What do Tom Brady, the superstar quarterback of the New England Patriots, and UNC have in common? Both have broken the rules of the game. It seems pretty clear that Brady knowingly colluded to deflate footballs prior to the AFC championship game. UNC’s sorry history of collusion among athletics staff, assorted faculty, and players still prompts headlines.

Where the two scandals differ is in the actions taken by the leaders. The New England Patriots “reluctantly” accepted the indictment by the NFL, paid a barely noticeable $1 million fine, and forfeited two draft picks. Brady himself, penalized with a four game suspension, has meekly protested his innocence, but the story seems to be fading from the news, as quickly as the text messages that likely reflected his role in the cheating.

In contrast, UNC seems yet to have taken ownership of the wrongdoing that sullied the campus for at least 20 years, involving thousands of fake classes. From the Wainstein report, we know that numerous football and basketball games were played with players whose eligibility was a result of grades awarded in fake classes. Who knows what fraud occurred in classes that fell outside of the purview of that report?

Now the untrustworthy NCAA has issued its notice of allegations to UNC and we await a response. Again…we wait.

It seems to me that during the 7 months that have passed since the Wainstein report, UNC could have shown bold leadership. UNC could have acknowledged that big time sports have overtaken the university and that the first step to begin to free itself of that addiction would be to forfeit the games and championships that benefited from such appalling behavior over 20 years.

After all, they are only games.

For what it’s worth, I think that the Patriots should forfeit their Superbowl championship. If UNC had taken bold steps, it’s quite possible that the scandal would have been fully deflated by now, enabling the university to attack with seriousness the compromises that Big Time sports force on universities.