Now that the New England Patriots have wrapped up their sixth Super Bowl in the last 18 years, it's a good time to look back at how they stack up historically as a "dynasty."
There's little doubt that Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady have reached the pinnacle of the NFL greats. Brady now has more rings than any player in NFL history, and Belicheck ties Curly Lambeau and George Halas with six championships. In almost all measurable ways, the Patriot run has eclipsed both the 1970's Steelers (four titles in six years) and 80's 49ers (four titles in nine years).
If you include the 49ers Super Bowl in 1994, plus their run of at least 10 victories between 1981 and 1998, those two runs are similar (excluding the strike-shortened 1982 season). But, this past Sunday eclipses what San Francisco did during that 17 year run. Six Super Bowls for the Pats makes this the NFL's greatest Dynasty.
Here is how I see the top 5 dynasties in major pro sports stacking up. Agree or disagree? Make sure you jump on Facebook or Twitter to join in the conversation!
It was harder choosing #5 than it was #1. Who do you leave out? (More on that below). What made the final decision for me was thinking about the great players. So let's start with "The Great One".
The Oiler teams of the 80's won five Stanley Cups in seven years, and that's after losing in the 82-83 Stanley Cup Finals. This was a loaded team. Wayne Gretzky was busy rewriting the record books. He averaged 124 points per season during this run which is insane enough, until you see that he had over 200 points in four of those! No other player has surpassed 200 by the way. These Oilers also featured Hall of Famers Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey.
The Montreal Candadiens had some longer dynasties, particularly their run in the 1950's which included eight straight trips to the Finals and five straight titles. This was also an era in the NHL of Original Six franchises. Yes, just six teams played for the Cup. It does diminish those old hockey dynasties and makes what Edmonton did against 20 teams more remarkable.
Eleven championships in thirteen years, including eight straight. It's the greatest run of dominance in sports history. Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones. All in the NBA Hall of Fame. The "legend" of Boston Garden. This is the standard by which all other dynasties of the last 50+ years has been judged.
Now, I have to justify why it's only #4 on my list.
Even at the end, when Boston won it's last title in 1969, the NBA had 14 teams. There are now 30 teams (29 when the Bulls won their last title in 1998). Simply said, it was easier to make the playoffs, and easier to win during the Celtics run. Also, no free-agency, no big-money contracts, and for the most part teams "owned" the players. It was different. Not to take away from those great teams, but what the next three dynasties did was harder.
There are probably three or four Yankee runs over the last century that could go here. I'm choosing the last run because of the increased number of teams in the league, the longer postseason, and the challenge of keeping the core of a team together. The Yankees of 1949-56 won five straight World Series and a sixth in 1956. You also went straight from the regular season to the World Series, and it's not like Joe Dimaggio or Mickey Mantle were up for Free-Agency during that period. So, I'm choosing the modern Yankees instead.
Why is this #3 instead of higher? Competitive balance plays a role too, and these Yankee teams flat-out spent money. Steinbrenner bought the best players available. That doesn't always work, but the core of the team, the leadership of Manager Joe Torre and others, still made this one of the great teams in sports history.
New York reached World Series six times in this stretch. That resulted in four championships, including a threepeat from 1998-2000. The Yankees made the playoffs every year from 1995-2007. The main players on those teams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, were just plain winners. Adding talent like Roger Clemens, or David Wells, around them made this team almost unbeatable for a decade.
Yes, through present, because they may not be done yet. With a slight lull in the middle (mostly due to the New York Giants and their late-game miracles), the Patriots started hot and are ending hot in Super Bowls, of which they made nine. Winning three of four starting in 2001, then three out of five between 2014 and this past Sunday, with the same QB and Coach? It's almost a miracle in the age of free agency and so-called "parity". Let's not forget what may be even more amazing. The Patriots have made it to the AFC Championship Game eight straight years, and thirteen of eighteen! Talk about sustained dominace.
Forget the accusations of cheating. Forget the hatred of Belicheck's dour personality, or the silliness of Tom Brady's diet and choice of clothing. These guys just win, and win and win. Add one more Super Bowl, and maybe they're number one? I think so.
Yes, once again Michael Jordan is the GOAT. Winning six titles in eight years has been matched (or even outdone). But let's be honest here. If MJ doesn't jump ship for a minor league baseball run in the middle of two threepeats, this is surely six straight titles (there's no way the Houston Rockets would have beaten Jordan's Bulls in those two years in between).
This was an era in the NBA that was loaded with star power. Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Reggie Miller, Shaq, Malone/Stockton, etc. were all in their prime. The Pistons, Pacers and Knicks were beasts to deal with in the east. You could still play "violent" defense in the NBA. The physical beating those Bulls teams took just to get to the NBA Finals would make current players squeamish. Somehow, those teams stayed healthy and continued to win behind the fierce competitiveness of Jordan. Yes, great players can carry you further in basketball. It's not quite the full team game it is in MLB or the NFL. But, these Bulls with two threepeats is the greatest dynasty in pro sports.
The Honorable Mentions1949-1954 Minneapolis Lakers1949-1956 New York Yankees1952-1960 Montreal Canadiens1960-1967 Green Bay Packers1965-1979 Montreal Candiens1972-1979 Pittsburgh Steelers1979-1991 Los Angeles Lakers1980-1983 New York Islanders1981-1994 San Francisco 49ers1991-1997 Dallas Cowboys2009-2015 Chicago Blackhawks2014-Present Golden State Warriors
(Note: I've eliminated a couple of runs that could qualify as dynasties. The Celtics of the 80's, the Spurs and Lakers of the 2000's. The 80's Celtics didn't win as much as the Lakers, and the Spurs and Lakers were great over the same period. You can't be a dynasty at the same time as another franchise.)