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Ram49
I honestly don't know why anyone would consider them 'great'...... way too dark a cloud over that organization.
Baseball did something similar with steroids and it's a shame, although some of those players are now up or coming up for HOF and it's a controversy whether they should be honored. I say 'no'
This stuff shouldn't be ignored.
Many of the players coming up for the HOF did take some kind of performance enhancer but isn't the conversation muddied by the fact that at the time they took them, the PED's weren't technically considered cheating by MLB? And didn't MLB turn a blind eye to the "chicks dig the long ball" era that essentially saved(temporarily) the game?
My point is, I think the MLB comparison is a little more nuanced than what the Patriots did. The NFL found out what the Patriots were doing and did nothing. Warned the entire league not to do it and then caught them doing it again. Punished them and told them and the league again not to do it. Patriots did it again. They have admitted cheating and been caught red handed.
As someone else pointed out, the Patriots somehow keep avoiding being branded after being suspected and caught cheating. The MLB players that fessed up certainly weren't forgiven. The one's who have continued to not actually admit it still have a tiny bit of reputation and benefit of doubt but not much. McGwire hasn't escaped the skepticism or damage to his reputation and it seems pretty clear that the league wanted him and Sosa hitting home runs and didn't mind how they did it.
