I am amazed this is considered a new phenomenon in this stadium and the hoopla it is getting after Sunday.
As a refresher, in September 2006, the year the Patriots lost the AFC Championship game, there was booing then. This is an excerpt from
Brady's press conference:
Q:. The crowd seemed a little restless there at the end of the first half? Did you notice that? Were you surprised they were booing at you guys?
TB: I don't blame them. I don't think we gave them much reason to cheer. They want to see us do some things offensively, put the ball in the end zone, and we turned the ball over. We can't complete a pass, and I would be booing up there too if I was them.
I vividly recall this because it seemed odd. I do not remember if this was the first time I heard it or not, I more remember Brady's response to the question.
Do I personally think silence is a better response to a team that apparently doesn't show up to work? Yes. Do you become Mandy of the Patriots pep squad and head cheer-ator when a team goes belly up like it did on Sunday? No, and it is unreasonable to expect that response when you are staring at a legitimate train wreck of a game.
This quote comes from a season one year removed from a Super Bowl win, but surprisingly got little notoriety, probably because Brady, the 2-time Super Bowl MVP, said the performance merited boos and came out and won the game.
Again, I am not in favor of booing, but players should play to win for themselves and share that with the loyal fans. Fans should provide the 12th man to help them to win or battle back when they are clawing to do so. Unless the 12th man were actually on the field obstructing Brown's various paths to the end zone, the players should take the fan response as dissatisfaction to the performance (which I am sure the film review will shine forth like a search light on Monday) and nothing more. It was not the whole stadium, it was some fans. This issue is getting way overblown. The team is great. Fans are spoiled. We understand. Moving on.
