Count former Oakland Raider and Philadelphia Eagle Jon Ritchie among those ex-players who feel scorned by the Patriots.
Ritchie, a former fullback, was a member of the 2001 Raiders team that lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots in the famous "Tuck Rule" game in the divisional round. He was also a member of the 2004 Eagles team that lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, although he missed most of that season, including the Super Bowl, due to injury.
Ritchie speculated last week during his show that perhaps the Patriots were given the benefit of the doubt on the tuck rule because the league thought it would be better for a team with a nickname as patriotic as the "Patriots" to advance and win the Super Bowl during the months after 9/11.
When Ritchie joined Ordway, Merloni & Fauria Thursday afternoon from Radio Row in Minnesota, he said he didn't believe the Patriots were taping signals when he was in Oakland, then immediately shifted his position, saying, "The more I think about it, maybe they were (taping) when I was in Oakland."
"The tuck rule was inexplicable. The tuck rule made no sense whatsoever," Ritchie said. "It's a game that was marred by a decision from New York that didn't make sense to anyone on the field, including the Patriots."
As for taping, Ritchie struggled to back up his case.
"Prior to Super Bowl (XXXIX), there were whispers like, 'How did they know that?' during the game," he said. "Then it comes out that from 2001-2007 they were taping things that they shouldn't have."
For those that need a refresher, the Patriots were disciplined by the NFL for their role in Spygate for failing to comply with league rules by taping opposing signals during games from a more optimal angle on the sideline when they were instructed to tape signals from up in the coach's box, which was a legal practice throughout the league at the time.
They never taped a practice. They never taped a walkthrough. But don't let the facts get in the way of Ritchie's intuition. He claims that there were 40 teams' signals being stolen, despite the fact that only 32 teams compete in the NFL.
"We'll never know, because Roger Goodell destroyed the tapes," he said. "I don't need empirical evidence to believe what I believe.
"I know when I was a player that I was getting a playbook full of plays from another team. I don't know where it came from."
When Glenn, Lou and Christian were defending the Patriots and explaining to Ritchie what Spygate actually was, he retorted that, "You can't pretend that (the Patriots) did nothing wrong," and that it all will catch up to the Patriots, someday.
"I believe in karma. And do you know what's going to come down and slap you in the face? Karma!"
An eighth New England Super Bowl appearance in 17 years sure feels like karma is knocking at the door as we speak.
