Enjoy this run while it lasts.

[JFK]

I'm really excited about Gillislee, Burkhead and the rest of the running-backs but you are right.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

If I hear one more person to tell me to appreciate something I already appreciate...I swanny to God

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I think I found the new Pats motto, " no one likes us, we don't care"....


It was a Millwall (British soccer team) supporter, the " Lion of London Bridge" who took on 3 of the terrorists with his bare hands only, getting stabbed multiple times but he survived and allowed others to escape...... during the fight, he yelled " F%&k you, I'm Millwall."

Just photoshop the Pats logo on the top...

Football fan fought London terror attackers with his fists shouting 'f**k you, I'm Millwall'

 

[Kontradiction]

You should save this thread OP and post it when the GDT All-Stars call it a season after the first incomplete pass versus the Chiefs....

FCB02062 will have given up after the first yard of the first kick return of the first game is gained against the Pats.

 

[neali]

On paper this 2017 Team is built to withstand multiple injuries.

Holy moly. Do you walk under ladders while spilling salt and breaking mirrors?

 

[Thelonious]

There are pleasures in rooting for a team on the rise, on the build, which we fatcat Pat's fans may have forgotten. I think it might be as much fun to follow the rise of the next iteration of the Patriots as it has been to follow the rise of this one.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

If I hear one more person to tell me to appreciate something I already appreciate...I swanny to God

I'd be curious if these threads are started by the people who started following the Pats from the late 90's, post 2000's or the ones that were there during the "rough years" - pre-Kraft (and i know there's a gap in the 2 zones i put out there).

I would stipulate that those of us who watched in the 70's/80's (or earlier, but you guys are so old you may not remember those games ) really do appreciate the run with no need for a reminder.

 

[IcyPatriot]

This thread could have been made in 2004/2005 ... how have things been since then?

Of course relish it but not because it may be the end at some point.

 

[n6249c]

It's all Belichick. From the mind of a football genius.

More that that. Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the NFL's Holy Trinity.

If Kraft hadn't cut a deal with DarthParcells Belichick would still be tagged as a great coordinator who flopped as HC in Cleveland.

If Brady doesn't show enough to convince Belichick to keep playing him once Bledsoe beat the Steelers in the AFCCG there's no first ring.

The three of them were a perfect storm for the rest of the league.

 

[n6249c]

There are pleasures in rooting for a team on the rise, on the build, which we fatcat Pat's fans may have forgotten. I think it might be as much fun to follow the rise of the next iteration of the Patriots as it has been to follow the rise of this one.

I've been enjoying that since 2008. It has taken awhile but looks like we are getting closer.

 

[n6249c]

This thread could have been made in 2004/2005 ... how have things been since then?

Of course relish it but not because it may be the end at some point.

04 to 14 sorta average. Getting better recently.

 

[rookBoston]

More that that. Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the NFL's Holy Trinity.

If Kraft hadn't cut a deal with DarthParcells Belichick would still be tagged as a great coordinator who flopped as HC in Cleveland.

If Brady doesn't show enough to convince Belichick to keep playing him once Bledsoe beat the Steelers in the AFCCG there's no first ring.

The three of them were a perfect storm for the rest of the league.

True that. The combination has been special and historic.

For me Belichick's role cannot be understated. The mechanics of securing and grooming and entrusting Brady with the team took special conviction. And after the Cleveland QB-controversy fiasco, Belichick was putting his professional career on the line by betting on Brady.

To start, there was zero reason for him to draft Brady at all, except greatness recognizes greatness. The team had talent gaps all over the roster, but was fairly well stocked at QB. Bishop was a promising kid, Frieze a solid backup and Bledsoe was a legitimate Franchise QB who just got his enormous contract extension. In the 6th round, the easier and safer thing would be to take a long shot player that might actually contribute on the field... TE or a DB, or anything except another QB.

For any other GM, drafting Brady creates a headache and distraction for the team. Carrying 4 QBs on the roster, an impossible luxury... risking a fractured locker room by cultivating a QB controversy... trading Bledsoe within the Division to clear the roster space and eating Drew's signing bonus... risking his relationship with ownership, too, by marginalizing a player Kraft regarded as his own son.

It all seems so obvious in retrospect, but this was no small achievement. It could have gone sideways any one of a million ways. A minefield of disastrous outcomes, with the backdrop of an incendiary media that hated Belichick and was ready to decapitate him at the first misstep. Luckily, before they could convince the fans to turn on him, BB won a Super Bowl and earned himself a few more years of honeymoon-- enough to establish the Dynasty and secure his legacy.

It took insight and courage for Belichick to land Brady. He could not have known at the time how it would work out.

 

[DarrylS]

Remind me all you want, I am enjoying the ride... sometimes I almost pinch myself to make sure it is true...

The day after Super Bowl LI when I woke up, the first thing I said to myself did that really happen??

For long time Pats fans what is happening was the furthest things from our mind, we never imagined this level of success...

