Patriots News 6-16, “Life Is Hard” — Brady
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Good morning. Here are your Patriots news and notes for June 16. And Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there.
What a show the Patriots put on for Tom Brady’s induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame and the retirement of his #12. Surrounded by family, ex-teammates, and about 60,000 passionate fans.
There were so many awesome moments for fans to enjoy and relive the fabulous 20 years they were spoiled for life by. I loved Neil deGrasse Tyson’s introduction with the “One in a Billion” take. It set the evening off perfectly.
Drew Bledsoe remains “en fuego” this spring with his funny takes on Brady. Drew continued that line, telling Brady, “Of all the great things about Tom, great teammate, greatest quarterback of all time, you were the worst backup quarterback in the history of the NFL,” said Bledsoe. “You never understood that when I got healthy, you were supposed to go sit the hell down.”
The ovation for Randy Moss lasted more than a minute, bringing tears to his eyes. This surprised Moss, who took a moment to compose himself before continuing. “Y’all know it’s always good to feel this,” said Moss when he finally composed himself. “I thank Y’all.”
It was great to see Peyton Manning appear. He and Brady were the NFL’s version of Bird and Magic—fierce rivals on the field and respected friends off it.
Bill Belichick received a standing ovation that lasted more than two and a half minutes. He and Brady embraced a few times, and when the ovation finally died down, he made his own glowing remarks.
“Tom, I want to say thanks, on behalf of all the players, all the coaches, all the staff, all the people, the hundreds of people that are here, and the thousands of fans that are here, thank you,” said Belichick. “Thank you for all that you’ve done for us, thank you for all you’ve done for me, and thank you for the example and model that you’ve been for all of us on a daily basis for 20 years. You’re unbelievable. Congratulations.”
Robert Kraft said that a 12-foot statue of Brady will be placed near the entrance to the Patriots Hall of Fame sometime during the 2024 season. The entire evening was a first-class affair. The only surprise was that the NFL Network didn’t broadcast it.
Brady’s speech was the stuff of legend. To Belichick, he paid the greatest compliments. “To Coach Belichick. Thank you for your tireless commitment to develop and push me to be my very best,” said Brady. “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t you. It was us. Our hard work, our love of the game, and the way we worked for one another, that’s what it was all about.”
“Let me make this crystal clear. There is no coach in the world I would rather play for than Bill Belichick.”
But he saved the best for his “Life is Hard” part, which will ring true for anyone who aspires to be the best in their chosen field.
“Life is hard,” said Brady. “No matter who you are, there are bumps and hits and bruises along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself because football lessons teach us that success and achievement come from overcoming adversity, and that team accomplishment far exceeds anyone’s individual goals. To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t. Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts.”
I love that. It brought me back to the time when I endeavored to be the best of the best while in the Army, volunteering to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course to become an Army Green Beret.
One of our instructors on Day 1, told us to look to our left and right, and many of the people standing to our left and right wouldn’t be there shortly. And he was certainly right. Many of the guys who looked like physical studs soon dropped by the wayside. I wasn’t the fastest runner; I certainly wasn’t the strongest, but when the smoke cleared over a year later, I was standing among some brothers for life.
We could quickly tell who was learning to “embrace the suck” and who was all into themselves and would fall by the wayside. When things got the worst, we would always find a way to pick ourselves up and laugh at ourselves, keeping our morale sky-high.
One of our best guys at that was a fantastic guy, Danny A. (RIP), who had an alter ego, Captain Camouflage, who’d have us rolling on the ground with laughter. Our instructors, normally Debbie Downers about everything, got to like it, asking Danny if the CPT had any words of wisdom.
That’s why Brady’s words rang so true. Those of us who refused to quit and put in the work to become one of America’s “Quiet Professionals” rose to the top of our profession. If there were any regrets, perhaps the fact that our family and friends never got to see what we really do. And eventually, decades later, we were replaced by men better than we were. There’s no animosity there, it is simply the way things are.
That’s part of life’s lessons. We learn and keep improving. We lost some great people along the way, but they wait for the rest of us drinking and feasting in halls of Valhalla. We will see them again soon.
Congratulations Tom, It was a pleasure watching you work. And you will be missed around here.
(Thanks to Ian Logue for the transcripts of Brady’s and Belichick’s remarks. Great stuff.)
Growing Up Brady: The Patriots went behind the scenes with the Brady family, and the video of them all talking about Brady from the time he was a little boy until he reached superstardom was excellent.
Seeing Brady at the Super Bowl tearing up when he said his Dad was his hero, is quite fitting on Father’s Day.
Watch the entire video here:
Bill Belichick: The Patriots former head coach (it still sounds crazy saying that) is reportedly dating a 24-year old former cheerleader. At Tom Brady’s roast, Rob Gronkowski made a joke about Foxboro High School and Belichick looking for his next girlfriend. Now we know what that all meant. Wow Bill… and there are still so many who say that you can’t win without Tom. Case closed.
Christian Gonzalez: The Patriots’ second-year cornerback played in only four games during his rookie season, but veteran corner Jonathan Jones has seen enough to feel that Gonzalez is going to be special in the NFL.
“He has every attribute that you want in a corner,” Jones said. He’s just continuing to build his mental game. Physically, he’s what you want in a corner, and he’s just continuing to develop. He’s going to be one of the best players in the game.”
Even though his own experience is a small sample size, he has taken on a mentor role to other young corners, Isaiah Bolden and Alex Austin.
“We’re always together,” Gonzalez said. “It’s kind of like a whole little brothership. The whole DB room, we all come together but especially… all the Year 2 players. We’re kind of just bonding off the field so we know we can come in here and work, and grind, and just enjoy it and have fun. We can push each other and learn how to help each other.”
