ULTIMATE ‘WHAT IF’
Without Brady, Pats would be nowhere
Dallas Cowboys head coach Drew Bledsoe finally brought a Lombardi Trophy to New England yesterday with a small but emotional ceremony at City Hall Plaza.
Bledsoe was the starting quarterback for the Patriots from 1993-2010 but never won a Super Bowl. Every season he played with the Patriots came to A Bitter End, as the Globe might put it.
“This city and this region lived and died with this team — mostly died,” Bledsoe told about 500 fans while holding up the prize won by the Cowboys in Super Bowl LI. “You fans here own a piece of this — very tiny, small piece. How about them Cowboys!”
That bit of Fake News is just one of the infinite nightmare scenarios in a bizzarre parallel world where Tom Brady never played starting quarterback for the New England Patriots.
The real-world massive duck boat parade yesterday was the fifth such celebration triggered by a Patriots championship since Brady acquired the starting QB spot at Bledsoe’s expense 15-plus years ago. Thank you, Mo Lewis! The “what-if” football scenario of Bledsoe staying healthy and Brady not getting his shot in New England is well-trod turf.
But the bigger picture view of a Patriots Nation without Tom Brady is akin to the “Man In The High Castle” storyline. That Amazon show offers a look at the United States a decade or so after losing World War II. Football isn’t war. But it can trigger a celebration along the lines of what the city witnessed on V-J Day.
A million or so souls yesterday united in their love of Patriotism. They laughed. They cheered. They threw beers at Gronk.
New marching orders were dispatched from the podium:
“Do your job” and the “Drive for five” are out.
“No days off” and “We want six” are in.
Talk all you want about the coaching brilliance of Bill Belichick and shrewd financial stewardship and stability of the Kraft family. It is Brady who has changed the sports and social landscape of Boston and New England like no other.
We’re not going to speak heresy of Bobby Orr, David Ortiz, Ted Williams or Bill Russell. But Brady’s impact has been otherworldly.
In a world without Brady as New England Patriots quarterback, our rolling rally would have been just another cold, wet mid-winter slog. The booting of Claude Julien would own the headlines, along with the latest games of pepper from Fort Myers. In this dystopian universe, Roger Goodell would be considered a smart and effective leader.
Your nephew would be named “Bradley.” That dog next door: He’s “Drew.” And No. 12 would be just another order at McDonald’s.
In the Era Before Tom, losing games were defining moments in Boston. Pain was pleasure. Chokes were served ice cold.
The Celtics had their titles, but the Banner 16 highlights played only on the VCR. The Bruins’ best days were three decades in the rear-view mirror. The Red Sox were still mired in the historicallyinaccurate- but- commercially-successful “Curse of the Bambino.”
Then, the only son of Tom Brady Sr. and his wife Galynn became the starting QB of the New England Patriots.
The rain stopped. The clouds parted. The sun shone. The duck boats rolled. And rolled. And rolled again. A region’s fan base who always feared the worst now expected the best. Those under 21 have no real football memories of a world in which the Patriots have not won a championship.
Curses, jinxes, hexes — the remnants of 13th Century Europe — were swept out with Brady and the Patriots leading the charge.
Soon, the Patriots had won another Super Bowl, and another. Meanwhile, a few hundred thousand Red Sox fans wept over the graves of their ancestors celebrating their own miraculous championship.
More rings followed. Everyone got in on the action. Nearly 20 years into this new century, “anything is possible” when it comes to your Old Towne Teams. That includes firing your head coach three hours before a Super Bowl parade.
There’s hardly ever a day when at least one team is either a defending champion or contending for a title.