Patriots Cut Player on Eve of Super Bowl

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has never been on my list of classy guys. How the Patriots continue to be promoted by the NFL and sportswriters as a story book, All-American team is bewildering? Remember spygate of 2007:

The 2007 New England Patriots videotaping controversy, widely dubbed "Spygate," refers to an incident in the2007 National Football League season when the New England Patriots were disciplined by the National Football League (NFL) for videotaping New York Jets' defensive coaches' signals during a September 9, 2007 game from a sideline location, an act deemed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to be in violation of league rules. After an investigation, the NFL fined Patriots head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 (the maximum allowed by the league) for his role in the incident, fined the Patriots $250,000, and docked the team their original first-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.

As part of their probe into the allegations, the NFL required the Patriots to turn over all notes and tapes relating to the taping of opponents' defensive signals; the Patriots complied with the order and the NFL reviewed and then destroyed the materials. This action was criticized on February 1, 2008 — two days before Super Bowl XLII — by U.S. SenatorArlen Specter, who requested to meet with Goodell. Specter requested the meeting despite the fact that Belichick had admitted to taping signals dating back to 2000 was reported by ESPN on September 14, 2007.^[5] After meeting with Goodell on February 13, 2008, Specter said that Goodell told him that Belichick had been engaged in the practice since he became head coach of the Patriots in 2000. Belichick said he believed he was operating within the rules as long as the tape was not used during the same game.

Nearly six months after the incident, the Boston Herald reported, citing an unnamed source, that the Patriots had also videotaped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002, an allegation denied by Belichick and later retracted by the Herald. Meanwhile, Matt Walsh , a Patriots video assistant in 2001 who was fired after the team's 2002 season, told the media the same week that he had information and materials regarding the Patriots' videotaping practices, but demanded an indemnity agreement before speaking with the NFL. source

Belichick, never one to ponder ethics in the pursuit of winning, now adds a new chapter to his callous and ruthless Modus Operandi:

Tiquan Underwood, the guy who loved being a Patriot so much that he did that to his hair, was released by the team on Saturday,  just hours before the Super Bowl.

It's callous and it's cold-blooded, but that's football, and that's Bill Belichick. I'm sure that Underwood is emotionally devastated, but that's a head coach's job. If he feels like another player might help a little more on Sunday, even if it's just for one play, then it's the coach's job to make that decision. Feelings aren't a part of it.

According to the Boston Herald, the move has no disciplinary motive behind it. The Patriots simply wanted another defensive lineman on the roster. Alex Silvestro (ironically, like Underwood, a Rutgers product) is the guy who will take his place. He's been on the Patriots practice squad all season.

Belichick recently spoke glowingly of the Rutgers players on the Patriots roster, Underwood, Silvestro, Nate Jones and Devin McCourty. source

I guess there is no secret on who I am rooting for today - even as a die hard Eagle fan - Go Big Blue!