IF YOU AIN'T CHEATIN' YOU AIN'T COMPETIN'

BY: Michael A. Aun, FIC, LUTCF, CSP, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame

Craig Kelly must be rolling over in his grave…

Craig was my attorney and business partner in several ventures. He was also an agent for many professional athletes and coaches, both on a college and professional level.

Two of the many coaches Craig represented over the years were Dennis Franchione (now at Texas A&M) and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. He also represented Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech and Willie Jeffries, now retired from SC State.

Franchione is currently the coach at Texas A & M. Craig, who passed away a few years ago, represented Franchione when he was at the University of Alabama. The coach is now in hot water at A&M because he sold a newsletter to some good-givers providing the down-and-dirty-data about his team (at a financial profit).

The stupidity of such a choice notwithstanding… Craig has to be flipping over in his grave. I have to believe that he would have poo-pooed this idea from the get-go. Why in the world would you share that kind of information with anyone? Friend or foe, you have to believe it would be passed on. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Texas A&M's 12th Man" program. Franchione better win out or he'll end up at Slippery Rock State coaching a Jayvee team.

Bill Belichick has been called a genius, a maverick, and a legend in his own time. Now his legacy will be forever tarnished by the fact that he got caught stealing the New York Jets signals. Probably the last team in the NFL Belichick needed to steal from was the Jets, football's version of the Mets, i.e. they'll find plenty of ways to lose on their own. You really don't need to cheat to beat the Jets. Really.

The fact is that every team in the NFL does the same thing. Belichick got caught. Did that excuse it? No. Does it justify it? No. Is it easy to understand how it could happen? Perhaps.

Craig Kelly was the kind of agent who was always there for his clients. In his later years, he confided in me that he wanted to get away from players and work more with coaches. Players were high maintenance. Coaches were more mature and seemed to have less demons to slay.

If he were alive today, he might prefer the Harry Carson's of the world to the Bill Belichick's. Carson is already in the Hall of Fame and Belichick is destined to be, despite his misdeeds. Craig represented both, but both didn't have the same luggage.

The New England Patriots are as close to a modern day dynasty as exists in the NFL. Could they have cheated their way to success? The fact is sports espionage has been going on since the beginning of sports. Stealing signals in baseball is not only allowed it is an art to be developed and cultivated even at the Little League level. It's called gamesmanship and is an accepted practice in most sports but illegal in others like the NFL. Belichick got caught and will forever have the tarnish of "cheater" on his resume.

If you ask most New England fans what they think they'll tell you how proud they are of their coach and their team. Not only do the vast majority not hold Belichick liable in any way for his moral compass being a bit ascued, they are actually proud of the fact that he is gutsy enough to study the competition and take advantage of their weaknesses.

Still, they kick card-counters out of casinos in Vegas and the NFL handed Belichick and the Patriots a hefty fine which includes the loss of some draft picks in the future and a bunch of money. Should he be banned or dismissed from his role as coach? Should the penalty have been bigger? The general feeling is the punishment fit the crime.

As long as Bill Belichick wins world championships at New England he will be the coach. Period! Let's not get too high and mighty here. That's what Patriots owner Robert Kraft was looking for when he hired him. In fact, the general feeling among the NFL's upper echelon and others is that "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't competin'!"

Before all you self-righteous types start writing me angry e-mails, those aren't my feelings, but they are the feelings of the vast majority of people I know and respect in professional sports.

What's my feeling? It could be summed up in the ten words you can stamp right across the marker on my grave: "All I wanted out of life was an unfair advantage!"