Remember the outrage and indignation when the Dallas Cowboys hired Paul Pasqualoni back in 2009?
The Dolphins' defensive coordinator, fired at the end of the regular season, was hired by Dallas for their playoff run. He was brought in because Cowboys defensive line coach Todd Grantham was taking a job with the University of Georgia.
You don't remember the outrage? Know what? Me neither.
So when I read the, "Not fair! Not fair" foot-stomping column written by my friend from the Denver Post, Mike Klis, whining about the Patriots hiring Josh McDaniels for the playoff run after the Rams let McDaniels out of his contract, I know it's justan instance of someone wantinga separate set of rules for 31 teams and another set of rules for the Patriots.
This is what happens when you becomein the eyes of the NFL media and the majority of NFL consumersthe NFL's Godzilla.
This is what happens when you go fromtheir cuddly "Little FranchiseThat Could" in 2001 to boring, relentlessly excellent dynastyby 2004.
This is what happens when the head coach isn't a laugh-a-minute soundbite machine, is prickly with the media even on his best days, gets drawn-and-quartered by the league for the equivalent of a second-offense speeding ticket (Spygate) and still continues to win and win and win.
New England Patriots
Otherwise sane peoplelike Klisget emotional and insist that new rules be drawn up to stop the evil Patriots and the diabolical Bill Belichick. Absurd.
I'm not saying that the hiring of McDaniels after the Rams' season ended passes the smell test of propriety with ease. That's why I contacted NFL VP of media Greg Aiello on Saturday to check that the whole thing wasn't going to get squashed and was told it was all legal and within the rules.
From there, you shrug and say, "What the hell, good play by them. Pretty smart."
Instead you get from Klis: "Once again, Bill Belichick has figured out a way to cheat the system. And once again, he caught the NFL standing there sucking their collective thumbs."
Klis goes on to explain how awful McDaniels has been since getting fired by Denver last season and then says he brings a competitive advantage to the Patriots even though Denver's played 25 games since he left.
The "Good vs. Evil" storyline that's too easy to pass up has been hatched. Consider this the first of many salvos between now and Saturday night.