An "incredible rush to judgment" against the New England Patriots for allegedly using deflated game balls reflects the hype surrounding Super Bowl XLIX more than any moral outrage over suspected cheating, says sports business entrepreneur, professor and commentator Rick Horrow.
The big game, scheduled for Feb. 1 between the Seattle Seahawks and the aforementioned Patriots, is "probably now going to be be bigger than ever as a consequence," the CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner on
Newsmax TV Thursday.
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That's unless the NFL rules that New England did cheat and must replay the AFC Championship, although that punishment — one of many available to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — is vanishingly unlikely, said Horrow.
The NFL is investigating whether the Patriots used deliberately deflated, grip-improving footballs on Sunday in their blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick — who once drew a record NFL fine for secretly videotaping a visiting team's workouts — told reporters Thursday that he was "shocked" by the deflation allegation and knew nothing of doctored game balls.
"It may be probable he may know nothing," said Horrow. "His people may have done nothing. His people may have done a lot, and left him out of it. He may have said, 'Do what you need to do,' and they interpreted the wrong way.
"There are 50 scenarios that will make lawyers, case study drafters and marketing people crazy," said Horrow, adding, "In the sage words of [Green Bay Packers quarterback] Aaron Rodgers, 'Maybe we ought to relax a little bit.'"
"I do know the Patriots would've beaten the Colts by 30 or 40 points, no matter what the conditions were that day," said Horrow. "They were that much better."
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