This is the most ridiculous hot take yet.

They started their ceremony with “O Fortuna.” Awesome.

Why the fuck would the Patriots deliberately send their audio to the Steelers? What possible purpose could that serve?

He’s easily the most respected guy on the Patriots beat.

It’s pronounced “Reese.” :\

I’m not sure what kind of organization you work in, but “ESPN.com beat writer” usually isn’t considered an executive-level position.

Especially in Soviet Russia?

Isn’t it a bit weird that two major sports magazines (possibly the two biggest in the US?) dropped longform pieces—each said to have taken months to prepare—on the exact same subject, on the same day, just as the NFL was reeling from Deflategate revelations?

Mike Reiss is one of the good ones. He’s a bit of a homer, but he’s transparent about it, and his reporting is always accurate, fair and insightful. He doesn’t unduly praise the team or bury its critics. Easily the most respected guy on the Patriots beat, and for all the right reasons.

It’s been a goddamn siege for the last eight years, and it just intensified after they won again. This grand social experiment mostly proves that yes, most people will start to harbor animus if you troll them for eight straight years.

Same here. Really disappointing. There’s a difference between a roast and a public execution. You could swap Drew’s byline on this for PFT Commenter and no one would bat an eyelash.

I was kind of disappointed by this year’s effort. I always look forward to it, but this one feels like he really mailed it in. Not so much clever or insightful as bitter and angry.

I’ll believe that when you can show me how jet fuel can melt steel girders. :p

Are you alleging that the whole thing was staged? Or is this some kind of burn that went right over my head?

To be fair, Foxboro Stadium on cold days was like 2/3 of the concentration camp experience.

I work about a mile from the site. I saw the smoke in the air. And I fucking hate “Boston Strong.” Did the terrorists blow up all our verbs?

And what “mutual gain” was that? If you’d said “Goodell” and not “the NFL,” then maybe, although I don’t think there’s any evidence Goodell “conspired” with the Pats, either. The whole thing clearly wasn’t perceived to be in the best interests of the NFL, at least to its shareholders.

Do you know what the word “collusion” means? You keep throwing it around like you do, but you clearly don’t. Who do you think was colluding?

This is exactly what I mean. Arguing that everything else that goes on in the NFL is completely on the up-and-up, and that even the slightest deviation from the rules taints the “purity” of the competitive spirit or some such bullshit, is either hopelessly naive or completely disingenuous. Every team bends the rules.…

No one else gets the impression that the whole thing is intended to be a bit tongue-in-cheek? A hypersexualized female character who inspires all this instant alienation and who all the oversexed male characters are totally incapable of communicating with? The game text alludes to it at one point, saying that her…