How Patiot-Hating is a Reflection of our Society

I grew up in Connecticut in the 1970's and 1980's.  Back then the Patriots were a sometimes-successful team, but seemed so far away from me.  The New York Giants were not very good, but had some fans around town.  But really the two most popular football teams were the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys.  The Steel Curtain vs America's team.  I was on the Cowboys side growing up and a lot of my friends liked the Steelers.  Why?

Because these two teams played two of the most iconic Super Bowls ever.  I remember the dropped touchdown pass by Jackie Smith and Lynn Swann and John Stallworth doing Swann and Stallworth things.  They were the two coolest and best teams in the NFL.  I mean one of the teams was considered America's team for God's sake!  If you didn't love the hometown team, you loved one of these teams.  Eventually I outgrew this.  It all started with going to some Patriots games when they were REALLY bad.  Like Rod Rust bad.  That's all I needed to become the new Patriot's fan.

What got me thinking about this was seeing the ESPN graphic that demonstrated that outside of New England, not one state polled was rooting for the Patriots to win Super Bowl LIII.  Not one.  Even though the L.A. Rams barely have a fan base large enough to draw 25,000 fans to their games, all of a sudden, it seems as though everyone is rooting for the Rams to win over the hated Patriots.  I guess my wish that the Patriots became America's team is forever lost.

Music to haters' ears.

"Brady is too old and a cheater."

"Belichick is a cheater and is getting to old to understand modern offenses and defenses."

"The Patriots are in the Super Bowl too much, can we have someone else represent the AFC?"

"Josh McDaniels is piece of crap for screwing the Colts!"

"the Patriots are done...11-5 and they are going out in the second round!"

While none of these quotes are verbatim, I've heard most of these breathless themes over the last couple of years.  Why don't people like this winner like they liked the Cowboys and the Steelers?  Why do teams that have some success become vilified like it is evil incarnate.  I mean Spygate and Deflategate have both been proven wrong but are still brought up.

The answer is simple.

Because hate is so much easier than love in today's society.  Constant stress of work, traffic and school.  Weekends are spent traveling to the country to watch Soccer, Lacrosse and Basketball instead of relaxing.  24 hour news cycles like CNN and Fox fuel hatred to attract or keep viewers.  Hatred is a way to get eyeballs on the screen.  No one wants to watch the news if it is good news.  No one wants to watch grainy footage of a good deed; they want grainy footage of a fight.  Bad news?  Arguing?  Debates run amok?  Count these stressed out people and stations in. 

And pundits and influencers grab on to this.  They can become famous if they go to the extreme.  They can become well known if they have hot takes no one else has.  Newspaper reporters - a dying breed - will report on almost any sensationalistic news because it is what keeps readers.  And this usually usually means hate takes from people reporting on the reporters.  Max Kellerman has thought Brady should retire every year for the past 8 years.  His mindset is that one of these years he will be right!  Watch the NFL Network when they talk about the Patriots.  Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson, Shannon Sharpe, they can't stand the Patriots' success, even though they have had success of their own.

Even the loathsome Boston-based Felger and Mazz, radio trolls if there ever was two has admitted that it is easy to get phone calls - simply bash the Patriots.

I'm afraid of what will happen when Brady eventually retires.  The hate will really come out then.

Until then, all I can say is that They Hate Us Because They Ain't Us.