It’s the tweet you’ll never forget where you were when you first read it.
Easily my least favorite tweet of all-time. Probably yours, too. And that includes Patrick Chung’s insurance prank yesterday. Safe to say that tweet was likely RT’d, faved and bookmarked by one and many Pats haters and previously oppressed AFC East fans. Considering the way Brady treated his former kingdom for years it’s understandable you celebrated TB no longer to be the QB of the NEP. Hell, Buffalo’s mayor had to ask the city not to party in excess. Now that’s tragic respect.
Yes, an entire year has passed since Tom Brady consciously uncoupled from the New England Patriots after 20 seasons. Twenty unbelievable, unparalleled, unforgettable seasons, the resume to which may never be duplicated by any other quarterback. And we, as New England sports fans, are all the richer and better for every game, win, loss, championship, heartbreak and pregame endzone fist-pump. The how and why of his departure has been dissected, lamented, analyzed, scrutinized, theorized and argued over more than the Grassy Knoll, the disappearance of Flight 370, the end of “The Sopranos” and the existence of aliens, Bigfoot and the Bermuda Triangle, combined. We’re passionate fans, and for 20 years nobody stoked the flames of our passions more than Brady. It’s just science.
A full year already. Funny how time flies in a pandemic, eh? But it is remarkable regarding Brady how much has transpired. TB12 goes to Tampa, turns a previously hapless franchise around and with a little help from some familiar Foxboro friends wins another Super Bowl, his record-setting seventh. Meanwhile the Patriots are left searching for an answer at QB, not to mention a direction overall. The first Cam-paign, if you will, began with promise but ultimately ended in failure. The taste it left in our mouths, and especially that of Bill Belichick, was unpleasant to put it mildly.
Bill’s eventual response to Tom’s departure, subsequent success and his own team’s turnaround? To go on the greatest free agency spending binge in team history. And now for the first time in 12 months it feels like the Patriots have a direction. This premium price shopping spree of Belichick, which flies in the face of his conventional offseason behavior, has given his franchise and its fanbase the one thing Brady constantly gave us and took with him to Tampa last March: hope. Maybe not yet an answer at QB, but there’s hope. The QB situation will work itself, too. But there wouldn’t be the hope we have now for an exciting 2021 season and a bold new future in Foxboro unless what we knew, adored and relied on for so long was taken away from us.
Just a thought, but...instead of marking today as the anniversary of goodbye GOAT, hello heartbreak, it’s time to -- and I know we don’t do this well in New England -- it’s time to MOVE ON. Tom’s happy (see tequila Lombardi for all the proof you need) -- and now for the first time since his departure, there’s palpable excitement in the air. Don’t play the “Why didn’t Belichick get Brady these weapons when he was here?” game. Allow yourself to look forward, not back. Pull an Affleck in “The Town” and leave your frustrations in ya ree-yah view. Take this as an opportunity to fondly remember what he did and will forever mean to the fans and this region. The same way we mark March 28 (3-28) as a chance to celebrate the improbable triumph of Super Bowl 51, think of March 17 as an extra excuse to raise one to what you’ve loved and lost. We Irish are really good at that. And hey, today comes with the “Man, I sure could use a drink” excuse pre-built in!
Look, it’s totally OK to still miss Brady on the Patriots. How could you not? He’s Tom F**king Brady.
1 year ago today, Tom Brady announced he was leaving.
— TRENT BROWN’S #1 FAN (@BradyyNFL) March 17, 2021
I miss this. pic.twitter.com/QphI7u69Vn
He’s still improbably great, remarkably so at his age, and that’s part of what makes him such great theater and sporting inspiration. I’ll always encourage my kids to watch and appreciate and even cheer for the guy I owe a large part of my career to and even named my first son after (except maybe during his homecoming this fall...not ready for the emotional blank-show that will be for us all). But for 20 years we followed with great devotion and took our cues from Tom Brady. And now it’s time we do the same once again. He has moved on and moved on quite successfully, and so should we.
Thanks again for everything, Tom, and “Sláinte” to the Bradys. But in New England we’re finally on to...whatever is next.
Go Pats.
