Elated head coach Don Shula races off the field after his Miami Dolphins finished the 1972 season with a perfect record of 17-0.

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Journal Files

FOXBORO — NFL Hall of Fame coach Don Shula has been impressed with what the Patriots have done this season, but he says if the Patriots complete a perfect season like his Dolphins (17-0) did in 1972, New England’s season should be considered tainted.

“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.”

Belichick was fined $500,000 and the Patriots were fined $250,000 and lost a first-round draft pick for videotaping the Jets’ coaches on the sidelines during their season opener.

“That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found,” Shula said in the Daily News report. “I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.

“I guess it will be noted that the Patriots were fined and a No. 1 draft choice was taken away during that year of accomplishment. The sad thing is Tom Brady looks so good, it doesn’t look like he needs any help.”

The Patriots don’t care what Shula thinks. They are proud of what they’ve accomplished so far.

“I really don’t pay too much attention to it,” Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour said of Shula’s comments. “I think everyone has their opinions and they’re entitled to them. Nothing that I’ve done or I’ve seen this team do should have an asterisk by it. You can’t put an asterisk by guys being in the weight room, guys being in the film room, conditioning, running across the field and hustling. They are entitled to their own opinions. The only thing we can do is go out and play good football and try to put some wins together like we’ve done so far.”

Seymour’s teammates agreed with his comments.

“He has an opinion, and I mean, he’s a great coach, but at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter,” safety Rodney Harrison said of Shula. “It doesn’t matter. You have to go out there, you have to make plays … you know, who likes for their record to be broken or anything like that? It really doesn’t matter. We have a lot of respect for that guy and he’s entitled to whatever he thinks. It just doesn’t matter.”

“We really don’t worry about that,” tight end Benjamin Watson said. “We are here to do our job every day and our job is to play football, win games and go to practice. That’s what we do. We really don’t worry about anything else.”

Everything that the Patriots have accomplished this season has sparked a debate across the nation on whether or not they will go undefeated.

New England (9-0) ranks first in points per game (39.4), total yards (428.7 per game), fourth on defense in yards allowed (275.2 yards per game) and fifth in points allowed per game (16.3).

The rest of the teams on the Patriots’ schedule have a combined 20-29 record.

The Patriots aren’t considering going 19-0 at this point in the season.

“I’m just trying to go 10-0 at this point, but [going 19-0] would be a great accomplishment,” Seymour said.

“That’s something that we really aren’t thinking about,” running back Kevin Faulk said. “It’s just about the one game at a time, and if we keep going about it one game at a time, maybe that will happen. But we still have [a lot of] games to play.”

“Our goal isn’t to go 16-0,” Watson said. “Our goal is to win one game, 16 times. We are just about winning one game, and however many games they put in front of us, that’s how many we want to win. It’s just about one game. At the end of the season, we’ll see how we did. We aren’t really worried about asterisks and all that stuff.”

The Patriots take the one-game-at-a-time approach because they know that teams are geared up to be the first to beat them.

“I’m sure a lot of teams are going to be chomping at us just like they always are,” Seymour said. “Ever since I’ve been here, ever since we won the first Super Bowl, I think teams have been ready to knock us off and say, ‘We beat the giants,’ so to speak. It’s a big deal for them [when they play us]. It’s a big week for them and I think guys [in this locker room] have to understand that when other teams come to play us, we’re going to get their best shot. We have to be as prepared as we were against Indy every other week.”

Several teams have made a run at the Dolphins’ record. The 1985 Bears started 12-0 before losing to a Dolphins team coached by Shula. The 1991 Redskins started 11-0, and the 1998 Broncos and 2005 Colts opened 13-0 before losing.

Shula’s comments may only serve to make the Patriots work harder to match the Dolphins’ record.

“In the past, we’ve always kind of rallied around some things,” said Seymour. “We’ll see what happens.”

roblee@projo.com