "He has to be a jerk," safety Rodney Harrison said.

When Philadelphia Eagles' receiver Freddie Mitchell joked before the 2005 Super Bowl that he could not name members of the Patriots' secondary, the reaction was equally severe. "He's just showing a lot of disrespect," linebacker Willie McGinest said.

And when San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer mentioned after a game in 2006 that the Patriots were playing short-handed, quarterback Tom Brady shot back: "I just assumed you talked about your own team. You don't talk about our team."

The Patriots were not to be teased, tweaked or referenced in anything other than glowing terms. They were somehow above it all. "This organization is about class and about hard work and about saying the right thing and being the right person and holding yourself to a higher standard than what anyone holds you to," Brady said.

That quote, it should be noted, is two years old. It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment the Patriots climbed down from their high horse and joined the rest of the unwashed in the NFL. But the moral decline probably began at some point last season.

Perhaps it was when coach Bill Belichick shoved a cameraman after a game ... or when he refused to acknowledge Jets coach Eric Mangini after a game ... or when the Patriots danced on the Chargers' logo at midfield after a playoff game.

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