What do Beyoncé, Tom Brady and Cam Newton have in common?
More than you might think, actually.
All three reached the heights of their chosen professions through uniquely elite skills.
Each has put on an impressive show at Gillette Stadium for adoring Foxborough fans at some point over the last five years.
And, oh yeah, each would fulfill the modern day definition of a diva.
From designer clothes and well-crafted brands to self-produced documentaries and paparazzi frenzies, each built an empire based on their own celebrity successes. Get out the green M&Ms and only the green M&Ms!
Is there anything wrong with that? Well, that probably depends on your perspective.
Did Bill Belichick prefer the pre-TB12 Brady more than the promotional performer that came over the second half of the GOAT’s career in New England? Probably.
But, recall, Belichick also added as many Super Bowl rings to his fingers – and boat name – during the marketing mayhem years of Brady as he did during the more humble NFL beginnings of the sixth-round pick. And isn’t that all that really matters?
Newton, on the other ring-less hand, didn’t fail in Foxborough due to his Freaky Friday YouTube videos, look-at-me hats or aura. He failed to make it to a second season because he simply wasn’t good enough.
If you win and produce, on some level even the old-school, set-in-his-ways Belichick doesn’t care. Brady (at least before the football divorce that sent him seeking newfound love and glory in Tampa!), Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski and others have proven that over the years. Heck, neither worked out, but Belichick invested to bring in diva receivers like Chad Ochocinco and Antonio Brown.
This also isn’t to say that late-career Brady and Newton weren’t or aren’t team-first players. But they weren’t or aren’t team-only players. They have a certain self-centered focus that’s probably a product of their success in modern football, modern society as the centerpiece performers in their field. They put an “I” in quarterback.
Like Beyoncé, they were and are, to some degree, divas. Divas that Belichick had to deal with for years.
But that’s in the past now, because you know who’s not a diva QB, at least not yet anyway?
Mac Jones.
A winless week into his NFL career, the former national title-winning Alabama star and first-round rookie starter has endeared himself to his teammates, to fans and, yes, to Belichick himself at least in part through his selflessness. Through a maniacal focus on football and getting better. Through anything but a diva mentality. Through serious, soft-spoken answers and a goofy laugh.
Regardless of who you talk to, that word “selfless” keeps coming up to describe Jones, and not just because he declined to throw a party with the football from his first career NFL touchdown pass on opening day against the Dolphins.
“It's not about me, and it never will be, and it shouldn't be,” Jones declared this week when asked about his selflessness. “Obviously being a quarterback, everyone wants to, you know, hype you up and give you all this and that, and sometimes you need to take more blame than they give you and things like that, so I've always just tried to be humble and stuff. It just works out in the long run, and that's the best way to be the best teammate you can be.”
If that’s not music to Belichick’s aging ears, well then he’s gone deaf.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels hears it.
“He’s certainly not absorbed in selfish things or self-promotion, so I think he’s more about the team and how he can help the team and how he can play better.” McDaniels noted.
Jones isn’t about being followed by film crews. Or his own statistics. Or being miserable when the team is winning via defense – well, can’t be sure on that one since he hasn’t actually won a game yet in his brief career.
Jones didn’t celebrate his first NFL game by getting all decked out in lavish laundry to perform for the media. Didn’t rush through his postgame to meet up with his supermodel wife.
Nope, he answered a few questions only partially undressed from his uniform and then got to work studying this week’s opponent, the Jets.
Gave himself 24 hours to feel bad about his debut and go to grinding.
Because while his numbers were impressive, including a 74-percent completion percentage that was tops all-time for a rookie starter, all ones cared about was the one-point loss.
Which is on brand for a guy who’s anything but a brand. Anything but a diva. Not in Beyoncé’s class.
It’s one of the many reasons that all of Patriot Nation is quickly falling and falling hard for its new QB, including Belichick.
“We all need to put the team first, so it's a message for all of us. Mac's done a good job of it,” Belichick gushed.
Of course Belichick would probably love to see if Jones develops into a diva QB, say after a few Super Bowl rings and maybe a couple MVPs?