Tom's departure from the Patriots was as unceremonious as the home opener his first year.
Sunday, September 3, 2000 - New England Patriots vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Gameday Report for BuccaneersFan
It ended with miserable home losses to the Dolphins, losing the bye, and the Titans, squandering several scoring opportunities.
In between, of course is historic.
Two other local stars had unceremonious ends to their Boston careers.
May 19th, 1974 was a sad, crushing day for the Boston Bruins, getting eliminated in Philadelphia after an otherwise glorious season where they finished atop the standings and dominated league scoring, led by deserving MVP Phil Esposito who came back from a serious knee injury in the '73 playoffs against the Rangers. But little did fans know it would signal the end of many things.
It was the last Stanley Cup finals game for Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito as Bruins.
And the last game played by the team in its by far best uniforms. Five months later they opened the 1974-75 season in Buffalo with the top half of their jerseys inexplicably cut off. They looked and played like a ramshackle pickup league outfit in a blowout loss.
Eleven months after the May 19th loss, in their very next playoff game, Orr and Esposito had their last postseason victory as Bruins. Three days later they played their last game together as Bruins, losing to the same Black Hawks team they'd routed before, also at the Garden.
Seven months after that, Phil played his last game as a Bruin, a miserable shutout loss at Buffalo on November 5th, before being traded. Bobby played his first game that season three days later, and his last game as a Bruin on 11/26, scoring a goal and an assist in a win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden (Phil did not play). After getting back to Boston, he got out of his car and felt a very wrong twinge in his knee.
I believe there is a real possibility that Tom Brady will return to the Patriots, possibly after his two year contract is completed in Tampa. I think it would be as a backup - whom Belichick will be happy to play. A lot. And we'd be happy to see. And would likely lead the team to victory.
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