Some people may hate Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, but I'm not one of them.
The Pats' love/hate relationship with league’s fans stems from four trips to the Super Bowl – five if you count the one upcoming – with three them ending with the team hoisting up the Vince Lombardi trophy in victory.
There are some fans that like the old-school belief of team before individual, regardless how much success that player had with another team.
At the same time, others can not stand the attitude of the franchise’s long-time head coach Bill Belichick. However, he is the one that has brought a commitment of success to the franchise.
People ask me all the time, when I wear the team’s swag, something to effect of “When did you join the bandwagon?”
Well, I have been a Pats fan since I watch them get crushed by the greatest defense in NFL history “The '85 Bears” in Super Bowl XX.
Of course, I was little back then, and I did not know what was going on. Instead, I was paying attention to the old-school red jerseys and the “Pat the Patriot” helmet logo and that began by love affair that continues to this year’s Super Bowl.
Before legendary head coach Bill Parcells, and mentor to Belichick, took over the struggling team before the 1993 season, I was just glad that they won a couple of games during the season.
I never thought the team would ever return to the Super Bowl, much less win it.
However, the winning attitude that was around with when NFL Hall of Famer and current Murfreesboro resident Raymond Berry was on the headset during the team’s glory days in the '80s returned when Parcells was coach.
Under Parcells, New England lost by two touchdowns to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.
After Parcells left, current Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took the Pats to two more playoff berths before he was let go after the 1999 campaign. The success was great, but I was still hoping for a Super Bowl title.
Enter Belichick, or as some call him “Beli-cheat,” and his old-school mentally of team first, with no one above it.
Of course, I have not liked everything he has done like “Spy gate,” or his press conferences in which I could already type the story before he speaks, since he is a cliché machine in front of the media.
At the same time, he was brought in to win Super Bowl trophies, not press conferences. He has done that and then some. It was my favorite sports moment when the Pats won Super Bowl XXXVI in 2001, in which then Pats kicker, now Colts kicker, Adam Vinatieri nailed a game winning field goal with no time remaining. I was set for life with one NFL title, and then winning two more was unbelievable.
At the same time, I have learned to just let it go quickly, when they lose.
After all, it is just a game not life or death. Of course, I was bummed when it had the 2007 undefended season and was two minutes away from the perfect season in Super Bowl XLII, but the New York Giants scored and pulled off the upset.
However, I was over it quickly, because hey it had already won three in the past few years.
Well, guess what, they meet again on Feb. 5 in Super Bowl XLVI at Indianapolis. Both teams barely got in thanks to last second field goals. In Sunday’s AFC finals, the Baltimore kicker missed a field goal that would have tied the game at 23. But, he missed and New England advanced to its first Super Bowl since that loss to the Giants, a few years ago. As for the Giants, it won another NFC title on Sunday thanks to the kicker nailing a game-winning field goal in overtime to beat the San Francisco 49ers.
This time, I just hope that the Pats come out on top. |
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