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

As I was watching Game 2 of the NBA Finals I was contemplating the talent gap between the Cavs and Warriors. Then the talent gap between the Cavs and Celtics. Realizing how hopeless it was, it dawned on me. I've never been able to look at the Patriots from the outside. But being an NBA fan of a team that isn't the Warriors is what it must be like to be a fan of an NFL team besides the Patriots. The NFL has more parity and given the one game playoff scenario a fluke upset (like both Giants games and the Broncos in 2005) is more likely. But coming into this season, if you are a fan of another team, do you honestly believe that your team has a chance of winning a title? You can talk tough, but deep down inside, you know your only realistic chance is multiple injuries.

I want to savor every moment of this. It's difficult to not take it for granted. We all do, whether we realize it or not. Eventually it will end.

Eventually the Earth will be swallowed up into the Sun's gravity and disintegrate.

Not worrying about it now, nope, not at all.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

True that. The combination has been special and historic.

For me Belichick's role cannot be understated. The mechanics of securing and grooming and entrusting Brady with the team took special conviction. And after the Cleveland QB-controversy fiasco, Belichick was putting his professional career on the line by betting on Brady.

To start, there was zero reason for him to draft Brady at all, except greatness recognizes greatness. The team had talent gaps all over the roster, but was fairly well stocked at QB. Bishop was a promising kid, Frieze a solid backup and Bledsoe was a legitimate Franchise QB who just got his enormous contract extension. In the 6th round, the easier and safer thing would be to take a long shot player that might actually contribute on the field... TE or a DB, or anything except another QB.

For any other GM, drafting Brady creates a headache and distraction for the team. Carrying 4 QBs on the roster, an impossible luxury... risking a fractured locker room by cultivating a QB controversy... trading Bledsoe within the Division to clear the roster space and eating Drew's signing bonus... risking his relationship with ownership, too, by marginalizing a player Kraft regarded as his own son.

It all seems so obvious in retrospect, but this was no small achievement. It could have gone sideways any one of a million ways. A minefield of disastrous outcomes, with the backdrop of an incendiary media that hated Belichick and was ready to decapitate him at the first misstep. Luckily, before they could convince the fans to turn on him, BB won a Super Bowl and earned himself a few more years of honeymoon-- enough to establish the Dynasty and secure his legacy.

It took insight and courage for Belichick to land Brady. He could not have known at the time how it would work out.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I'd be curious if these threads are started by the people who started following the Pats from the late 90's, post 2000's or the ones that were there during the "rough years" - pre-Kraft (and i know there's a gap in the 2 zones i put out there).

I would stipulate that those of us who watched in the 70's/80's (or earlier, but you guys are so old you may not remember those games ) really do appreciate the run with no need for a reminder.

After the 1971 season, Houston Antwine and Jim Nance were gone. 1972 was one of the worst seasons ever, but we still had young Julius Adams and the hiring of Chuck Fairbanks away from OU set the foundation for our future.

From the very start of my Patriots fandom, I saw us winning the Super Bowl, nothing less. It's the pinnacle of the sport, and that's exactly where I saw my team.

The incomparable denigration of the team publicly by the press and the league only strengthened my resolve. Every. Single. Day.

Obviously, it'll never stop.

 

[mosi]

I think I found the new Pats motto, " no one likes us, we don't care"....


It was a Millwall (British soccer team) supporter, the " Lion of London Bridge" who took on 3 of the terrorists with his bare hands only, getting stabbed multiple times but he survived and allowed others to escape...... during the fight, he yelled " F%&k you, I'm Millwall."

Just photoshop the Pats logo on the top...

Football fan fought London terror attackers with his fists shouting 'f**k you, I'm Millwall'

My first football match was a Millwall game. We took the ride from Oxford to Birmingham and in the train station, my mate tells me, "see those guys over there, they are Millwall supporters". I asked how he knew and he said "it is the way they looked when they kicked that old ladies bag". Indeed, they had kicked this old ladies shopping bag and scattered this ladies belonging all over the station. The football match was Birmingham versus Millwall. We went as one of us knew Kasey Keller and we went to meet up with him. The match ended in a 2-2 tie at the last minute and was called as a Millwall supporter ran onto the pitch and tried to punch Kasey and the refs called the game. I got hit in the head with a pound coin - which hurt a ton but the battle between the Zulu-Blues and the Millwall fans was horrific. A police horse got stabbed in the eye and the train station was shut down. Absolutely nuts. Millwall fans are insane.

 

[stinkypete]

None of the NFL's other dynasties (steelers, packers, cowboys and 49ers) ever went back to being a dynasty.

Going back to a previous thread (how many dynasties have the Patriots killed, or something like that) is the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If not for the Patriots in 2001 and 2004, the Steelers would likely have at least one more title which, combined with their wins in 2005 and 2008, as well as their 2010 Super Bowl appearance, would have had them labeled with dynasty status.

 

[supafly]

Wait, so I should be cherishing this whole thing? Thanks, OP! (thumbs up)

 

[zoostation]

I laugh out loud when we have posts wondering if we should sit and rest Tom Brady for the playoffs this year once the first round bye is secured. My guess is their seats always had back rests. Not that I don't think it will happen this year, but the fact that we... as Pats fans expect the team to be in the playoffs every year. This almost defies the law of gravity, or certainly the odds. The majority of the teams in the league haven't had a home playoff game in 10 years. Yes, enjoy it while it lasts (and hopefully it lasts for 5 more years)!