I've been tailgating at New England Patriots games from 1987 to present day. What a difference a couple of decades make! These tales from the tailgate include everything from the soul-sucking feeling of a 1-15 season to the unexpected thrills of Super Bowl titles. I often hear people say that Pats fans are spoiled and arrogant. Not all of us. Some, like me, still can't believe Vinatieri's kick was good.
I've had a solid week to digest the fact that Brady and the Patriots did not win a Super Bowl that they had control of with just five minutes to play. A week's not enough.
There will be plenty of offseason NFL news to help me start to move on. Where will Manning (the other one) end up? What teams will be big players in the free agency free-for-all? Will the Colts actually have a head coach? And speaking of head coaches... How long till Rex Ryan inserts another foot in his mouth? One thing that we already do know ... next year's Super Bowl goes back to New Orleans. That would be the perfect place for Brady and Belichick to finally close the deal on #4. See? I'm already moving on.
The 2012 League Year (when did they start calling it that?) will start on March 13th at 4 p.m. when free agency begins. See you then.
When I was a teenager my favorite Sports Illustrated issue was The Year In Pictures. No. Really. It was. Not the swimsuit issue. That was second. The Year In Pictures was the best, especially on olympic years. It was just great to look back at some of the best sporting moments captured in stunning images by the best sports photographers in the world. A picture really is worth a thousand words. Especially that one of Big Vince rumbling down the field after his interception against San Diego. Or the one of Gronk going head-over-heels for a TD against KC. Or Brady diving for a TD in the AFC title game. Or... it really was a great season.
It's the final installment of reading material. If only all the stories I've read since last Sunday were about a historic fourth Pats' Super Bowl title, and the team winning it for Myra, and a parade -- instead of another last-second defeat. If only.
Despite the subject matter, there were several good columns. Some advised that I stop looking back at the car wreck. Others advised that I start looking ahead. Both good advice.
ESPNBoston's Jackie MacMullan (still sounds weird) wrote a great piece asking for a big "calm down." I sometimes forget just how great a writer MacMullan is.
The Herald's Ron Borges (that still sounds fitting) is someone I make myself read every now and then. It's like taking medicine. Sometimes you have to fill that little cup and drink that vile red liquid no matter how much you don't want to. Borges is a great writer, as knowledgeable about football as any sportswriter .. it's just that his take on the Pats is so often slanted to the "I told you they wouldn't win again" angle that it's just not worth it. But it's worth reading a post-mortem from the Borges's persective.
The Globe's Greg Bedard has the same view of the fateful Brady-to-Welker pass that I do. It was way more a bad pass than it was a missed catch.
But that's enough about THAT game... On ESPN.com, Mel "The Hair" Kiper has updated his mock draft for the second of what will be 183 times. His 2.0 version has the Pats using both their first-round picks (I'll believe it when I see it) and taking outside linebacker Vinny Curry from Marshall and D lineman Kendell Reyes from UConn. I love the Curry pick. He is a versatile athlete who can get after the quarterback from anywhere on the field. With that second pick I'm hoping cornerback Janoris Jenkins slips down to them. If not him, then maybe safety Harrison Smith from Notre Dame. Secondary help is primary.
On NFL.com, there are several mock drafts up already. Charlie Casserly -- who Belichick hates -- takes two shots at the GM for always trading out of the first round while projecting that the Pats might take Alabama safety Mark Barron and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower (great name). Two Tide players courtesy of Nick Saban? Sounds good to me. Two of the other "experts" have the Pats taking LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers. He's 6-6, 300 pounds. He would look good next to Big Vince.
The draft begins with first-round picks on April 26, a Thursday night. The Patriots -- at the moment -- hold the 27th and 31st selections. The rich get richer. I may not be a card-carrying member of the one percent, but I enjoy rooting for a football team that is.
I came across a Jets' fan while riding public transportation today. He seemed like a decent fellow. I work with a lifelong Jets' fan and a finer person you won't find. Even if he is a former Herald guy.
The Jets' guy gave me a look as I sat waiting for my train and reading an SI issue with Mr. Kraft on the cover.
"Sucks to be a Pats' fan these days," he said with a snicker.
"Ya," I said. "Losing in the Super Bowl is tough to take." I paused. "I look forward to the years when my team can't even win its division and ends the season bickering and out of the playoffs. Those sure were the good old days."
He got my point.
Three Super Bowl titles. Three more very near misses ('06, '07, and this year) and many seasons of 12, 13, and 14 wins. Nine division titles. Five AFC titles. Records of 14-2 and 13-3 the last two years. Indeed, it sucks to be a Pats' fan these days.
Brady and Belichick are now 3-2 in Super Bowls together. If they had won their first, then lost two, then won two ... or some other combination that doesn't include losing the last two -- people would not be questioning "their legacy." The fact that the Pats lost guys like Bruschi, Harrison, Vrabel, Johnson, Seymour, McGinnest, Law, Samuel, Brown, Dillon, etc. since '07 and have remade the team while remaining a contender is amazing. Did I say contender? They were one play away from another Lombardi last weekend. But you really can't win 'em all. The great -- and suddenly annoying -- Joe Montana may have gone 4-0 in Super Bowls, but he was just 3-3 in the playoffs his last three seasons. Montana had seasons of 9, 8, 8, and 9 wins. Brady's worst year was 10-6. He doesn't look quite done yet. If he had just made a better throw to Welker ...
The year after the Pats lost a gut-wrencher to the Colts in the AFC title game -- where they blew a 21-0 lead -- Belichick responded by loading up with Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and others and went 16-0. The year after the Pats lost that first Super Bowl to the Giants they loaded up again. But Brady went down in the first quarter of the first game and that was that. Among the great traits of Belichick's teams is the ability to put a tough loss behind them and use that to motivate them to be better. That's why they haven't lost more than two games in a row in more than a decade. Maybe the most amazing of all the stats.
The Globe's Chris Gasper had a good column expressing the view that the window on Brady is closing and the team should go "all in" to try to win now. He's right. But that's exactly what the team has been doing every year since the '06 season ended with the team wilting in the heat of the Indy dome. The '06 season is the year when Belichick the GM truly screwed Belichick the coach. He let Branch and Givens go and provided Brady with a group of wide receivers named Caldwell and Gabriel. Not good. I thought he had learned his lesson but then I took a look at what was left of the team's secondary after he cut most of the veterans. Not good. Still, he took the team back to the title game. Impressive.
This Super Bowl loss is tougher to digest than the one that ruined 19-0. Why? Because with three minutes to go in that game the Pats only had 7 points. They were losing 10-7. Sure, Brady hit Moss to take the lead and some guy caught the ball with his head and the Giants won. But the Pats never had a chance to take control of that game. They were somewhat lucky to have a chance to win it. The game on Sunday was very different. Sure, the '07 team was much better than this year's team. One of the best ever. But this year's team actually had a better chance to win the game. 17-9 with all the momentum midway through the third quarter. Unlike '07, it was actually there for the taking. I'm guessing Brady and Belichick are having a harder time with this one too. That usually motivates them.
My train arrived and I gave the Jets' fan a nod. He just looked at me. I don't blame him. One of the five greatest NFL coaches was actually the HC of his NYJ for about 30 minutes. And then left for Foxborough. That's tougher to get over than the disappointment of just missing a fourth Super Bowl title in ten years. A bit tougher.
I keep flipping around the TV channels today looking for Duck Boats. Then I remember that Welker didn't catch that ball.
Vegas has installed the Patriots as the favorite to win the Super Bowl next year. Ah, next year. After witnessing another last second loss to the Giants for the championship I thought it might take a while before I started looking forward to next year. It took less than 48 hours.
The Patriots should be at least among the favorites next year. The offense (other than Deion, Light, and Waters) is young and should be just as strong. The defense is even younger, and hopefully will play more like it did in the playoffs than most of the regular season. As Mr. Kraft said in his "Farewell My Sweetheart" address, "We have two 1s and two 2s in the draft." That's right, sir. We do. Last year the Pats added Nate Solder, Stevan Ridley, and Marcus Cannon in the draft. All three made contributions to a team that was 14-2 the year before. There's still potential in injured draft picks Ras I. Dowling and Shane Vereen. Pro Bowlers Andre Carter and Brian Waters were added through free agency. (Yes, and Ocho too). Four picks in the first two rounds of the draft can only help.
