Bell: Are Patriots becoming modern version of Raiders?

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Once again, the buzz was intense in the New England Patriots locker room Tuesday as reporters outnumbered a sparse collection of players by an approximate margin of seven to one.

Another day, another round of suspicious drama with few answers.

“I wasn’t involved in any of it,” defensive end Rob Ninkovich told the thick pack of media that surrounded his stall. “And I’ve been here seven years.”

This time, the Patriots were in a defensive mode as a bombshell report by ESPN concluded that the stiff penalties from Deflategate — including the vacated four-game suspension for quarterback Tom Brady that is under appeal — were connected to widespread sentiment around the NFL that the team should be hammered because of its infractions seven years earlier in Spygate.

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A Sports Illustrated report was also unveiled, quoting anonymous sources from across the league, underscoring suspicion attached to the most successful franchise of the 21st century.

The overwhelming sentiment? The Patriots are cheaters — and have been for a long time.

“When you’re as successful as we have been for as many years, people are going to try to bring you down some way,” Ninkovich told USA TODAY Sports after the crowd dispersed. “So we just have to continue to ignore the noise outside and really focus.”

Although opponents have expressed a general tone of distrust of the defending Super Bowl champions for years, the ESPN report detailed how a systematic process of stealing signals was more extensive than previously reported. The Patriots were also accused of sending staffers to the visiting locker room to snatch playbook material and of shutting down game-day communications at Gillette Stadium.

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All told, the Patriots, led by sometimes curt coach Bill Belichick, are the team that everybody (outside of New England) loves to hate.

They have become the “new” Oakland Raiders.

Yes, these Patriots are reminiscent of the Al Davis-inspired teams of the 1970s and 1980s, the ones that used to win Super Bowls and fuel widespread paranoia.

Although it’s tough to imagine Patriots owner Robert Kraft suing the league like Davis did while moving his franchise to Los Angeles in 1982, Kraft’s star quarterback didn’t hesitate to sue the NFL (Brady was among the players named in the lawsuit that tried to block the 2011 lockout). Add the harsh words of recent months from Kraft, who blasted the NFL (and, by extension, the Commissioner he has long supported, Roger Goodell, and the rift cannot be ignored.

So, new Raiders?

“No doubt, that could be the case,” Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown, a former Raiders star, told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t know if they want that title, but they certainly seem to be the bad boys of the NFL right now.”

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Brown believes the Deflategate issue might have gone away quickly had Brady admitted wrongdoing after the allegations surfaced in January. But he’s also of the opinion that the stiff penalties — including $1 million in fines and first- and fourth-round draft picks — are deeper than deflated footballs.

“This is Spygate and everything, with Roger thinking he had to punish Brady for the league,” Brown said in an interview conducted before the suspension was vacated. “So that everybody in the league can see, ‘I sit in Kraft’s box and I’m friends with him, but ...’ ”

Ron Wolf, a former NFL general manager who previously worked for years alongside Davis, senses similarities surrounding the Patriots to the paranoia that existed with opponents of the Raiders. Football lore includes stories such as Davis bugging opposing locker rooms.

“To my knowledge, Al never violated a rule,” Wolf, inducted recently to the Hall of Fame as a contributor, told USA TODAY Sports. “They said he watered down the field (at the Oakland Coliseum). That’s a crock. That field was built below sea level.”

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Wolf, though, has no shortage of controversial calls that went against the Raiders, including an apparent fumble by Denver Broncos running back Rob Lytle that was ruled a non-fumble — and cost Oakland a Super Bowl berth.

In later years, the Raiders felt burned by the “Tuck Rule” — ironically suffered in New England — when an apparent Brady fumble was reversed in a 2001 AFC divisional playoff game, setting the course for New England to go on and win its first Super Bowl.

“When the Patriots get to the point where they are not getting the calls,” Brown said, “then they are truly the new Raiders of the NFL.”

Brown played 16 seasons with the Raiders, and was the No. 1 receiver from his slot position for at least a decade.

“I think I drew nine pass interference calls in 10 years,” he said. “Being the go-to guy in the middle of the field, when they are always pulling and jerking you.”

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Perhaps the penalty flags will be a barometer to watch. Over the years, defenders have complained that Brady receives favorable treatment from officials while drawing roughing-the-passer flags.

Of course, Ninkovich, wouldn’t touch any theories about officiating with a 10-foot pole.

“No comment,” he said.

OK. But maybe perception is reality. Outside of New England, the disdain for the Patriots is real – as it once was for Raiders haters.

“I’m from the New Jersey/New York area, so that’s all I get,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty told USA TODAY Sports.

“People are always telling me, ‘Been a fan of yours since Rutgers, but hate the team you play on.’

"I get it so much, I’m used to it.”

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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell