Here's my Brady post. I shared the same on Social Media and among family & friends who blew up my phone this morning:
This morning Elizabeth, my lovely wife, woke me up with the look of one bearing bad news. Amid our ongoing pandemic that has brought our way of life to a grinding halt John Galt style, if I am being honest, I was selfishly hoping for any other kind of bad news. Nope, the year 2020 had dealt another devastating blow to my solar plexus and I had not even gotten out of bed yet. My phone was blowing up beside me on the nightstand and I decided to not respond. How could I possibly respond to the end of the Patriot career of Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Junior?
There is a well known graphic novel written by Alan Moore titled, "Watchmen" that was published with the backdrop of the cold war. In the novel, there was a powerful character named, "Dr. Manhattan" who had revealed himself and his powers to the world prompting a newscaster to pronounce:
"The superman exists and he's American"
This quote resonates with my hero worship of Tom Brady, "The GOAT exists and he's a Patriot". He was OURS. I couldn't possibly, in a million words, convey how privileged I was to watch two hundred and eighty-five games of Brady's Patriot career. Instead, I am going to list some snippets from various points in the last twenty years....here goes:
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The summer of 2000:
- Training camp in Foxborough with Cmgi field (Gillette stadium) construction ongoing in the background, there I am decked out in my authentic Drew Bledsoe jersey watching the quarterback group bucket drill. In those days, there weren't massive crowds at training camp and I was simply separated by a yellow rope only about twenty feet away from Drew Bledsoe, our 100 million dollar first overall draft pick starting quarterback. Between Bledsoe and myself were, John Friesz, Michael Bishop, and a skinny kid named Tom Brady from the University of Michigan. There I was watching Drew Bledsoe throwing beautiful balls into buckets down the field and paying no mind to the skinny quarterback standing not five feet away from me.....
September 23rd, 2001:
- The Patriots started the year with a loss in Cincinnati then week 2 was postponed because of 9/11. In those days, it was easy to score tickets and there I am seated at the 27 yard line 19 rows up on the Patriots side. I had a full view of Bledsoe scampering to the first down marker on the 30 yard line only to see Mo Lewis take him out. While Bledsoe played another series, Brady would see the field for the first time in Foxborough. He almost leads us down to tie the game. The Patriots were 0-2 and had just lost their star quarterback, yet I had that weird nagging feel that something was coming.
September 30th, 2001:
- I am at the game with my Dad and Bryant Cox absolutely levels the Colts' Jerome Pathon over the middle. The entire stadium explodes and the Patriots roll to a big win. My Dad tells me, "See? The players play hard for Brady. They love him!"
January 19th, 2002:
- Watching a football game played in a blizzard on a 30" tube TV in the dark with my Dad and witnessing Brady going 8/8 in overtime following Walt Coleman's "Incomplete Pass" call and the single greatest field goal in NFL history.
February 3rd, 2002:
- I find myself as a fully grown twenty-eight year old man sitting up in bed watching unbelievable ESPN highlights with tears of joy streaming down my cheeks.
September 7, 2008:
- In a bar, I am shouting down a Chiefs fan sitting in front of me when Cassel hits Moss for a 51 yard gain after the ***hole was jumping up and down a few minutes ago in joy following Brady blowing out his knee.
February 1, 2015:
- Down 14-24 in the fourth quarter, facing the "Legion of Boom", and overshadowed by the ******** "Deflategate" controversy...Brady puts us on top with two critical touchdown drives only to see a Kearse circus catch that reminded us of the Tyree and Manningham catches before being rescued by Butler.
February 5, 2017:
- Down 21-3 at halftime with Lady Gaga's halftime show shining a beam of light directly into my eyes in the 300 section, having this text conversation with my Dad:
Dad: "It ain't over until the fat lady sings"
Me: "Lady Gaga is singing...."
Dad: "She isn't fat!"
- Down 28-3 with my wife, asking me, "Has anyone ever come back from this far down before?". I shook my head while saying, "A guy named Frank Reich...but he had a whole half...."
- Post game, walking down the ramps from the 300 section...serenaded by chants of, "Brady, Brady, Brady......."
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Ted Williams used to say, "All I want out of life is to walk down the street and have them say, 'There goes the greatest hitter to ever live'". When Tom Brady walks down the street, they now will say, "There goes the greatest quarterback to ever play" and I could not ask for more. Thank you, Tommy...the pleasure has all been mine.
