The first football game I ever watched was Super Bowl 24, when Joe Montana and the 49ers demolished the Broncos. I was immediately a huge fan. I do remember the next year watching some Patriots games... and they were horrible (1-15 record). They were basically my totally irrelevant second team. I wanted excitement so I stuck the with 49ers. I was devastated when Marshall destroyed Joe the next year, but stayed with the 49ers until the mid 90's, well into the Young years. Yes I was a band-wagoning little kid, but at least it was with 1 team, the first I ever saw, and I stuck with them through hard times (when they couldn't get past the Cowboys).
The next few years after '90 weren't much better for the Pats. I really only remember three things from this time... 1) I was a fan of Irving Fryar, 2) Eugene Chung was a flop, and 3) I went to a game at the old Foxboro with my uncles and we left in the 2nd quarter to go tailgate because they were getting blown out. Rough times for Pats fans.
When Bledsoe came along, I immediately took notice and started following them as a true fan for the first time. 1994 was a great year, the first time they had been competitive yet. Bledsoe to Coates was unstoppable for a time. Yeah Bledsoe tap danced around a lot in the pocked, and always threw a pick at the wrong time, but he had a cannon, was exciting to watch, and he made us relevant.
When '96 came, I was happy we made it to the Bowl, but honestly I didn't give them any hope to win that game. The NFC had been on some record tear of winning the Super Bowl for like 15 straight years. Believe me, I wanted them to win, extra so because I was crushed GB had beat the 49ers, who I thought would win after the Cowboys were knocked out early that year. I was still a Young fan at that point, but would have picked the Pats over them no doubt if it came down to it.
After '96 came high school, I went through a wild phase and had no time for football. I came back to it in 2000, and the rest has been history. I will probably be the only one here to admit to being pretty upset when I learned Bledsoe officially lost his job to TB, it was a pretty big controversy at the time if I remember right. I've never been more happy to be so wrong about something in my life.
I knew Brady was pretty good after SB 36, but it wasn't until the Chicago game they played the next year in Champaign when Soldiers Field was being renovated that I thought this dude was the absolute real deal. They couldn't overcome that atrocious run defense that year, but I wasn't surprised when he immediately took us to two more SB's.
BTW, damn how I miss having arguments on websites all the time back then about how Brady was better than Manning, and if you gave him some weapons he would put up crazy numbers too. And of course he got Moss and did just that. Fun times. I hated PM with vigorous, unbridled passion... it's funny cause in a weird way I actually kind of like him now. That was the best QB rivalry of all time, and those annual Colts meetings were fun as hell. I truly miss that.
We're living on borrowed time at this point. As soon as we got #4 and Brady passed his (and mine) boyhood idol for undisputed GOAT, I was content. It was a long, brutal, punishing march (yeah I know we're spoiled) from the 3rd to the 4th, and I would have been crushed if it never happened. At this point, based on how other QB's have performed at Tom's age, he could literally be washed up any day now. This could very easily be our last real run at things (seems like I've been saying this since 2011). I think if anyone can play good past 40 it's him, but there is no precedent for it, ever. A 5th ring would be an amazing cherry on top, and I'll root hard for it, but I'm satisfied either way.
I think we could remain competitive after TB leaves, but I also know that we could easily suck for 20 years, and I definitely know I'll die without any chance of ever seeing another run like this. I'll keep watching, and whatever happens, it's okay, because as New England Patriots fans, we won the sport of football.
