Ok, so I'm listening to those pukes on the Felger and Mazz, and they are doing their usual schtick about how the Bucs season just proved how it was all about Tom and Bill is overrated and got his rep on Tom's back. It's not like I hadn't heard this crap before. And I understand that after 20 years of having to eat Bill's sh!t and LIKE It, the media is going to take any opportunity to get back at the guy who has tormented and made their lives difficult for the last 2 decades. But for some reason this was the one that broke this camel's back. So many MYTHS that they were spouting, I turned them off and started thinking about what I would say to them if I had had them my car. Actually Felger would be the only one in my car, Mazzarotti would have had to listen from the trunk.
Here are what I believe are the myths that most of the mediots and too many of the fans around here keep on propagating.
MYTH ONE: Tom BradY was the sole reason why the Pats were so good for so long and last season proved it.
Now Tom is TRULY the GOAT, and what he's accomplished for SOOOO long is nothing short of miraculous. And he clearly has been the most important individual player of the 2 superhowl runs. So this is NOT about hating on Tom, but rather understanding how interdependent the success of ANY individual player, even the QB is on the rest of the players on the 53 man roster......AND the coaches and systems that they play.
This isn't basketball or hockey where 3 of 4 great individuals can transform a team. This is FOOTBALL The ULTIMATE team game. If having a good/great QB was all you needed, then why have so many great QB's have put up super numbers and didn't win titles or have have won just one or two over lengthy careers. Matthew Stafford is the poster boy of this myth. In the 10 seasons from 2011-2020 Stafford has throw for over 4200 yds 8 times and in one of the 2 years he didn't, he averaged over 300ypg for the 9 games he played. He played 16 games in 9 of those 10 years, and in the only year he DIDN'T get to 4000 he missed by 230 yds The man is a good QB who hasn't won many games when he has played against good competition. I heard this stat, but can't confirm it, but in his 12 years in the league he has won 6 games against teams that finished the season with winning records. I find that hard to believe quite frankly, but it is something I happened to hear coincidently when I switched the channel to WEEI. Do you think Stafford will repeat that THIS year when he is with a good team with good coaching around him like the Rams.
Think about the other great QB's of this era. Brees, Manning, Rodgers, Rivers, , Rothlessberger, even Cam when he was a top 10 QB, All put up great numbers, yet only got to the big game once or twice during careers that spanned over 15 years And think about all the QB mediocrities who DID make it to the Superbowl and some even won it. Christ, Rex Ryan put a really good team around Mark Freakin' Sanchez and got to the AFCG in his 2nd year.
I played the game for a lot of years and coached a lot more. I love the game of football (though a bit less since Polian and Goodell to an axe to it) and quite frankly I take great offense to the Felgers and media marketers of the world who look at the game as being Brady vs Prescott instead of the Buc's vs the Cowboys
Myth 2 - Bellichick chased Brady out of NE because his ego couldn't take the competition, AND didn't want to pay him what he wanted.
Its a nice story, especially in a media market that loves to tear down it's heroes even more than they love to build them up. But it's a scenario that doesn't bear up to close scrutiny. Like other such myths like Bill was forced by Kraft to trade Garropolo in the middle of the 2016 season
Brady leaving was much more about where the team was heading and where BRADY wanted to be at the tail end of his career. Just look back. For a 6 season stretch (2014-19) the Pats were in the playoffs for 6 years, the Superbowl for 4 years, and won 3 of them. When you have that kind of success, it comes with burdens. Most of them revolve around the cap. The Pats pretty much had gone "all in" for a number of years, and by 2019, the cap wall had been hit and hit hard. The Pats entered the 2020 season with a $1MM QB and were STILL up against it. Image what it would have been if they had a $25MM QB.
2020 was going to HAVE to be a reboot season and it showed in the talent level on the field. Well, if you were Tom Brady and at age 43 had a very finite number of year left, would you really want to spend it while your team rebuilt around you for about 2 of the 3 odd years you have left. I don't think so. AND if you loved and respected what he did here for 20 years, you WOULDN'T want him to. Gronk was gone, AB shot himself out of town (by his own actions) and what was left couldn't stand up to the end of the 2019 season, and it was only going to get worse in 2020.
And as far as the myth the Pats didn't want to pay him, let me ask you this. Do you really the difference between 15MM and 25MM was gong to make a SMIDGEON of difference in Tom Brady's life style. It wouldn't have take a foot off his new yacht. It wasn't about the money. It was somewhat about getting out from Bill's shadow perhaps, but never about the money. I just don't see a scenario where he would have stayed. So I was thrilled when he went to a team that accumulated the finest set of offensive skill players in the league...by far. (THREE #1 type WR's, THREE starting quality TE's including the GOAT, and a more than solid running game). I was very happy for him, and then he got even luckier by ending up having what turned into the best defense in the playoffs as well.
What I DON'T understand is why you can't be happy for Tom, and still recognize the brilliance Bill's coaching. The fact that Tom won, shouldn't mean that Bill is a fraud because he had ONE 7-9 year after TWENTY!!!!!! winning seasons in a row So now you understand why Felger's smarmy lead in today "how do you feel about Tom's (not the Buc's) Banner day infuriates me so.
BTW- Great game tonight - TB caught a break at the end, but the home team sometimes gets those calls or non-calls. Didn't watch the entire game, but for what I DID see, Tom looked like Tom (he's still apparently good at football), and Gronk looked like Gronk and then some. Vita Vea was THE beast, and I hope that our run defense looks like the Buc's on Sunday. They shut down a good OL and an excellent RB. 108 passes
