My Two Cents Worth About the Upcoming Super Bowl

I'd better put in my two cents worth about the approaching Super Bowl game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots before I forget.  First of all, I like Seattle but am not at all happy to see New England in there.  Being a Miami Dolphins fan and remembering the infamous "snow plow" incident that cost them a game against the Patriots, long before the most recent scandals tagged to this franchise, I have never viewed them as a team that plays fairly.  So this "Deflategate" story doesn't surprise me a bit.  But now I'm hearing that the New England players are so angry about the accusations flying around and the negative media attention they are getting that they may be extra-motivated against the Seahawks and end up beating them badly.  This sounds to me a lot like the way the Seattle players went around last year with a chip on their shoulders, acting as if they weren't getting enough respect in comparison to their then-opponent, the Denver Broncos.  And they pulverized their Super Bowl opponent, 43-8.  Now I have a problem with this...

If you and your team suddenly find yourselves "motivated" due to a perceived slight and proceed to play at a high level in a particular game, doesn't that in turn imply, in more normal circumstances, that you are holding back your efforts and NOT playing at an optimal level?  Furthermore, these NFL players are professionals and are reaping in the money at a rate most people would find difficult to imagine.  Yet they behave as if the quality of their performance isn't due to their own ingrained character, talent, and training but rather is something somewhat whimsical, dependent on outside factors.  This makes me wonder whether any of these teams are worth rooting for, and after discovering during the Deflategate scandal what monumental prima donnas NFL quarterbacks are about "their" footballs, my doubts about their worthiness have only increased...