Marty Hurney: Former Panthers GM Says Patriots Have A ‘Culture Of Cheating’


Marty Hurney doesn’t think “DefateGate” is an isolated incident for the New England Patriots.

The former Carolina Panthers general manager said he believes the organization has been cheating throughout their more than 10-year run of dominance, a period that included a win over the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

“There isn’t a day that goes by since [then] that I haven’t questioned… that there were some things done that might have been beyond the rules that may have given them a three-point advantage,” Hurney said during his radio show on Charlotte’s ESPN 730 AM.

“And I can’t prove anything, and that’s why I’m very angry. And the anger has come back over the last couple of days that commissioner Roger Goodell decided to shred all of the evidence after ‘Spygate,’ because I think there were a lot of things in there that would bring closure to a lot of people.”

The New England Patriots are accused of purposely deflating footballs used in Sunday’s blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game. The league reportedly found that 11 of 12 balls tested were deflated significantly below league standards.

Matt Hurney said he believes the issue goes much deeper than a handful of deflated balls.

“This is about a culture. Is there a culture of cheating at probably what most people look at as the best franchise in the National Football League?” he asked rhetorically.

Many others have weighted in on the New England Patriots cheating controversy. Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said he believes that Tom Brady has something to do with it, even though the quarterback denied any knowledge.

He isn’t alone. Another former NFL quarterback, Mark Brunell, appeared to get choked up while discussing the scandal.

“I just didn’t believe what Tom Brady has to say,” Brunell said.

Others doubt that Tom Brady, who in the past said he has a very specific preference for the football’s inflation, wouldn’t be able to tell that the balls used on Sunday were so drastically underinflated.

Marty Hurney said he acknowledges that there is not yet hard evidence that the New England Patriots deflated footballs, saying, “But where there’s smoke, a lot of times there’s fire.”

[Image via CBS Boston]

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