I was accurately reporting my feeling at the time that "Hey this kid really got us somewhere!" right up to the ahem last game. Never mind that his stats weren't unbelievable... I mean, where's Dan Marino's ring, right? I was so sure that there was something special going on that year, something that could maybe,
possibly result in a win the next year... and like any football fan, I put the positive outcomes on the QB, and figured we had our franchise guy.
Then we drafted this guy a few years later and I figured
he was our franchise guy.
Then we struggled and struggled and struggled... for the right to a less-lopsided SB loss.
By the time we got
the ultimate franchise QB of anywhere evah, I was sort of burned out on getting "our Joe Montana" (or your favorite "all time best" name here). I just wanted to win one any way, any how.
And if the Tuna, Curtis Martin, Terry Glenn, and Drew couldn't get it done, I was like "I don't know what this takes."
Then along comes a shlub in a sweatshirt saying it's not about collecting talent, it's about building a team. The Pats seem over the moon about the guy. We lose Martin. I'm thinking "somebody needs to explain why the hell we're crazy about not a
QB, not a
running back, but a freaking marginally successful
coach, who only had the top job in, get this, Cleveland.
Turns out that management pretty much nailed that call
God it's been a great 15 years.... and I ain't going to pine for the ups and downs of the pre-BB/Brady era. May I never see their return, although I am sure I will.