Petition For AFC Champ To Be Replayed With Colts, Ravens Is Ridiculous
By Michael Terrill
@MichaelTerrill
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A petition on Change.org has requested the New England Patriots to be disqualified from playing in Super Bowl XLIX and for the AFC Championship Game to be replayed between the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens.
As bizarre as it may sound, the petition has nearly 41,000 signatures within six days. The goal is to reach 50,000. Scott Latshaw, a Baltimore man who started the petition, posted the following on Change.org:
To maintain the legitimacy of this year’s NFL Championship the Patriots should be immediately disqualified and the two teams they beat to advance should be allowed to continue with the playoff process. The AFC championship should be replayed to determine a rightful representative for the AFC in this year’s Super Bowl.
I can understand why Colts fans may be upset after the possibility of the Patriots cheating was revealed with “Deflategate” becoming the top priority of every media outlet in the sports world. At the same time, there is no way deflating 11 of 12 footballs below league regulations gave New England enough of an edge to completely dismantle Indianapolis in the AFC title game.
It is absolutely ridiculous that anyone would suggest the AFC Championship Game should be replayed. It is even more ridiculous that football fans believe the Ravens deserve a shot. The argument could be made that if the Patriots deflated the balls on purpose against the Colts, there is a chance they did so in the AFC divisional game as well. However, there is no evidence of that, which means Baltimore has no right to claim a spot in a hypothetical AFC Championship rematch.
If New England is found guilty of deflating the footballs, it will be a hard pill to swallow if they win Super Bowl XLIX. Even though I have to imagine everyone agrees the deflation of the footballs was not enough to give the Patriots the win over the Colts, it is still breaking the rules. And, of course, breaking the rules means there needs to be severe repercussions, especially considering New England is not new when it comes to being caught cheating.
The Patriots may not deserve to play in the Super Bowl if they broke the rules on purpose. At the same time, a petition to remove them from the game and have the Colts-Ravens battle for a Super Bowl berth is about as ridiculous as it gets.
Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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