It was only a matter of time. At some point someone who plays for an AFC rival of the Patriots was going to chime in and point out New England isn't an appropriate champion of the football world because of Deflategate.
That man? Emmanuel Sanders of the Broncos, who said Thursday he's "mad" and the Pats "shouldn't be a champion" after Deflategate.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm kind of mad. I don't think that they should be the Super Bowl champion this year," Sanders said. "You aren't supposed to cheat. Cheating is not good, especially when you've got guys who are working they're butts off for 365 days out of the year and one person cheats -- whether it helps them win the Super Bowl or not, they still cheated and shouldn't be a champion."
Now, the reality is the Patriots worked really hard too. They had a great season. Tom Brady struggled out of the gate but with a healthy Rob Gronkowski, New England had a dominant offense. A deep defense led to (possibly) the most complete (not dominant, complete) team of Bill Belichick's run in New England and certainly the most even-keeled since the last Patriots title nearly a decade ago.
But Sanders has some legitimate beef here, if you want to buy into what the Wells Report said (that there was probable cause the Patriots knew they were up to no good).
Having said that, the NFL handed out plenty of punishment to the Pats, including a four-game suspension for Brady, a $1 million fine and a loss of a first-round draft pick.
Stripping someone of a Super Bowl title not only wasn't ever going to happen, it's something that would've been WAY over the top. That doesn't mean Pats opponents won't keep bringing up the possibility.
