SB Nation reports that former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson admitted to having broke a rule by paying $7500 to have 100 Superbowl game day footballs tampered to be “more comfortable.” Tampa won that Superbowl.
While known before, these comments are in the spotlight after allegations that the New England Patriots tampered with almost all of the footballs in last weekend’s playoff victory vs. the Colts.
3 Steps To Deal With This Disappointing News
1. Recognize that professional sports players will cheat whenever they can. From steroids, to blood-doping, to corked bats, to spitballs, players have been cheating in all sports for years. So be sure to boo the ones who get caught, and cheer the ones who by pure luck do not.
2. Don’t be sad about paragraph one, because in the NFL, pure luck through a coin toss can decide who wins a major playoff game in overtime. Really, in a sport where a coin toss can decide the outcome by not giving the other team possession in overtime, why stress out over which team is better at cheating?
3. Remember that during post-game interviews, when a player talks about how “the team really pulled together,” that includes the unofficial members of the team who take money to tamper with the only object used in the game. Be sure to find out the names of those unsung heroes, so that you can wear their names on jerseys.
