Did it all change during Crygate? Or before that?
FIFY
I will say that's it's lame they are two episodes in and we aren't even into Superbowl 36 yet and episode 4 is apparently about spygate.
How are we gonna just gloss over multiple Superbowl runs in 1 episode.
The World will forever believe that the Patriots 'did something' other than a marginal, technically questionable trifling one-time violation only during the first half of the first game of a season, and that the Patriots, with at least culpable negligence on the part of Tom Brady, deliberately manipulated footballs in violation of the rules, and that the Patriots were, are, and forever will be 'cheaters'.
No facts or reality will ever change that.
The exoneration and vindication of the New England Patriots, for any period in their existence, will never occur.
Aggressive media presentation of the truth, which is unlikely, will only leave people shaking their heads, like slave era Deep Southerners presented with science, integration, etc.
I watched the first 2 episodes. Two things stood out: the level of Kraft's involvement when it came to replacing Bledsoe, and the fact that Bledsoe took his concerns to Kraft.
No, Steve Grogan never took his concerns to Billy Sullivan.
I was surprised that Kraft got that involved. In retrospect, Bledsoe was such a huge asset that it makes logical sense that Kraft would become that involved, and also that Bledsoe would feel like he'd been betrayed. It's logical unsurprising behavior that nonetheless left me surprised simply because Kraft was forthright that he didn't like the move to Brady, that Bledsoe went and complained to him, that Kraft then went to Belichick with his misgivings and told Belichick that his butt was on the line with the move. I don't want my star QB and owner doing these things, but I well understand that 99.9% of the owners would do exactly this.
This dynasty occurred largely despite several intrinsic realities endemic to the league. This story alone is so preposterous that it could legitimize the Patriots' eternal False Laughingstock Narrative all by itself.
I was appalled by the Bledsoe thing in '01. It was absurd:
Patriots owner Bob Kraft said Bledsoe has a chance to be remembered in Boston like Ted Williams, Bill Russell and Larry Bird, each having played his entire career in the city. "I remember feeling sad when Bobby Orr left," Kraft said of the NHL Hall of Famer who left Boston for Chicago near the end of his career. "I saw this as an opportunity to sign one of the great Patriots for the rest of his career."
Kraft's financial decisions that enabled buying the Patriots and keeping them here are brilliant, but he is indeed a typical dunce owner when it comes to understanding football. Kraft deserves credit for his genuine affection and determination and serious commitment to success, which led to his meeting and later hiring Bill Belichick.
Bledsoe is this revered figure in Boston sports history, he's a good guy and can throw a football. But this team was
never doing anything serious with him, he had an impenetrable ceiling, he was a little better than Tony Eason but there are a dozen better quarterbacks who played for the Patriots.
The Bledsoe contingent
today hates and disagrees with Belichick. They prefer what Berry did in the 80's:
Pampering and prioritizing Tony Eason's ego at all costs at the expense of the Patriots winning at the highest level in the league.
Zero titles. Zero. A nondescript, moribund franchise, with any national attention being negative thanks to local media's portrayal of them.
To repeat what I've said repeatedly before, not Drew's fault he was deified here. It's just especially disgusting given the plethora of vastly superior Patriots over the years who are treated like they either sucked or didn't exist.
The popular assertion today that the Patriots were just a sh*tshow that Brady elevated to greatness has a TON of solid, actual evidence.
