Life After Brady

Life after Brady 

The past 20 years have been nothing short of spectacular for the New England Patriots and their fans. 30 playoff wins, 9 AFC championships, 6 Super Bowl championships, countless records, and even more memories. MY New England Patriots have redefined what it means to be a dynasty in the NFL. Sadly, all great things must come to an end. Regardless of sport, or time, all great dynasties ultimately crumble. If you listen to anyone in the media, that time is now for the Pats. Time of Death was announced the moment that the greatest of all time decided to take his talents to South Beach, or somewhere near there. 

For the first time in two decades, the future of the Patriots is in flux, and enters a period of uncertainty many of its fans simply have never experienced. As the season changes, so do many of the faces of Foxborough. We’ve already mentioned Brady moving on, and we know that Gronk isn’t coming back. Overshadowed in all of this is the departures of Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, and Ted Karras (Miami), Jamie Collins and Danny Shelton (Detroit), and Nate Ebner (Giants). Things are sure to look different for the fighting Belichick's this season. To make matters worse the Pats are not in a great place salary cap wise either, so even if they wanted to reload, they simply couldn’t. For the first time that I can remember, the Pats will go into a new year with more questions than answers. 

• Can Jarrett Stidham be the man to fill the biggest pair of shoes ever left in the NFL?
• Can Belichick’s genius prevail and prove to the world he can do it without Tom?
• Is it time for a complete rebuild?
• What happens with Julian Edelman and the remaining veterans? 

Those are questions that I’ve been asking myself and I know that I’m not alone. The answers are unknown but should we panic and give up? If watching this team my entire life has taught me anything, it’s that the answer to that question is a resounding, NO! There may be a dark cloud hanging over GIllette Stadium right now. But to me, that is the cloud of losing the greatest player the NFL, and our Patriots, have ever seen. Tom Brady will forever be an icon in Boston, and he simply cannot ever be replaced in the heart’s of Patriot Nation. I’ll never forget the past two decades and the emotional celebrations that came with them. I’ll always cherish watching the dominant performances or the gutsy come from behind miracles, none bigger than watching Tom Brady orchestrate a 25 point second half comeback on the biggest stage of them all. 

Yes, the younger generation of Pats fans have been spoiled by this implausible run and they may not know what it feels like to root for them when they aren’t on top of the world. If my Pats become a losing team again, so be it. We’ve enjoyed our team having more success in the last 20 years than most will in a lifetime. I can’t tell you that all will be fine at 1 Patriot Place. But I can tell you that this is a proud organization and Belichick will not tank. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be a good strategy, I believe Trevor Lawrence could be one of the greatest QBs ever to play the game, but it’s not the Patriot way and will never and should never happen. Things could get ugly for NE but I choose to have faith in my team and coach Belichick. Whatever happens in the future, I know I’ll proudly stand by my team and be thankful for the last twenty years of football. We may never see another run like it, and we certainly won’t see another player like Tom Brady. Goodbye Tom, you’ll always be a New England Patriot.