Dunlap: Belichick Should Be Suspended While This Gets Sorted Out
Hot air.
Cold air.
Too much air.
Too little air.
Air, air everywhere but the ball did (allegedly) shrink. Oh man does this whole Deflategate really, really stink.
Never have we paid as much attention to the air inside of a football until now, when the New England Patriots have come under heavy scrutiny --- and into the core of an NFL investigation --- following their AFC Championship win against the Indianapolis Colts this past weekend.
You know the story by now, this whole Deflategate thing centers around quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots' passing game, which led the team to a 45-7 victory, allegedly using tampered footballs to gain an unfair advantage. Early Wednesday it was reported by ESPN that 11 of the 12 footballs the Patriots' offense used were inflated to levels "significantly below the NFL requirements."
This all leads me to a few questions …
First and foremost, why can't the NFL use its seemingly unilateral power to suspend Patriots coach Bill Belichick as this all gets sorted out?
Suspend him with pay, who cares? But do something that shows to the public --- and the rest of the league --- that the league office in New York City does, indeed, have some teeth. People in all walks of life, who end up being cleared down the road, are suspended --- or are put on leave --- while investigations take place to sort out a potential wrongdoing or misdeed.
That should be the case here.
This isn't a court of law and he's not on trial here, Belichick --- to my knowledge at least --- isn't afforded the same rights of due process that one who enters a courtroom would have. In short, if the NFL felt compelled enough to suspend him during the investigation, Belichick would probably have a hard time countering such a decision. So why isn't this happening?
It doesn't matter if the investigation into Deflategate takes 24 hours or the exploration to get to the bottom of this takes a span of time that reaches beyond next Sunday when the Super Bowl will be played between the Patriots and Seahawks, the NFL should have the backbone to step in and bar Belichick from all team activities until this gets figured out.
And remember, this isn't just a claim. According to reports, the NFL doesn't just have a smoking gun in this latest case of cheating, it has 11 of them. Or, at the very least, has 11 tangible examples of things that Belichick better have some damn good answers for.
Again, why can't he be suspended --- or put on leave --- while this all gets figured out?
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can read his bio here.
To that end, we don't need to go over, again, why Belichick deserves zero benefit of the doubt --- which should also weigh into the NFL's decision to force Belichick from all team activities while the investigation continues. This is a man who cavalierly led a "Spygate" campaign in 2007 where his organization worked to steal signals of opposing coaches.
For such a transgression, the Patriots lost a first-round draft pick and were fined $250,000 while Belichick was personally hit for a $500,000 fine.
Now the integrity of this grand game is again in question, and it is in question because of a perceived deed done at the command --- or at least by a team commanded by --- Mr. Belichick.
In the end, it might come out where the Patriots (and Belichick) are totally cleared and are found to have zero fault in this latest matter involving footballs that, somehow, all seemed to not carry enough air.
But, right now at least, Belichick's words that the Patriots will cooperate with the investigation shouldn't carry enough weight.
As this latest issue gets resolved, Belichick should be made to sit out. If that doesn't happen, it looks from here as if he's just continuing to thumb his nose at a league that lacks the proper authority.
