For some reason some people mistake being successful with classy, so the New England Patriots, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady as the faces of the franchise, get caught in their hypocrisy after losing in the AFC Championship game, each delivering his own brand of gracious losing shortly after.

We’ll begin with Brady, who decided to criticize Richard Sherman when asked about it on the Dennis and Callahan show. Brady could have avoided the question or better worded his answer, but he decided to come off as some saint and example of how to act when winning, even though history has taught us a few different things.

I don’t know him at all. I’ve watched him play. He’s that kind of guy. So, you know. I approach the game—and I have respect for my opponents. That’s the way our team always plays. We win with graciousness, and when we lose, we could do better. Some teams don’t always do that, or that’s not their program.

Just remember, Brady isn’t Sherman’s biggest fan after the Patriots lost a close one in Seattle last season, and Brady himself was confronted by Seahawks players after the game, being called arrogant and other “kind” words. Similar to the approach and attitude the Baltimore Ravens have towards the Patriots, only with a lot less bad blood behind them due to the once-every-four-year thing.

Brady isn’t the boy-scout he tries to make himself out to be. Every player uses profanity during games or gets caught on camera (Sherman actually wasn’t cursing – he was just fired up in his Crabtree rant), but Brady is known for dishing it out on his own teammates, opposition players when winning or losing and even on officials. But for some reason he’s decided that when he wins, he does it with grace and elegance.

And then we obviously have Bill Belichick. He could have blamed his own gameplan and his coverage use on defense that couldn’t stop Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos from scoring on every drive but the first. He could have mentioned his quarterback overthrowing six times wide open receivers. That could have happened, but he preferred focusing on Wes Welker, a player that left the Patriots because he wasn’t getting the money he deserved, and is now branded as public enemy by the ‘Evil Empire‘ as some refer to the Patriots.

It was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib. No attempt to get open. I’ll let the league handle the discipline on that play, whatever they decide. It’s one of the worst plays I’ve seen. That’s all I’ll say about that.

He forgot how Talib is a fragile player and was injured last season in the postseason game. Welker didn’t try and injure Talib, he went over to block him from tackling a receiver. Welker went in hard, just like football players are supposed to do, how they’re taught to do. Often skill players are criticized for poor blocking skills, so Welker showed he knows how to do it. Talib being injured is simply an easy way for Belichick to deflect the criticism he and his team deserve.

Gracious winners? The Patriots have never been that, or in defeat. Trying to make them look like some sort of superior beings who take everything with grace, unlike the lowly peasants that happens to be the rest of the NFL, is an insult to everyone’s intelligence.

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