Looking back at PatsFans

[Sivy]

Here is some fun reading if your bored while waiting for the season to start. I went to archive.org and type in patsfans.com and found this. It's funny to read about how Brady doesnt have anything to offer...guess sometimes its hard to tell what you have in a player.

PatsFans.com - The Ultimate Pats Fan Playground

 

[Kontradiction]

It's pretty funny reading the article about Bledsoe's injury and Brady stepping in. "At this point, all Brady has is a good collegiate pedigree and a strong August arm. That's about it". Good find. It's a shame the Message Board doesn't work because I wanted to see if Patsfans circa 2001 held the same doom and gloom about the franchise as Patsfans circa 2009 does.

 

[jmt57]

It's pretty funny reading the article about Bledsoe's injury and Brady stepping in. "At this point, all Brady has is a good collegiate pedigree and a strong August arm. That's about it". Good find. It's a shame the Message Board doesn't work because I wanted to see if Patsfans circa 2001 held the same doom and gloom about the franchise as Patsfans circa 2009 does.

Based on what is at the bottom right of that link, I'd say it is safe to assume the doom and gloom quotient was just as high then as it is now.

We Need to Blame Someone
[SIZE=-1]By: Mike [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]For the better part of two years now, Patriot fans have held their breathe each and every time Drew Bledsoe takes a punishing hit from likes of Warren Sapp, Jason Taylor, and John Abraham. And, to the delight of the majority, a sigh of relief is restored each and every time he makes it back to his feet, saying to the guy next to us, "this line is gonna get Drew killed one of these days."[/SIZE][/SIZE]

Take 'Drew' out of that last sentence and replace it with 'Tom' and fan reaction doesn't look a whole lot different than it did eight years ago, does it?

 

[Ian]

Interesting - just found the article archive and it's still there:

Story Index

Although it's sorting from the newest to oldest, with the oldest story at the bottom. Some pretty good reads from us back in the day - definitely funny to read those now. It is disappointing there aren't some board posts to read - looks like it was blocked from being archived.

 

[Gwedd]

Good find, and a good read. Funny how everything worked out...

This is the great quote:

If nothing else, this injury to Bledsoe could be, believe it or not, the best thing to happen to the Patriots for the long term. One of two things will happen thanks to this calamity. Brady, Damon Huard, or someone else will prove that Bledsoe really is the wrong quarterback for this team. Or, Bledsoe will be vindicated once and for all. People will never again doubt that he is The Franchise, and will be until the day he leaves the Patriots for good.

 

[NE_Paddy]

I'm a fan of this gem from the linked Steve Buckley article...

It's time for Patriots fans to come to the conclusion - if they have not done so already - that this is a transitional season for the Patriots. No rational New England football fan nursed dreams of watching the Pats play in Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, but there were Pats fans who were willing to roll the dice on nine victories. Maybe. And a playoff game. Maybe.

Not now. The Pats are 0-2 and fading into the dust that's rising from the parking lots at Foxboro Stadium, and it looks like Drew Bledsoe could be done for the season.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Typical of the comments we still see today:

"Worst day in Patriot History"
Posted By: Sean the Pa Patriot
"To me this is it . The Franchise is sitting in a hospital because he has the will to win and every fan is happy that he is out for the season. Well to me this sucks. The season is lost .Sure Im a Patriot fan first and a Bledsoe fan second ,but what does people think that Tom Brady can do that Drew Bledsoe can??"

Some things NEVAH change here in NE...

When I first started posting here in 2005 it was to challenge those I was reading as a lurker who dismissively claimed that Brady should just take whatever damn contract extension the team was willing to offer and be glad they were offering one or the dynasty should just move on without him.

 

[TrueBeliever]

I'll be the first to admit that, though I never hated Brady, I was "jealous" of his success that year and badly wanted Drew to go back in once the doctors cleared him. By the end of the season that had started to wane, though it still seemed odd to have Tom at QB for a while. (Ironically it reminds me of last year, watching Cassel fill in for Tom; like it's the Patriots, but it's not the Patriots. Kinda like when those two replacement cousins filled in on The Dukes of Hazzard. Except different.)

And during the day or two after the AFCCG when it was unclear which of them would start in the Super Bowl, I was totally rooting for Drew. For years by then I had been dreaming of the day Drew would win a Super Bowl. Now that chance was close, but this little punk usurper was going to get all the glory instead.

I'll also admit that while watching the SB I was yelling at the TV for BB to pull Tom and put Drew in, because it seemed like Tom just couldn't throw the long ball, at least not like Tom could. For a while there I was afraid that was going to cost the Pats the game.

Finally, for a brief time after Drew was traded to Buffalo, I considered defecting and becoming a Bills fan. I didn't like how BB had treated him. But before too long I came to my senses and realized that I couldn't just root for Drew, because he wasn't going to play forever. It wasn't him I loved, but the fact that he played for the Patriots. And if I was going to switch teams just because I didn't agree with some of their personnel moves, I was never going to have a permanent team, because every team does things their fans don't agree with. This sentiment was largely confirmed the next fall when I saw Drew and the Bills play the Vikings in Minnesota - yeah it was still Drew Bledsoe, but without the Flying Elvis on his helmet, it just wasn't the same anymore.

That's why I laugh at these imbeciles who threaten not to be Packers fans because of the whole Favre drama. I've been down that road.

 

[mgteich]

IMHO, the "doom and gloom" was appropriate then and now. Brady turned out to be one of the best quarterbacks in the history of game. Why should anyone have presumed that this would be the case?

As for now, you pollyanna's can think that the team would just bring in another Brady and we would win the Super Bowl anyway. The rest of us are grounded in the reality that there is a large dropoff from Brady to anyone on the team (and to anyone in the league not named Manning). The rest of will indeed be worrying every time Brady goes down.

Please do not misinterpret me. I think that we would go to the playoffs with a veteran backup quarterback and perhaps even under the leadership of a surprising Hoyer (less likely). After all, I have always pushed for having a Huard or a Garcia on the squad. Walter was the flavor of the day. Perhaps next week it will be Feeley or Huard or another.
The offense did great last year because of the schedule and the quality of the offense, not necessarily because of the quality of the backup quarterback. This year, the offense is even better with the additions at RB and TE.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Here is some fun reading if your bored while waiting for the season to start. I went to archive.org and type in patsfans.com and found this. It's funny to read about how Brady doesnt have anything to offer...guess sometimes its hard to tell what you have in a player.

PatsFans.com - The Ultimate Pats Fan Playground

Thanks for sharing the look back. WOW, tough things to remember. The total despair that many of us felt that September after 9/11.