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THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS are a franchise that has a reputation as one that likes to break the rules, whether it is justified or not.

That reputation is now stretching to their fans.

At 3 am on Sunday morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers were awoken by a false fire alarm in their hotel and forced to evacuate. A Boston-area man was arrested and has been charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and pulling a false fire alarm.

Now, some in and around the NFL are saying that false fire alarms are the norm when playing the Patriots.

Former offensive lineman Alan Faneca, who played in the NFL for 13 seasons, took to Twitter and said he never played a game in New England without the fire alarm being pulled the night before.

Faneca played four games in his career in Foxborough, including both of his seasons with the New York Jets in 2008 and 2009.

Then, on Monday, an anonymous NFL person described as “someone who works in the NFL” and who has “been there several times over the years,” was asked by “The Dan Le Batard Show” about the fire alarms.

“Ask any team, the fire alarm goes off every time you’re in New England,” the person said. “[It] happened every year I was there, with [the team I was working for].”

Of course, the fire alarms are certainly not the fault of the Patriots. But based on their reputation, there are going to be football fans who will think out loud, “of course it happens when playing the Patriots.”

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The Redzone: Let’s face it, we’re all just playing the Patriots’ game