On ESPN today.... while being interviewed about gaining an edge, cheating, and the Patriots today and more recently... Joe Montana admits that his offensive linemen (and all others in the NFL too at that time) utilized silicon spray on their jerseys so that the defensive players (the opposition) could not utilize their techniques as effectively ! He stated if you are not cheating you are not trying, and when further questioned... specifically about cheating... he stated... after long thought... the admission above. Great interview, honest and candid, and guess what... the players, teams, and coaches are all always looking for that edge, be it stick em, silicon spray, or deflated footballs !
So... knowing this fact... how do you feel about cheating in the NFL now? Does this tarnish Montana's 4 Super Bowl victories ?
He admittedly would like to keep the record of 4 victories as he and Brady are tied currently with Brady likely to break that record... thoughts about it all ???
Personally, I was shocked quite honestly and despise cheating and really have to think on this one a bit... argggghhhh... even one of my heroes cheated !!!.
I was on a high school team in 1985 which placed third in the state and many members of that team cheated for a fact. I only became aware of this after it was revealed to me by others, one at a time, upon my questioning them each...and it ripped my heart out to know these assholes I admired cheated to win, when I worked so GD hard and did my finest.
That sport in my high school was never the same for me nor was my desire to work hard as this fact lingered within me as I knew it was not an even playing field anymore like I had once thought. I kept my mouth shut at the time and have never mentioned until now and nor will I say any more beyond this because it has ZERO bearing on the past or future today and would do no earthly good other then to say if you cheat you are a liar and anything earned was stolen.
I may not be perfect either myself but I will tell you this... I respect integrity and will do anything in my power to maintain and protect my own and that of all of those around me. Tell me I am wrong and explain to me how in any way you can.
To know the majority of a team (the varsity team) cheated in order to compete because a prerequisite had to be met in order to compete each and every meet... well, there is a reason I am not friends with any of those cheating assholes today. As a matter of fact, if this means you too and I am simply unaware of it... delete me and never speak to me again please because I lost all respect for you 30 years ago. As a further matter of fact, if you disagree with my statement thus far or afterwards I would also prefer you delete me from your friends list as well.
Ultimately, here is the truth. When you cheat, others know or will find out and you will never be thought of the same way again... EVER !!! You steal your own integrity and with that undermine your entire future because you will always carry with you a lie and know anything gained because of it was through theft from another who was deserving because that other maintained their honor and integrity.
My personal problem with this is that 30 years later I am still bitter because I was cheated too, my teammates that were fair and honest were cheated too, our school was cheated, other schools and athletes were cheated, and how can that not leave a bitter taste in your mouth? I grew up in a family where my Father went to a college with an honor code and I feel like I broke my own honor code by not speaking up, so I will speak up now because at the very least I should, however I wish I would have spoken up then because it was the right thing to do, however it is a scary situation when it is seemingly the world against yourself... and it felt like that then and still does... the difference today is I am perfectly comfortable with myself today and I fear no man ! .
Furthermore, in my own fault, I allowed and co-signed that cheating by not being the man I should have been myself and stepping up and proving the fact I knew and let continue to happen the rest of the year.
Perhaps this is not important today to anyone at all that was involved. It is important to me still and stings as much as it did then too. I speak today only in the hope that another reads this and understands what it truly fully means to cheat and steal from another in a society where it seems like we accept it because we do not do the right thing and speak up like I should have myself. I was just as culpable by remaining silent with this knowledge at the time and want to apologize to all that I stole from 30 years ago in my silence. I am truly sorry and my own reflection still says and has always said within me that it is NEVER acceptable.
It is the only cheating scandal I have ever had direct knowledge in and 30 years of silence will hurt anyone with a conscience... make sure you never make that same mistake and share with loved ones the multitude of reasons that cheating is never acceptable.
What would be your number one reason that cheating is the wrong answer all of the time? What reason can you think of that has not been listed thus far
that others should understand and should be shared by all coaches, teachers, and parents.
This is not meant to hurt anyone at all, however it is meant to be a catalyst as a way to slowly change a society where it seems like cheating may very well be common place, acceptable if not caught, and seemingly normal practice because it has become so ingrained within so many by the example set by so many others who decided to exercise this poor choice looking for a very unfair competitive edge. Otherwise how do you explain how it has evolved all the way into even professional sports?
I did not quit that team but I did quit competing within, and from that point forward I was defeated in regards to sports and after that year never competed again. I learned hundreds of valuable lessons through athletics without a single doubt in my mind but it only took one poor lesson exercised by a conspiracy of others to destroy trust we should all hold in the highest of regards.
Montana admits openly today that others on his team cheated by pure definition. In my book that means he cheated ! I have much less (maybe zero now as I still contemplate this) respect for perhaps my absolutely favorite player of all time or very, very close to that. Joe laughed and snickered as he made these admissions... perhaps he has been torn up inside knowing this truth which he tried his best to minimize by stating everyone did it. So...what did he personally do... what was he thinking about during that long pause ? It sure looked like he knew he cheated himself but just could not make that pure of a confession.
Should I really feel such disappointment... damn right... I though this cheater and others were role models... just like MILLIONS of others.
I want to discount Lance Armstrong's cheating because he beat cancer... but he is a piece of shit that threatened others like what was done to me when I learned of the cheating and stated I may speak to an "authority"... so finally today... I have zero pity for Lance... perhaps the most sophisticated cheater ever by the fact that he was incredibly elusive for so long that he was not even caught until years later and some may argue not even 100% until he finally made these admissions himself.
Does the NFL have / need an honor code? What do you think about an honor code in general and is it effective?
The HUGE question... Should Montana be stripped of his rings after making a statement on record that he knew very well without doubt that his own teammates cheated?
T.J. Quinn, I do not expect you to comment here on this topic, however I do hope you and the folks at your network will address this issue and have a real and candid conversation about it and perhaps cover it in an ESPN special, as I respect you and your professionalism and I think it is a topic that needs to be deeply further examined from the perspective of the damage that is done to all involved and the lies that it perpetuates.
I hope this starts a dialouge somewhere if not here and most importantly perhaps this dialouge spreads to coaches and teams and teammates and families and friends so that cheating is shunned once again and slows so that the folks on the podiums are only those that worked very hard and within the rules of any given sport.
Joe... I am absolutely disgusted !
