Elsa/Getty Images
For nearly two decades as a Patriots fan, I’ve had to endure whining about the Tuck Rule, Spygate, deflated footballs in a 45-7 blowout, Tom Brady’s doctor injecting Benjamin Button serum into his veins, dubious signings of embattled players, blah blah.
Very little do I hear people talk about how the Philly Special, the very play that won the Eagles Super Bowl LII and inspired a statue outside Lincoln Financial, should have never counted due to an illegal formation.
It’s hogwash!
The other 31 teams can run amok under the impenetrable guise of ‘Who Gives A Fuck They Aren’t Going To Win Anyway.’
This stops today.
Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Scott Zolak speculated that on Sunday, in the first regular season matchup between the Patriots and Eagles since the Super Bowl, the powers that be at “the Linc” were pumping artificial crowd noise into the stadium to make life harder for Tom Brady and the Patriots offense.
Brady was asked about Zolak’s accusations during his Monday interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” and the Patriots QB seemed to enjoy other teams outside of his being accused of bending the rules.
“Good job, Zo! I like it,” Brady said.
Brady added that he could not confirm or deny Zolak’s allegations because on road games, the Patriots rely on silent snap counts and hand signals to bypass the noise.
“I didn’t notice, but again, those are not the things I would notice. Loud is loud. At one point when you can’t hear, basically it’s like ‘loud’ and then ‘louder,’ but you’re really not going to notice the difference much.”
“Once it’s to the point where we have non-verbal communication, it kind of is what it is,” Brady said.
Back in 2015, the Atlanta Falcons were forced to forfeit a fifth-round draft pick in the 2016 draft and fined $350,000 as punishment for artificially pumping in crowd noise during home games in 2013 and 2014.
Zolak’s speculation about the Eagles’ crowd noise seems to be singular and lacks the legs to create a bigger spectacle, but you bet your ass I will use it as gospel when some Geno’s-eating asshole tries to jaw at me about the Pats.
Never let the truth get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.