The Packers will be back. As will the Steelers and the Ravens. And maybe even the Jets. The Giants, Saints, Niners. and Cowboys will all be in the hunt. The Pats only play four teams that had winning records last year. The Niners, Texans, Ravens, and Titans. They play the not-so-tough NFC West and the other three teams in the AFC East are currently in tough shape. Another AFC East crown and first-round bye are more than possible.
What are the Pats' needs going into next year? A wide receiver who can go deep. Someone in the Victor Cruz/Julio Jones category. A young pass rushing D lineman who can take some of the heat off of Big Vince. Oh, and a whole lot of defensive backs. If Belichick can bring in some guys to go with a core of Brady, Welker, Gronk, Hernandez, Mankins, Koppen, Vollmer, Solder, Waters, Bennie, Woody, Vince, Chung, Spike, Mayo, McCourty, Carter, and Anderson then the Pats could be there again come next February.
I don't how many more last-second Super Bowl losses I can take, but I'm willing to risk it if the Pats can get back there again. Free agency starts on March 13. The start of a new season and almost the start of spring. Looking forward to it.
SUPER BOWL XLVI
Wes Welker was wide open. A better throw and he goes for a touchdown. Game over.
There were a lot of big moments in another Patriots-Giants classic Super Bowl battle. A safety on the first play. Twelve men on the field negating a turnover. An ill-timed Ninko offsides. Fumbles bouncing all over the place but ultimately back into the hands of the Giants. A very bad decision early in the fourth quarter by Brady that led to a pick. A failure by the D to make a game-saving play anywhere in the last three minutes. A Hail Mary that was almost answered. But it really all came down to that one pass from Tom Brady to Welker.
Brady and the offense had put together a championship drive to that point. The Pats D had done its job and forced a punt. They had held the Giants to just 15 points with nine minutes to play. And two of those points were on the Brady safety. Great job by the defense. So starting at their own 7 with 9:19 to play, the Pats moved all the way to midfield on an impressive, smart, focused drive. It looked like Brady was going to have another hall of fame moment.
A scrambling pass to Welker for five. A swing pass to Woody for 19. A short Bennie run. A Welker end-around reverse for 11 and a huge first down. Woody for a clock-eating yard. A pass to Gronk for six. Brady to Hernandez on a great quick-out on 3rd-and-3 that gave the Pats what looked like the biggest first down of the game at the Giant 47. Bennie for a loss on first down, giving the Pats 2nd-and-11 at midfield with 4:11 to play. Brady was in complete command. The play-calling was nearly perfect. Things were looking great.
As the ball was snapped, Chris Collinsworth said the Giants D was confused on the play. They sure were.
Welker, lined up in the left slot, flew right by the defensive back down the left hash marks and came wide open at the 30. If Brady -- as he should have -- hits Welker in stride on the inside shoulder Welker goes for a touchdown. Watch the replay. He's that open. Instead Brady throws it outside shoulder -- way outside shoulder -- and a little too high. Welker has to spin around to grab it. And he should have grabbed it. He leaped and the ball hit him in the hands... but it just bounced away. That's what is so great -- and painful -- about football. One play can really make a difference. If Brady and Welker connect, the game is over. The defense had done its job. Brady and the offense were making a memorable championship drive. They had a chance to secure the victory -- which is what a great offense has to do -- but let that chance slip away.
Brady couldn't connect with Branch on 3rd-and-11 and the Pats had to punt the ball back to little Manning and the Giants with just under four minutes to play.
How many times can little Manning lead the Giants on a last second victory against the Patriots? Apparently the answer is ... every freakin' time. It sure feels like we are stuck in a moment that we can't get out of. Another great season of football comes to a disappointing end. The image of Mr. Kraft standing there by himself after the game ended was sure sad. No more Sunday afternoon distractions. Time to get back to reality. But soon it will be draft day. And soon me and my friends will be firing up the grill and cracking open some beers on a beautiful September afternoon. "It's just a moment... this time will pass."
