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Patriots Are Team Fans Love To Hate

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By IRA KAUFMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - In sports, a little hate can be a good thing.

The ratings for Sunday's Patriots-Colts matchup went through the Teflon roof of the RCA Dome partly because of the antipathy Bill Belichick's club has stirred up from the sporting public.

Fans may not approve of New England's image as a haughty bully, but it is tough to turn away.

Having a sports franchise feared and loathed at the same time has its benefits in terms of marketing.

Even the casual spectator knows New England quarterback Tom Brady is one of the beautiful people, having graced the covers of both Sports Illustrated and GQ. His active social life marks him as a staple for celebrity gossip, and he often is seen in the presence of supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Brady hooked up with Bundchen after calling an audible on actress Bridget Moynihan, who delivered Brady's son 10 weeks ago.

Belichick has generated a different form of notoriety following a Spygate saga that involved videotaping signals in the season opener against the Jets.

Since that sordid episode, which prompted the league to fine Belichick $500,000 and dock the Patriots a high draft pick in 2008, New England has been criticized for running up the score and keeping starters on the field in the final stages of lopsided games.

"Go Colts, beat the cheaters," read a placard in one of the RCA Dome end zones during Sunday's showdown.

Through nine weeks, the Patriots remain perfect on the field, even while they are scorned for a take-no-prisoners attitude.

"I can't concern myself with who people are rooting for," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said moments after New England rallied for a 24-20 triumph against the previously unbeaten Colts. "That's their choice. We just play."

And win.

When the 2001 Patriots upset St. Louis in the Super Bowl for the first of their three NFL titles within a four-year span, New England's rise to the top was portrayed as a feel-good story.

Brady was an obscure backup thrust into a starting role by an injury to Drew Bledsoe, and Belichick was hailed as a tactical genius.

Six years later, there's a Web site catering to Patriot bashers that offers royal blue T-shirts for $14.90 that read, "I hate the New England Patriots."

Thirty years ago, when the Raiders still mattered, Oakland evoked a powerful backlash among NFL fans who either admired or recoiled from maverick owner Al Davis and his "Just win, baby" creed.

And we've always had the Dallas Cowboys to disparage or embrace, from the icy corporate image cultivated by former coach Tom Landry to the "America's Team" tag the league tried to slap on them.

"I didn't hate Dallas until I came into the league and realized how pompous and arrogant the whole Dallas scene was," said former Eagles receiver Mike Quick. "I quickly learned to have a real strong disdain for the Dallas Cowboys, the star and all that."

In some quarters, Sunday's matchup was analyzed along simplistic, stereotypical lines.

The New York Daily News used a "Good vs. Evil" headline above its game preview, complete with contrasting photos of Belichick and Colts coach Tony Dungy, whose memoir "Quiet Strength," is a national bestseller.

These Patriots are merely following in a long tradition of teams we love to hate.

From the Boston Celtics of the 1960s to Philadelphia's "Broad Street Bullies," who ruled the NHL in the early '70s, successful clubs can evoke a mixture of jealousy, worship and disgust.

The Yankees have embodied the phenomenon, even before George Steinbrenner purchased the team in 1973.

Meanwhile, Belichick, Brady and the rest of the Patriots have a week off before resuming their quest for a 19-0 finish.

Love 'em or hate 'em, let's admit they have our attention.

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