Death, taxes, Brady
Ageless GOAT ever-constant in professional sports
Tom Brady has never been a sure thing.
Yet, he persisted. Among the opponents Brady faced on and off the field during his 43 years:
The JV depth chart at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif.
The varsity depth chart at Junipero Serra High School.
The QB depth chart at the University of Michigan His NFL Scouting Report. The Brady Six.
Drew Bledsoe. Peyton Manning.
Eli Manning.
Matt Cassel.
Jimmy Garoppolo. About 120 other NFL QBs. 31 NFL defenses.
Bill Belichick.
Roger Goodell. Dehydration. Stiffness.
Cap’n Crunch. (Apparently, it’s NOT a food.)
The NFL — as a plaintiff and defendant.
The U.S. 2nd Court of Appeals.
The Patriot Way. Father Time.
ESPN.
Talk radio.
Brady vexed nearly all of them.
He taught us to love the haters. Brady’s supporters are legion, as well. Current and former teammates, coaches and opponents. Friends. Family. Fans. Associates.
Alex Guerrero’s ribs may never recover from the cuddle delivered by Brady on the sidelines in the wake of Tampa Bay’s 30-20 victory over the Saints. Free advice: find someone to love as much as Brady loves his personal life coach/guru/trainer/alchemist.
In New England, Brady personified a “Score of Success” © that swept from Gillette Stadium to Fenway Park and across town to TD Garden. For two decades, our children were named in Brady’s honor. Their books spoke of Jules The Squirrel meeting a “GOAT” named Tom. More importantly, an entire region was indoctrinated into the belief that any season without a championship was a failure — especially as far as the Patriots were concerned.
“Do You Job” was gospel. “Ignore The Noise” was a commandment. “Next Man Up” was dogma.
“Excuses” were for the
Bills, Jets and Dolphins.
The Patriot Way is so intransigent that it transcended actual personnel.
Even when it came to Brady.
Especially when it came to Brady.
Yes, no one is irreplaceable. Just ask Donald Trump (or any other former president) as of noon today. But the lack of a reasonable succession plan for Brady is the worst single strategic miscalculation of Belichick’s stellar career.
The 2020 season was a washout due to COVID-19 opt-outs, so I’ve been told. Disappointment was inevitable in Foxboro, apparently. This year, after a generation of “No Days Off ” and cutting remarks about “(Expletive) Johnny Foxboro,” the wall of invincibility that guarded One Patriot Place crumbled into the ash heap of history.
The Patriots were eliminated from postseason competition a month ago today. Multiple times we were subjected to Cranky Bill whining about how the Patriots “sold out” to make their recent run of Super Bowl appearances. Belichick, however, morphed into Lovable Loser after taking a pass on the Presidential Medal of Freedom — at least in the eyes of Patriots State Run Media.
Meanwhile, we may have to put out a Silver Alert for Robert Kraft. When was the last time he was spotted in public?
Funny how all the standards that defined the Patriots as the best franchise in pro sports seemed to vanish once Brady took flight to Florida.
Brady has never played (or coached) better than he is doing right now. His recent run since Tampa Bay’s bye week has been spectacular. He’s thrown just one interception in that span. He’s won two road playoff games. His QB rating is 117.1. He’s thrown for 16 TDS and averaged 318.3 yards passing per game.
Age has been kind to Brady, in terms of appearance and the accumulation of wisdom. Leonard Fournette, Brady and the Bucs defense ran New Orleans out of the Superdome last weekend.
Expect an entirely different game plan Sunday at cold and snowy Green Bay. Unlike Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers can throw a football longer than 25 yards without it being intercepted or bouncing harmlessly on the turf. Brady will not be able to recover from a pair of opening threeand-outs this time. Tampa Bay’s secondary could be in for a brutal afternoon.
Brady is not given to victory laps unless they are preceded by Super Bowl wins. Hopefully, we won’t catch him speaking of “moral victories” or of “this season being a success” unless it concludes on Feb. 7th at Raymond James Stadium with a seventh NFL championship.
Any honest broker or inthe-tank-hack like myself can without reservation declare Brady’s 2020 season a smashing triumph. Yes, he has his weapons. But he also overcame the built-in ineptitude of a franchise that had not been to the playoffs since 2007. The culture needed transformation and that can’t happen in just six weeks.
Sunday, Brady will participate in his 14th conference championship game across four different presidential administrations. That represents more such games than any other NFL franchise except the Steelers, 49ers and, don’t forget, the Patriots.
Brady played in his first conference championship game on Jan. 27, 2002, just one year after George W. Bush became Commander in Chief. At that time, we were just getting involved militarily in Afghanistan. We had only had one war with Iraq. And no one had ever heard of “social media.”
America was united. More so than at any time since the end of World War II. We were still numb from 9/11. Workers continued to shift through wreckage at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
We were “all patriots.” No more.
Our country has now devolved into a perpetual airing of grievances — at least among those who haven’t been banned from participating. Opponents are “seditious.” Disagreements are “treasonous.” Everyone is a “suspect.”
But Brady playing in an NFL conference championship game remains the North Star of American sport.
A fixed constant of light. And a damn good quarterback. No matter the uniform.