Six For Saturday: Brady in a No-Win Situation Moving Forward

[Bruins29]

Brady is playing with house money. So are we. Unless, you are like many here who started following the team recently because of age or because the team is now a huge success and you think this is a right to have a team like this.

I get it. Take someone who is around 28 here. Here is what they know - since they were about 10 and started following Boston sports seriously, they have seen a ridiculous Pats team and 10 parades for Boston.

This town saw zero parades from 1987 to 2001.

After following this team for as long as I have (and Boston sports) and to have a player who we can call our own "Russell/Orr" etc and has reached the legendary status of the Gretzky's and Jordan's .....Pardon me if I have zero issue with this legend's legend finishing his career here and being given the benefit of the doubt, particularly when he is playing at.......MVP level.

Obviously when he starts playing like a mediocre player, contingencies will have to be made/put in place.

You have to have a little loyalty here.

 

[Ian]

Honestly he gets criticized every time we don’t win a SB any way. Hell people are running around saying he sucked while we win 5 of 6, 4 by 18 points + and the 5th on the road against a 13-3 team to earn the 1 seed.

It would have been interesting to read Buffalo fans' reactions with Jim Kelly during the years they went to four straight and lost. Can you imagine those comments? I'm sure they were upset and were ripping him and Levy, yet - like you mentioned - I'd be willing to bet they'd give anything to have that problem again.

 

[Ring 6]

It would have been interesting to read Buffalo fans' reactions with Jim Kelly during the years they went to four straight and lost. Can you imagine those comments? I'm sure they were upset and were ripping him and Levy, yet - like you mentioned - I'd be willing to bet they'd give anything to have that problem again.

This is where I feel the vocal minority of our fan base is different than others.
I think the bills adored kelly and levy. If they criticized it was why other guys let their heroes down.
To this day, bills fans are proud of those 4 years.

Here, you literally have people who make comments like “after beating the rams we don’t ever have to win another game and I’m happy” or “we have 3 (or 4, or 5) I’m happy for life” or “ now that we shoved it to Goodell I don’t care if we ever win another” etc who turn around and rip the guys who delivered them. It’s bizarre and I don’t think every fan base is like that.

 

[Ian]

This is where I feel the vocal minority of our fan base is different than others.
I think the bills adored kelly and levy.

I definitely agree with you and we know that now in terms of how they reflect on it, but I wonder in real-time what the reactions were as I'm sure there might have been divisions just like we've seen here among fans. Too bad there weren't message boards during that era - it would have been interesting

 

[Ring 6]

I definitely agree with you and we know that now in terms of how they reflect on it, but I wonder in real-time what the reactions were as I'm sure there might have been divisions just like we've seen here among fans. Too bad there weren't message boards during that era - it would have been interesting

Or thank god there weren’t.

 

[RobertWeathers]

There is no calendar that “the time” on it.

The one year too soon MYTH (it’s a myth because it’s not a policy or strategy and is totally misunderstood) means if you think the end may be coming cut bait on that guess rather than have the guy around when you find out. So in this example you get rid of brady when he is still one of the top QBs because you are afraid to be stuck the day he breaks down.

In reality one year too soon isn’t about when to dump a good player. It’s about things such as trading a guy with one year left on his contract when you know you won’t keep him, it’s about choosing a young improving player over a fringe player who is in the downside, it’s about paying for what a player will be during the contract not what he used to be.

Agree . The one year early myth is born from BB not paying for aging stars who will be great in year 1 but ok in year 2 with a huge cap hit not justifying the investment

 

[MassPats38]

I'm not there - but stuff like this is still frustrating. I tried to be open-minded when I put this together and as I wrote, I'm sure there's some truth to some of this, while there are other parts (which I mentioned) that seem far-fetched.

The biggest thing, which I mentioned in my last post (and a lot of that final premise came based on posts I've also read here) is that no matter how good he is, people will start looking for things the moment they don't win it all, more so than in past years.

Great article by the way. I was poking fun at the title.

This transition from Brady, when it comes, will inevitably be tough. Bledsoe was huge for this franchise (he was the first sign of hope in a long time to end the 'Patsies' era), and I know I was not 100% on Brady (aggravated by 9-7 and a repeated discussion of gloves or no gloves for grip with inaccurate passes) when Bledsoe left for Buffalo. The difference is Bledsoe never got the Pats to the promised land while Brady has done so a ridiculous number of times, so the bleating of "we should have kept Jimmy" instead of Brady seems far more disrespectful and naive of what Brady is and has been to the Pats.

I wish Jimmy well, but he played 1.5 games for the Pats and was injured. He has never started a playoff game, and his current accomplishments must be read through the lens of little film and opponents shutting down for the season. Nobody is watching him now, other than Niners fans who need some light at the end of the tunnel. If he is injured next season when teams know him a little better, then this transaction will not be worth discussing if Brady remains the same.

I hate when I see Brady throw the infrequent bad pick, but like you I believe it is less Brady frustration and more his near perfection staves off the talk of decay and decline (Manning-style) a little while longer. Even mediocre games that are the norm for most starting QBs in the NFL trigger that stupidity, regardless of how good the defense might be.

Ever since 2008, I have appreciated this run of brilliance might end. We have been ridiculously spoiled with the Pats and Brady. For now, they are in the hunt for yet another title and can compete with any contender.

Maybe this is the last round as things start to slide, or maybe it is one of 4 more years. It won't last forever, but I will continue to enjoy every year while this absurd run of success continues. We are and have been very fortunate fans. The frustration of other fan bases is palpable, but I won't let them or the media catering to them ruin my enjoyment. Here's hoping for one more title this season. The future will take care of itself.

 

[Ring 6]

Agree . The one year early myth is born from BB not paying for aging stars who will be great in year 1 but ok in year 2 with a huge cap hit not justifying the investment

Or trading Collins, jones etc

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The article pretty much leaves it that the statement the Patriots issued was pretty much the truth, though I still think it could have been much clearer and stronger.

There were "suppositions" (Like the one about the contract talks. Yes, there were contract talks that focused on the next two seasons, but their main objective was to minimize the Deflategate Suspension hit for Brady...anything else is a supposition).
There were "exaggerations" (Like the discussion about Guerrero. He's clearly been a problem in the club house and a pain in the ass to Belichick and his medical staff, but nowhere near big enough a problem to "drive a wedge" between BB and TB.)
There were "flat out fallacies" (Like the one about Garoppolo being locked out of TB 12 facilities).

So, the whole thing looks to me like a lot of smoke, but only a couple of small fires, which you would expect to erupt from time to time when people have been working together for 18 years and still "stand united."

Finally, I think that Ian gets carried away when he says this will cloud the future for Brady. That strikes me as over dramatic.