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Receiver Emmanuel Sanders isn’t showing much gratitude to the team that got him a big raise in 2013.

More than two years after the Patriots signed Sanders to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent and the Steelers matched it, bumping his pay by $1.2 million, Sanders has taken a strong public position about the defending Super Bowl champions while speaking to youths at Ed McCaffrey’s football camp.

“I’m kind of mad,” Sanders said, via 9 News. “I don’t think that they should be the Super Bowl champion this year. . . . You aren’t supposed to cheat. Cheating is not good, especially when you’ve got guys who are working their butts off for 365 days out of the year and one person cheats –- whether it helps them win the Super Bowl or not, they still cheated and shouldn’t be a champion.”

Of course, that position from Sanders presumes the Patriots cheated. They strongly deny that they did, and the 243-page report issued by Ted Wells isn’t nearly as conclusive as it could be or should be.

Still, plenty of folks presume that the Patriots are guilty, regardless of the quality (or lack thereof) of the Wells report. By speaking out about his beliefs, Sanders has guaranteed that the Patriots will be paying special attention to him when the time comes for the two teams to play, November 29 in prime time on NBC.