Tom Brady has been asked "What's your favorite ring?" many times over the years. He often answers by telling a story from when he was a quarterback at Michigan in the late '90s. He said he once asked his offensive coordinator which of his many Big Ten championship rings was his favorite. "He looked at me and said 'The next one. The next one'," Brady recalled. "I said, "Ya. The next one."
Brady gets a shot at the next one today. It should be a great game. It got me thinking of all the great playoff games that Brady has played in. Before Brady and Belichick the Patriots had appeared in 17 playoff games in 40 years of football and their record was an underwhelming 7-10. There were some great games in there but also some heartbreakers (Steelers 7, Pats 6 in '97 is a good example). Since Brady walked on the field in September of 2001 the team has played in 21 playoffs games, going 16-5. What a run it has been.
As the Pats get ready for another Super Bowl, it's a good time to look back at the last decade and rank the top playoff games (not including this year just yet). It's not really a ranking as much as a list of great memories...
10. '06 Divisional Round (vs. Chargers): The only non-Super Bowl year game to make the list. This was one I watched mostly with my hands partially blocking my eyes, fearing the Chargers next score that would have blown the game open. San Diego led 14-3 early but the Pats scratched their way back to 21-13 with eight minutes to go. The Pats were teetering on the brink of disaster the whole game and when Brady was picked by Marlon McCree with about five minutes left it looked like they were done. But McCree kept running with the ball and the ever-alert Troy Brown stripped it and the Pats recovered. New life! Brady quickly cashed in on the second chance with a TD and two-point conversion (direct snap to Faulk of course) to tie the game at 21. The Pats D held and Gostkowski nailed a 31-yarder for one of the all-time great playoff thefts.
9. '04 Divisional Round (vs. Colts): When a team's most impressive, dominating defensive playoff performance of the decade only comes in at #9, well, you know you've been treated to some great games. This was the "Clock Killin' '' Corey Dillon game. This was the game where the unstoppable force (Colts' offense) met the immovable object (Pats' D). The league had changed the rules after the Pats beat the Colts (and beat them up) the year before, allowing more freedom for the receivers. The new rules didn't help. Bruschi ripped the ball from Dominick Rhodes's hands. The Pats (with the help of the cold and snow) ripped the heart right out of the Indy offense. They beat the Eagles for the title two weeks later but this was the '04 Super Bowl.
8. '03 Divisional Round (vs. Titans): The coldest playoff game in Patriot history. Every now and then a shiver will run through my body leftover from that day. How the players were able to play such a great game is beyond me. It took all my strength just to drink my beers. Brady hit Bethel Johnson on a 41-yard bomb as if it was a sunny September afternoon. Rodney Harrison hit everything in sight (and had a pick) and Adam Vinatieri hit yet another huge kick, nailing a 46-yarder with five minutes to go. I can still hear his foot smack the frozen ball as if he was kicking a cinder block. It hurt just to listen to it.
7. '01 AFC Championship (vs. Steelers): I watched this one at a bar with Paul. I was supposed to be at work. It seemed like a good day to take a three-hour lunch break. Other than the Sox Game 7 win over the Yankees this was the best bar game I've watched. The place was raucous. The Pats were big underdogs. The Steelers were way too cocky. Then Brady went down and Drew Bledsoe came in to play the role of hero. It was Bledsoe's shining moment as a Patriot -- and his last. He sure deserved it. Troy Brown made two huge special teams plays and the Pats found themselves headed to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
6. Super Bowl XXXIX (vs. Eagles): A Super Bowl not in the top 5? A Super Bowl that gave the Pats back-to-back titles not in the top 5? That's right. It wasn't all that great a game. The Pats only won by a field goal (24-21) but the game never felt that close. Not every Super Bowl is a classic. The key is just to win it. The beauty always lies in the final score. The Eagles and T.O. put up a good battle but the Patriots were too experienced, deep, and confident to let the chance at history get away. Linebacker Mike Vrabel made an acrobatic TD catch and Rodney sealed the victory with a pick, ending the game by flapping his arms like Eagles wings. The Pats had soared to the level of a dynasty.
