I couldn't resist starting this thread. "In football, as in politics, there are scandals that are merely embarrassing and there are scandals that prove to be career-defining. There's the opaque Iran-Contra kind of scandal, where people aren't exactly sure what the malfeasance is or if they even disapprove of the wrongdoing in the first place. That's Alex Karras and Paul Hornung being suspended for a year for gambling on NFL games, though it was never suggested that they shaved points. Karras and Hornung were welcomed back to their teams after serving their suspensions and neither legacy was seriously damaged. Then there's the Monica Lewinsky type of scandal, the salacious story where everyone is perfectly clear on the bad acts that transpired but few believe the scandal itself was germane to the president's job performance. This is the Lake Minnetonka Love Boat saga. Sure, Fred Smoot and the gang had a wild night on the water, but nobody thinks a friction dance — or any of the other alleged menu items — has any bearing on the integrity of the NFL. And then there's Watergate, the scandal so great it gave us the "-gate" suffix. The Committee to Re-elect the President was funding a criminal conspiracy and they got caught red-handed. The integrity of the presidency and the people's confidence in their government were badly wounded. In football, this is Spygate. If Richard Nixon carried the shame of Watergate and impeachment to his grave, so, too, will Bill Belichick drag this scandal behind him like a ball and chain for the rest of his life. The irony is that Belichick's taping probably had as little bearing on his success as C.R.E.E.P.'s crimes had on Nixon's 49-state re-election victory in 1972. But like Nixon, Belichick was looking for any edge he could get. It wasn't just that Bill Belichick did a bad thing. He did a bad thing that every football fan could easily grasp and he got caught. Belichick cheated in an easily understandable way that clearly compromised the integrity of the game and called into question his previous accomplishments. Still, even after the scandal broke, Belichick might have escaped the indelible stain on his legacy. When the allegations of defensive sign-stealing surfaced, amid some selective outrage, there was also a collective everybody-does-it-but-they-got-caught shrug. Belichick and the team were fined and the Patriots forfeited a first-round pick. " http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8497726/Spygate-stench-sticks-to-Belichick
