Legendary former coach Don Shula voiced his opinion to the New York Daily News that if the Patriots go 16-0, their accomplishments deserve an asterisk in the record books.
“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 New York Daily News. He added that it would be, in the public eye at least, “the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.”
Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel responded to Shula’s comments when he was a recent guest on “The Mike Felger Show” on ESPN 890.
“I think that we try to go out there and play hard every week. And I don’t think that guys are going to draw on an old retired coach and old washed up players to pump us up. We play hard. We try to go out there and play hard. That’s our job every week is to go out there and play hard. To play for our team, my teammates, my coaches, the respect factor, that’s what I try to go out and play for, and I think everybody else on our team does the same thing.”
Shula’s comments are a reach considering that just because the Patriots were caught cheating, doesn’t mean that no other team hasn’t, or isn’t doing similar things. I’m not saying his comments are absurd – it’s just a little naive to believe New England is the only one to implore deceptive tactics to try to gain an advantage. Plus based on his comments, Shula is acting as if the only reason the Patriots go 16-0 is because they used the Jets’ defensive signals in Week 1. That’s a stretch, Don.
Vrabel’s comments are disrespectful. Those “old washed up players” set the table for Vrabel and his brethren to play on Sunday’s. What, does he believe he’ll avoid being “old and washed up” someday? He’ll want people to remember him when he eventually hangs it up, so he should show a little respect for the guys that did it before him. Pretty lame to make a comment like that and follow it up with, “My teammates and I play for respect factor.”