5. '03 AFC Championship (vs. Colts): When someone says Gillette Stadium isn't a great home-field advantage its pretty clear that they weren't there for this game. The rivalry was just starting to build at this point. If you asked most people (outside of NE) which of these teams was about to win back-to-back titles I bet 90 percent of them would have chosen the Colts. They would have been wrong. The Pats D forced Manning to throw four picks (three by Ty Law) by harassing him and knocking his receivers all over the field. Rule changes would follow. And so would more Pats victories.
4. '04 AFC Championship (vs. Steelers): Oh, this game was fun to watch. The rematch with the Steelers in Heinz Field. Three years later the Pittsburgh players were still whining about their '01 loss and, having put a beating on the Pats in the regular season, were predicting a blowout. They were right. It was a blowout. Pats 41-27. And it wasn't that close. Deion Branch caught a TD bomb to open the scoring and then ran one in on the reverse to close out the scoring. Brady was an efficient 14-21 for only 207 yards and two TDs. But the D forced three picks -- Rodney taking one 87 yards for a touchdown. Blowout.
3. Super Bowl XXXVIII (vs. Panthers): One of the strangest Super Bowls ever. And the most exciting. The first quarter was a defensive war. Neither team scored. Then Vrabel forced a fumble, Brady hit Branch for a touchdown, and the two teams busted out to score 24 points in the last three minutes of the half. 24 points in three minutes after a bruising defensive first half. I've never seen anything like it. The two teams went back into their defensive stance, both coming up empty in the third quarter. That all changed again in the fourth quarter when the teams combined to score 37 points. Most of them on big plays. The game kept swinging from a standoff to a shootout. The Pats had Brady and Vinatieri. They got off the last shot for one of the greatest Super Bowl victories in NFL history.
2. Snow Bowl (vs. Raiders): "After review, the quarterback's arm was going forward ..." Tuck that! I'll be watching the tape of this game when I'm a happy old man. Hopefully I will be able to remember what it was like to be there as well as I can now. I think I will. The weather. The old stadium. A franchise's luck changing forever. A kick for the ages. A game for the ages. Most of the talk now centers on the fumble-that-wasn't and Vinatieri's clutch kicks, but the Pats receivers (Patten, Brown, Wiggins, Faulk) made some incredible catches in the blizzard. It was a memorable way to close out the old place. There's only one game that could top this instant classic.
1. Super Bowl XXXVI (vs. Rams): I was sitting on the floor next to the television in my parent's den. I wanted to be as close to the TV as I could. Brady spike the ball with just seven seconds left, the ball bouncing straight up and landing gently in the palm of his hand. Everyone was silent as Vinatieri walked out for the kick. "If he makes this we are Super Bowl champs," ran through my mind about 100 times in 30 seconds. I'm sure it was going through the mind of everyone in the room. But no one dared say it. The ball was snapped. Vinatieri kicked it smoothly. The camera angle switched to behind the goal post, the ball heading right towards me. It was right down the middle. Right down the middle! We yelled and danced and hugged and laughed -- and even cried a little -- for hours. The kick was good. I still can't believe it.
Here's hoping there's a new No. 1 for the list by the end of the day today.
Ten years ago today I sat on the floor in my parent's den -- a foot from the TV -- as Vinatieri's kick sailed right at me and right through the uprights.
Maybe Gostkowski can recreate that moment Sunday. I'll be in the same spot. But with a better TV.
Has there ever been a more anticipated sporting event in New England? Maybe even the country? I think not.
Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and the Giants reminds me of the great Super Bowl matchups I grew up watching in the '70s between the Steelers and Cowboys. Even if you weren't a fan of either team you watched just to see football played at its most intense, highest (and entertaining) level. Most of the country will be rooting against the Patriots (does that make them the Cowboys now?) getting their fourth title. That's how I felt about the Steelers.
