The 2000's were a really, really rough decade for me, personally. 2 failed marriages, job loss due to one giant corporate entity buying another, lost $100k in value on my house and struggled greatly with a lot of personal relationships that fell apart, including family.
It may sound pathetic, but the Patriots were really important to me and were, sometimes, the highlight of my year. I started watching this team in 1985 when I was *cough cough* years old. I watched the Bears humiliate us. Then I endured the embarrassing loss to Denver the next season (it still stings that we never once beat Elway, goddamnit Hugh Millen). Then there were the well-documented embarrassments off the field to go with terrible records on the field. I nearly quit being a fan after Raymond Berry's handling of Doug Flutie when Flutie went north to play in the CFL.
2001 was a magical season. It was unexpected. Tom Brady came in ...blah blah we all know the story. The moment Vinatieri kicked the ball through the uprights it was unbelievable. A moment that I never thought I'd get to experience. Then two more times in 2003 and 2004. We've been the class of the NFL for longer than any fan deserves.
Through it all has been one player - Tom Brady. The 6th round draft pick nobody wanted who now has people rooting against him and for Peyton like their draft positions and pedigrees were swapped. The guy who personifies willpower in a way nobody since Michael Jordan has.
I know it's just a game, I know I'm talking about millionaires playing a game for billionaires, but Tom Brady has always meant a lot to me. The talk about decline and trading him has infuriated me in a way that I promised myself for years I wouldn't let happen over something so meaningless as internet posters and media idiots. To turn on a guy who has given us so much to celebrate so quickly shows a lack of character and priorities that are so foreign to me that I found disgusting.
Until he decides to hang them up I'd rather watch this team lose with Brady under center than win with anyone else.
