You’re not one of them, are you? Still have some “stuff in the basement” as Rocky said before he decided to climb back into the ring well into his sixties in the film ‘Rocky Balboa.’ If you do and you’re attending the game on Sunday night, I recommend that you come to some level of peace with your own ‘stuff’ well before kickoff in front of the nation.
Yes, the old ex will be at the cookout this weekend and with the countdown at roughly 60 hours and counting, it’s time to get a handle on those lingering emotions ... in advance.
When comparing emotions, the breakup and divorce references definitely work to some degree, as the greatest to ever do it, Tom Brady returns to his rightful football home on Sunday night. There is one major difference however when it comes to this specific divorce versus most: this marriage had 19 years of bliss. Pure, unbridled, undisputed bliss and the Super Bowl sex was amazing.
Despite the bitter breakup in March of 2020, that’s something that needs to be respected and appreciated on Sunday night, especially when the first, oh, I don’t know, 35 years of Patriots football in New England wasn’t very blissful.
Pure joy came after literally decades of pure tragedy. I guess what I’m saying is, let’s have some perspective people.
I lived through it for nearly 20 years as a fan prior to Robert Kraft saving the franchise in 1994 and also have always had a curious thirst for history. The history before my childhood of the mid-to-late '70’s and in the decade-plus that followed wasn’t very rich for the Patriots. In fact, it was broken and even comically so as Jerry Thornton so perfectly chronicled in his book ‘Darkness to Dynasty;’ a must-read for every Pats fan of any age. Yes even for you millennials that tend to habitually and tragically discard history. Trust me, history happened and the history for the Patriots and its fan base wasn’t great but we persevered through it all and remained loyal to a team that was too often hopeless.
Before Brady, the Patriots' history had far more downs than ups. Even when there were ups like in 1976-78, 1985 or during the Parcells era of the mid-’90s, that success was fleeting, mired in distractions, conflicts, and off-field buffoonery that would inevitably tear those brief moments of joy away. They left as quickly as they came. The Patriots fan experience for too long was both bankrupt and empty.
Bankrupt and empty, exactly the feeling any sober Patriots fan with a sense of history and perspective will have if even one boo is heard when Brady takes the field on Sunday night. If the drunk next to you is provoking the bitter boos, just say no and cheer over him because make no mistake, Brady earned that from you. As longtime fans of the Pats, we have earned that too. I don’t want the country looking at this great fan base as a nation of ingrates on Sunday night. We tolerated a great deal of trauma following this team before our great reward of the last 20 years was bestowed upon us. For that, I am eternally grateful. Eternally.
So if you’re amongst the lucky ones to be at Gillette Stadium Sunday night, stand up and be counted as an appreciative, grateful Patriots fan. Respect the man, the achievement, and everything you got out of it when he comes out of the opposing tunnel Sunday night.
With Christmas now less than three months away I’ll borrow a phrase from Buddy the Elf: “Don’t be a cotton-headed ninny muggins.” Remember, you’re not from Philly.