So who will win? I'm leaning towards the Patriots. As is Vegas. But the reality is this game is up for grabs. As even as they get. A toss up. A pick 'em game. These two teams have staged three very entertaining games in the past four years. Each one featuring many lead changes in the second half. There was the finale of the perfect regular season in which Brady and Moss both broke passing records to win a shootout 38-35. A month later there was that other Super Bowl that I have blocked out of my memory. And this past November there was the Giants handing the Pats their first regular season home loss in three seasons. That game featured a last-second comeback led by little Manning that was eerily familiar.
The two teams don't know how to play boring games against each other.
It's being called the rematch, a chance for the Patriots to avenge their epic loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The NFL Network has seen fit to show that game several times during the past two weeks. Thanks for that. But the two teams are very different and there's not a lot to be learned from watching that film ... except one thing. An offense that looks unstoppable can suddenly become very stoppable in a pressure game against a very good defense. I can still remember the week before that other Super Bowl when then-Giant Plaxico Burress predicted that his team would win 23-17. When Brady was informed of that he laughed. He wasn't surprised Burress predicted New York would win. Of course he would. But he was surprised at one thing. "We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady asked incredulously. He thought it was impossible for the Pats offense to be held completely in check. He learned he was wrong. As did I. We both know better this time around.
A game that you can learn a lot from is the one at Gillette in Week 9. The final score was 24-20 Giants. The score at halftime was 0-0. That's the kind of games these two teams play. Standoffs that morph into shootouts. Brady and the offense struggled -- again -- against the Giants vaunted defensive line. Then Brady, Gronk, Welker, BenJarvus, and Co. got it going and put up 20 points in a little more than a quarter. Brady finished with 342 yards passing and two touchdowns. He completed many key passes with a Giant in his face or chest. But, to quote Brady, there were times he "sucked." He threw two picks and fumbled once. Three turnovers. He got away with that two weeks ago against the Ravens. He can't get away with that again.
The matchups have been broken down, turned inside out, and X-rayed. The two teams are talented, well-coached, and disciplined. You have Brady and little Manning. Great receivers on both sides of the ball. Two not-so-great secondaries. An awesome D line and a very good D line. A very good offensive line and an average offensive line. Solid but not dominant running games. Effective special teams. It's hard to give one team a clear edge in any category. Including coaching. It's that even.
But the majority of the national media is going with the Giants. The main rationale for that is New York is the hotter team, playing the better football. The Giants are playing very good football. No doubt. But hotter? The Pats have won ten straight since their loss to the G-Men in Week 9. I would offer that they have played their best two games of the season in the playoffs. Especially on the defensive side of the ball. They shut down two of the best running attacks in the league in Denver and Baltimore. I would also offer that the Pats played their best all-around game in four years against the Ravens and would have won by 10 or more points if Brady had not made some very big mistakes. But the Pats were lucky that kick went wide left. Just as the Giants were lucky that the Niners muffed two kicks to hand them 10 points.
Both teams are playing well. Both teams have been lucky. Again... even.
My prediction for the game? Patriots 33, Giants 30.
I almost lowered that score by 10 points each after watching the replay of the November game at Gillette because the score was only 10-3 at the end of the third quarter. But I figure that these two offenses have seen these two defenses a lot recently. They know what to expect. They will be able to make some big plays. In a game like that, I like Brady and Belichick. I always will.
I was watching the local news and a report about grade-school kids getting excited for the game. The reporter put the mike in the face of a little boy wearing a Gronk jersey and asked him his prediction for the game. His eyes lit up as he said "Patriots, like by a score of 45-3!" I looked at him and laughed. He's only eight. He doesn't even remember 2008. He doesn't know what it's like to see his team lose in the big game. I hope he doesn't get to find out what that's like any time soon.
The Gronk ankle watch continues in earnest. It's all anyone is talking about. Did Gronk practice? How is Gronk? Will Gronk play?
The boot is off. There is talk of a "special cleat" for the Super Bowl (I wonder if Belichick leaks that stuff out just for laughs). Gronkowski said he was taking "mental reps" when he couldn't practice. Gronk taking mental reps. Hmmmm. Then today, the man who had the greatest season ever for a tight end, reportedly stepped on the field for "limited" participation in practice.
I expect Gronk to play and play pretty much like Gronk. I don't think Gronk knows how to play any other way. Pain or no pain. Torn ligaments or no torn ligaments.
