It's in my blood since 1981, and it wont ever change. This team has so many good players, several who will go on to the HOF; they deserve our undying support and I am more than willing to give it.
Bad things tend to come in threes and I think that Brady's injury is the third big negative over the last 12 months, the first two being shh<Spygate>shh
and shh<Superbowl XLII>shh. These have been difficult but not impossible to bear especially with such a gifted and dominant team. History will gild them far better than current commentary.
There is another positive out of all this I believe. Roman emperors often used gladiatorial games as a means to appease discontent in the citizenry. Throwing people to the lions assuaged the public's lust for blood and quelled their resentment. The Patriots have been on top for so long that the NFL fan base to a large extent was becoming frustrated and venomous, cheering anything that was anti-Patriot. I remember Wilbon and other media churls calling for opposing defenses to go for Brady's knee less than 9 months ago. Well their calls for blood have been answered and the best QB of modern times will miss one of his peak years. Let us hope it quells the resentment and bitterness that other fan bases have built up over the last few years.
The positive behind this is not that the other fan bases have been placated, but that the media blood lust might abate. More importantly because of this the spotlight should have moved somewhere else (Dallas or the Jets) and now they can wear the targets on their backs for a while.
I am still looking forward to the season and will tape every game. As for Cassel, I dont believe he will ever come close to equalling TFB, but he doesnt have to. While many are complaining about the lack of planning for backup QB's by the Patriots, I only ask the queston would you have any of the starting QBs below Pennington (and I have him around 16th in the league at the moment) instead of Cassel. Perhaps I might add them in to back him up (as O'Connell is not ready yet). Cassel will surprise a lot of people, and hopefully they wont realize what he can do until deep into the playoffs.