Stephon Gilmore: The former Defensive Player of the Year with the Patriots was in Gillette Stadium for the Tom Brady induction and was asked if he’d be open to returning to New England.
“Never know, I know I’ll weigh any options,” Gilmore said. “It’s a place that I played great ball. So, letting it play out how it’s going to be.”
“Just being patient right now,” Gilmore added. “I feel good. Year 13, it’s been a long time. So, just being patient and waiting on the right opportunity.”
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: This past week, we discussed the latest news from Foxboro in our PatsFans.com podcast.
Derek Havens and I continued our profiles for the newest Patriots players. Tune in this week as we’ll try to continue our interview series during the spring.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
The Patriots finished their mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, and there were a few things to take away from the sessions. The team is off until training camp begins in late July.
What was the biggest thing to see if you are a glass-half-full person? The defense looks stout once again. Does that mean the offense is playing poorly? Not quite. The defense is going to make a lot of offenses look off-kilter this season.
As we said last week, Alex Van Pelt’s offense is predicated on running the football, and then throwing the ball down the field using play-action and bootlegs. Until the pads come on, we really won’t get to see how far along…or not the offense is.
However, the offense made some strides in the last moments of the final practice. Rookie QB Drake Maye ran a two-minute offense and had the offense on the nine-yard line with one second left. Rookie WR Ja’Lynn Polk beat corner Mike Victor on a fade that Maye hit him on to give the offense some momentum heading into the summer break.
The offensive line, however, seems to be a work in progress still. The coaches are tinkering with it, looking for a unit that will gel. Mike Onwenu, after signing a huge extension this spring, is playing right guard instead of right tackle, where rookie Caedan Wallace has seen a lot of reps.
Perhaps this is a way to ease Wallace’s transition from college tackle to a pro one, playing a position he’s most comfortable in. Onwenu would certainly provide improved blocking in both the running and passing game while providing Wallace with a proven vet on whom he can lean.
The left side seems to be Chuks Okafor’s to lose at left tackle. Calvin Anderson is still an option at LT, with Sidy Sow, Antonio Mafi, and James Robinson battling it out for the left guard. David Andrews remains the center with Jake Andrews and Robinson as possible backups. It will remain a big concern until the pads come on and we see improvement.
Polk is becoming much more comfortable with the offense and with Maye in particular. He and Kayshon Boutte were bright spots for the passing game and the offense overall. Other than Polk’s last-second catch, Boutte had a pair of TD catches to finish off the session. Polk and Javon Baker need to pay dividends early to help a WR core that isn’t highly thought of in the rest of the NFL. If Boutte can replicate his performance in TC and preseason, it would go a long way in helping him earn a roster slot.
As we said, the Patriots’ defense “could be” a Top 10 unit this season. Getting Christian Gonzalez and Matthew Judon back is a huge boost for the unit. Now with Alex Austin and Isaiah Bolden showing much improvement at corner, it adds depth to an already solid group.
However, with reports of Keion White taking that important Year 2 jump, the pass rush of White, Judon, Josh Uche, and Deatrich Wise Jr. could be much improved. Evan Lazar of Patriots.com wrote about White in his minicamp wrap-up column. As always, his analysis is top-notch.
“White has moved around the defensive front, mostly playing in a two-point stance. He was rushing in line some and caused pressure twice.” Fans going to training camp should keep a sharp eye for White this summer.
We’ll finish with Maye. He’s still working through some footwork issues, but according to everything we’ve heard, he already has a good grasp of the offense, which is a big positive at this early juncture.
Jerod Mayo asked about working with Maye the past month and a half, had this to say.
“It’s been great. It’s been great. Look, this is a guy who we spent an extensive amount of time [getting to know] his background, his family, how he was on the field, how he was off the field. So, we knew the person that we were getting. I would say the surprising thing is just the way he’s able to pull the nose up, right?
“What I mean by saying that is he makes a bad throw, it’s out of his head. Move on to the next play. I think Jacoby’s [Brissett] done a great job, as well as AVP [Alex Van Pelt] and the rest of the staff, really helping him out with that. You’re going to make mistakes, and this is the time to make those mistakes.
“The concepts offensively and just timing up the footwork with it. Sometimes, it’s hard to learn a new install each day. You’re doing one or two reps for each play, but as you get into minicamp, you can do plays over and over and get a good grasp of it,” Maye said to Lazar. “I’ve made some progress, but at the same time, there’s a lot of work to go.”
Spoken like a true pro.
Trevor Lawrence signed a massive extension with the Jaguars. According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, Lawrence has agreed to a five-year, $275 million extension with the Jaguars, which includes $200 million in guaranteed money and $142 million fully guaranteed at signing.
Lawrence will earn $55 million this year, the same as Joe Burrow, the top earner in the NFL in 2024. After a stellar 2022, which included a playoff win, Lawrence took a step back in 2023. Obviously, the Jaguars are confident that he can take them to the promised land.
“I am beyond grateful to be able to continue my career in Jacksonville,” Lawrence said in a statement on Friday. “My family and I love this city—it has become home to us, and this solidifies that even more. We can’t thank Mr. Khan and everyone involved enough for their belief in me. I know that the best is yet to come, and this is only the beginning. The drive to bring a championship to Duval is bigger than ever. Let’s get it done.”
Lawrence will not be going anywhere for the next several years, but the added pressure of his new contract will be in addition to getting the Jags back on the right path. That what he was drafted to do.
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“He’s done a great job. He’s going in the right direction. Now, in saying that, we know there’s going to be some down days, and that’s one thing I’ve been trying to stress to him is, ‘Alright, just keep chipping at the rock. Get one percent better every day. It’s not always going to be great,’ and he’s done a good job.”
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo on first-round draft pick Drake Maye.
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
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