A star player having an ankle injury before the biggest game of the year? The media following every twist and turn of the ankle story? Fans hoping the star player can get on the field? It worked out pretty well the last time that happened....
TALES FROM THE TAILGATE Jets 10, Patriots 3 (9/23/'01): In just a few days, Tom Brady will step on to the field in Indy to play in his fifth Super Bowl in ten years. I won't be there ($2k for a ticket. Hello couch), but I was there the day he walked on to the field to start what would become one of the greatest careers the NFL has ever seen. Brady is probably the most famous athlete on the planet right now. Not the most popular. But the most famous. It's easy to forget that if it wasn't for a twist of fate, Brady's career -- and my entertainment level as a Pats' fan -- might have been very different this past decade.
September 23rd, 2001. Just twelve days after everyone awoke to the news and images that are still hard to believe. The NFL -- after a week gone dark -- decided it was time to get back to the business of entertaining the masses. Me, Mark, Shep, and Bergs gathered in the dirt that was the old Foxboro Stadium parking lot in the shadow of the skeleton of what would become Gillette. Mark worked in Manhattan and was not far from the towers that day. He had to make his way through the new heightened security on Amtrak, meaning no containers full of pulled pork or any other marinated meat. We sat in near 70 degree weather and did what we always do... talked football to forget about everything else.
There wasn't too much to be optimistic about on that afternoon other than the weather. The world had been turned upside down. W. was president. And the Pats were 0-1. It was very early in the team's second season under Bill Belichick. The Pats went 5-11 in his first year and looked very mediocre, prompting Bergs to repeat that he thought giving up a first-round pick to the Jets to pry him free was a bad idea. It would be the last day he would say it. Drew Bledsoe was the starting QB and the face of the franchise. Although we were Drew admirers, we all felt that he had regressed so badly under Pete Carroll that he was painful to watch. Sure, we were getting a new stadium to replace the concrete toilet bowl, but all we knew about that was our ticket prices were sure to rise.
The game was preceded by a moving tribute to those who were lost that day in Manhattan and elsewhere and the emergency workers who tried to save them. Pats lineman Joe Andruzzi had three bothers in the New York fire department and he ran out of the tunnel waving two American flags and joined them at midfield for the national anthem. The crowd formed one, powerful voice in song. I'm not big on patriotic displays at sporting events. Fourth of July on the Esplanade? Sure. But a football game? Play the national anthem but spare me Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." It's a football game, I don't care if you are proud to be an American. I felt very differently that afternoon.
The emotions of the day were soon channeled to football and a very hard-hitting game. The Patriots' defense -- with guys like Law, Milloy, Bruschi, Johnson, and McGinnest -- was starting to reach its potential and held Curtis Martin and the Jets' offense in check. Unfortunately, Bledsoe and the Pats offense seemed to be reaching its potential too. Its potential to be bad. With just more than five minutes left in the game, the Jets held a 10-3 lead. The Pats' offense had the ball just inside its own 20-yard line. We were finishing our last beers and hoping Bledsoe would find a little of the magic he had a few years earlier. Bledsoe dropped back to pass. He got forced out of the pocket and lumbered -- he couldn't run -- towards the far sideline. He got close to the first down marker and instead of running out of bounds Bledsoe, as tough as they come, decided to turn his shoulder and try to get that extra yard for the first down. Jets linebacker Mo Lewis was between Bledsoe and the marker.
Bledsoe was about as far away from my seat in Section 309 as he could get. I could still feel the hit. Lewis lowered his right shoulder and smashed Bledsoe in his left side. It looked like Bledsoe had run into a concrete wall at full speed. The entire stadium winced. Bledsoe went down hard. He didn't get the first down. He didn't get up for a few minutes either. The crowd stood silent again. Finally Bledsoe got to his feet as the trainers checked him out. Even from a distance you could see he was shaky. There was some confusion on the sideline. Tom Brady -- #12 -- had put his helmet on but it looked like Bledsoe might come back into the game. There was a brief discussion and then Brady walked towards the huddle and Bledsoe turned and walked the other way.
