Brady Return Week has been fun, hasn’t it? We’ve gotten some juicy quotes and reports about why Tom Brady’s time in New England came to an end 18 months ago courtesy of Tom Brady Sr., Alex Guerrero, and excerpts from Seth Wickersham’s new book.
Bill Belichick has responded or not responded as he’s seen fit. He told The Greg Hill Show that Brady’s departure wasn’t a matter of the Patriots not wanting him. He denied Wickersham’s claim that he refused to meet with Brady in person to say goodbye.
The Brady vs. Belichick debate has never burned hotter, and has really expanded into debates, plural. It’s not just who was more responsible for the Patriots’ six Super Bowls anymore; now it’s who was more responsible for the breakup, who changed or didn’t change, whether Robert Kraft stuck with the right one, and which one fans should be rooting for Sunday.
It has all been in turns intriguing, entertaining, tedious and sometimes downright maddening. It also threatens to overshadow what Sunday should really be about, something Gisele Bundchen once famously called for: Appreciation.
Appreciation for everything Tom Brady did for this team and region. Appreciation for the six Super Bowls. Appreciation for leading the way in turning the Patriots from a franchise that had never won a Super Bowl and never won more than 11 games in a season into one that went on the most dominant two-decade run in NFL history.
More than any other individual, Brady turned Loserville into Titletown. The city that had not won a single championship in the four major sports in the 1990s -- and had reached a championship game or series just twice in the decade -- would win six titles in the 2000s and six more in the 2010s, with Brady’s Patriots kicking things off with that magical run in 2001 and leading the way with three Super Bowls in each decade.
An entire generation of Boston sports fans has grown up knowing nothing except winning. I’m 32. My age group is probably just about the youngest that has any memories of those dreary pre-Brady days. Think about that: We have fans approaching their 30th birthday who have no idea what it’s like to go more than three years without a parade, never mind a whole decade or longer.
Brady’s impact on Boston and New England went far beyond trophies, though. The No. 12 Patriots jersey became the most popular clothing item around here, the one piece of fashion that never went out of style. It remained at or close to the top of the NFL’s jersey sales list every year despite the fact that we all already owned at least one.
Patriot Place may not exist if Brady hadn’t made Gillette Stadium the cool place to be, home of winners. It certainly wouldn’t be as big or successful. Many a New Englander, including other Patriots and Boston athletes, got healthier by adopting the TB12 diet and way of life, or at least parts of it.
Brady gave us a global superstar and turned the Patriots into a global brand, ascending to the kinds of international heights usually reserved for the world’s biggest soccer and basketball stars. Road games and games in London and Mexico City began to sound like Patriots home games, something that would have once been unfathomable to Patriots fans older than me who remember the days of home games not selling out and being blacked out locally.
Sports radio and sports media in general has thrived around here in part because of how much interest Brady and the Patriots have generated and continue to generate even after their breakup. The Patriots drive the bus when it comes to ratings and pageviews, and Brady drove the Patriots.
What could have been the low point in Brady’s career -- Deflategate -- instead became the ultimate unifying force for Patriot Nation, complete with a rallying cry to “Defend the Wall” against the rest of the world, all those science deniers who didn’t understand PSI, who didn’t read the Wells Report, who hated us cuz they ain’t us.
We all have memories we’ll cherish forever of watching all these big games -- all these Super Bowls -- with friends, family and our fellow fans. We’ll be reminiscing about them as long as we live.
As we continue to get sucked into the various debates and palace intrigue and he-said/he-said of this week, it might be a good idea to take a step back and reflect on those memories.
Are there really Patriots fans thinking about booing Brady on Sunday night? That seems almost impossible to believe.
Yeah, his dad and personal trainer taking shots at Belichick is unnecessary. So was that comment Brady made about never living in the Northeast again. Does any of it really erase two decades of greatness? Two decades of winning that will never be matched by another player or team in our lifetimes?
While some people -- mostly in sports radio, to be completely fair about this -- are trying to convince you that you have to pick a side and can’t support both Brady and the Patriots, we all know that’s not the case.
Cheering for Brady when he takes the field pregame or when he breaks Drew Brees’ career passing yards record at some point during the first half doesn’t make you a traitor. Heck, it doesn’t even mean you want him and the Bucs to win the game.
It just means you appreciate everything he gave your team and region for 20 years.
