Don Shula, the coach of the only undefeated team in NFL history, thinks that the New England Patriots have enough to match his team’s feat, but also believes that the record would be tainted due to the cheating scandal earlier this year.
“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it,” Shula told the Daily News yesterday. “Belichick was fined $500,000, the team was fined $250,00 and they lost a first-round draft choice. That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found.”
“I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record. I guess it will be noted that the Patriots were fined and a No.1 draft choice was taken away during that year of accomplishment. The sad thing is Tom Brady looks so good, it doesn’t look like he needs any help.”
Shula seems to miss the main difference between the Patriots and Barry Bonds in that the Patriots were actually found guilty, whereas Bonds has only faced accusations to this point.
“You have to acknowledge what they accomplished, but I don’t know how you disregard Spygate,” Shula said. “It’s there. It happened. You don’t know what was on those tapes and how much it helped. I think the commissioner just wanted it to go away.”
The Patriots have started out this season 9-0 and have been essentially guaranteed a Super Bowl victory by all members of the media. Three of their nine wins have been against teams with winning records.
LairdNYC 
November 7, 2007 at 6:35 pm
YOU STIIL DON’T GET IT!! OKAY, THE PATS USED VIDEO COVERAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON FOR ONE GAME…HOWEVER, THEY HAVE NOT GOTTEN VIDEO OR ANY OTHER ASSISTANCE AFTER THAT POINT, AND THEY STILL ARE UNDEFEATED. THEY ARE EVEN UNDEFEATED AGAINST WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE MEDIA DARLING TEAM, THE COLTS. FACE IT, BRADY IS GOOD, BELICHEK IS GOOD, BRUSCHI/VRABEL/WELKER ARE GOOD…THE PATS ARE A GREAT TEAM. STOP LOOKING FOR EXCUSES, AND FACE UP TO THE FACT THAT BELICHEK’S PATS ARE A “SUPER-TEAM”.
November 7, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I cannot disagree with you more. There is no way that the video taping was an isolated incident. If it was, how did Mangini know about it beforehand? Pats fans keep blaming Mangini for getting Belichick caught and yet they also say it was an isolated incident. You can’t have it both ways.
November 12, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I never said it was isolated. However, since they were reprimanded for it, they have been too closely scrutinized. So much so that even if Belichek wanted to, he could not use video. And yet, the Pats are STILL undefeated. I’m prety sure that speaks volumes for how good they are. …and nobody in my circle blames anybody but Belichek for the video scandal. He made a big (and yes, stupid) mistake, but so far, he and his team are still proving they are the best.