There wasn't a roar for Brady. Even those of us who thought it might be time for Bledsoe to go didn't want to see it end this way. But end it did. Brady took the next snap and -- except for 2008 when he got his knee ripped up -- he has taken every meaningful snap since. Brady went a mere 5-for-10 for 46 yards as he tried to drive the Pats to a tying touchdown. The game came to an anticlimactic finish when his Hail Mary pass was harmlessly batted to the ground. We sat in the parking lot as the sun set talking about the day. What if Bledsoe can't come back? Is that a good thing? Can Brady -- the kid from Michigan -- be a decent NFL quarterback?
The next weekend the Pats hosted the undefeated Colts. By that time everyone knew that Bledsoe had suffered a serious injury and that the young quarterback would be leading the 0-2 team for the next few weeks. The Pats stomped on the Colts that day 44-13. Brady didn't throw a touchdown and had just 168 yards passing, a number he sometimes breaks in a quarter these days. But he brought an energy to the team that was noticeable. He may have been a second-year player among a group of veterans, but he was clearly a leader.
Since then he has led the franchise to three championships and several very near misses for Lombardi number four. He gets another shot at it Sunday. He is, for me, the greatest Boston athlete in my sports-watching lifetime. I was too young to appreciate Russell or Williams but I grew up on Orr, Cowens, Yaz and have marvelled at Bourque, Bird, Clemens, Neely, Bledsoe, Pedro, Ortiz, and Rice. Brady tops them all mostly because he delivered what I never thought possible. Super Bowl parades.
But it isn't just that he led the Pats to three championships. It was the way he did it. He was Bourque, Bird, Neely, Ortiz -- and a lot of Terry O'Reilly -- all in one. He is simply one of the all-time greatest sports stories. Don't let his posing with goats or hiding from the paparazzi make you forget just how amazing his career with the Patriots has been
Drafted in the -- everyone -- sixth round in 2000, Brady was an interesting mix of raw talent and, as Kramer would say, unbridled enthusiasm. He had some great games at Michigan so he wasn't quite an unknown. But he was no Peyton Manning. He wasn't taken with the first pick and he wasn't able to dictate which team he would play for. I like Manning. He's a regular guy. His commercials are often very funny. Oh, and he's one of the best QBs to ever play the game. I've grown to enjoy watching him (when not playing the Pats) because he almost always does something impossible to turn a sure loss into a victory. Manning carried the Colts on his back by almost sheer will before he hurt his neck. I get why he is loved.
I don't get why Brady is not. I know, I know. Giselle. Cover boy. UGGs. The West Coast mansion. The hair. Bridget and the baby. That's the other side of Brady. Brady the football player hasn't changed from the moment when he was headbutting Bledsoe before the Super Bowl in New Orleans. He may be a reluctant celebrity, but he still looks driven to me. He still plays like he is trying to earn his starting spot. He still plays the game the way it should be played. All out. Manning was the sure thing. Brady was the underdog. Manning started out as NFL royalty. Brady started out as NFL working class. Today they are both future Hall of Famers. Who'd a thunk it back in 2001.
Brady joined a team that had a strong nucleus of veteran leaders. Some -- like Brian Cox and Roman Phifer -- were former Parcells/Belichick guys who were brought in to bring attitude. Others -- like Law, Milloy, Bruschi, McGinnest, Johnson, Brown -- were part of the '96 team that went to the Super Bowl and were entering the peak years of their careers. Brady quickly fit in with that group and almost always played with the poise of a veteran. It was a perfect marriage. Now all those veterans are gone. All of them. Brady is the link between what is quickly becoming the distant past and what is now the future.
Brady has made the transition into the second phase of his career ... the veteran quarterback. Not every player can do it. But Brady had good teachers in all those retired Patriots who are now on almost every football program there is. (How much does that drive the rest of the NFL-loving country crazy?)
Will Brady have as much success in this phase of his career (which he says he hopes will last several more years)? Belichick certainly has the Pats poised to compete for the title for the next few years. Ten years after the first title the Pats have gone 27-5 the last two seasons. A win Sunday could set the stage for another dynasty. You never know what fate holds.
