How these New England Patriots make me sick but why I’ll miss them when they’re gone
The New England Patriots rub me the wrong way.
I know, that’s not groundbreaking news as there’s many of us who feel that way.
However, the reason they annoy me likely differs from many of your reasons. In fact, my annoyance can’t even be attributed to anything ending with the suffix “gate.”
Nor is all the winning bothersome to me. Tom Brady can win 10 Super Bowls for all I care. Heck, I hope he does; who doesn’t love seeing sports history being made?
But if Tom Brady and New England indeed bring home Super Bowl title No. 6 of nine in the Bill Belichick-Brady era Sunday, don’t expect me to be tuning in for much postgame. That’s the part that makes me sick to my stomach.
I can’t stand the monotone curmudgeon that is Belichick getting up there and downplaying everything while attempting to avoid answering questions with any kind of insight. Nor can I stomach Brady with his fake boyish grin and innocent and simple explanation of how the team got there.
He’ll say things to the effect of “We just worked hard and tried to be the best football team we could be.” Give me a break. Show some real emotion. This type of politically correct crap is as sickening as listening to the cocky, egomaniacs at the other end of the spectrum who come out and say stupid things time after time.
But at least one of the differing personality types is genuine.
As we got to championship weekend, I was perplexed as to who I wanted in the Super Bowl. You had nostalgia with Brady and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (a matchup we’d likely be seeing if it wasn’t for a blown call, but don’t tell me it was guaranteed the Saints would have won if they got that call; they still could have lost and despite the missed call still could have won).
Then you had the young guns in Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) and Jared Goff (Los Angeles Rams).
You couldn’t really go wrong with any of those matchups. Therefore, I was really fine with whatever the outcome.
But then Brady did it. Man, did he bust out the boyish act when in a postgame interview he ignored a reporter’s question in order to say hi to his family at home. Give me a break, dude. You’ve been here so many times and now we’re going to play that game?
It’s a tired act.
But I’ll give him a little credit as the things he’s been saying lately have been a little more genuine. He’s talked himself and his teammates into believing they’re underdogs and that they’re supposed to be long gone by now. And in some ways he’s right.
Those kinds of proclamations, I believe, contained some of the most genuine words I’ve heard come out of Brady’s mouth. Is it because Father Time is indeed catching up? Who knows, but it has to at some point.
So all I’m really hoping for in this Super Bowl is a good game and, if the Patriots do win, for Brady and Co. to drop the act and truly embrace what they’ve been able to do.
This wouldn’t be just another game. Nor would be it be just another team accomplishment. This would be much more and it would be great to see them actually acknowledge it.
As much as the faux public personalities of Belichick and Brady anger us, we’ll miss them when they’re gone. For anyone to hate a team like many do with these guys, they’ve had to have done something remarkable, and that’s absolutely true with this franchise.
And let’s face it, it’s kind of pointless having a good guy when there’s no bad guys out there.
I respect and appreciate everything the Patriots have done and what they may still be able to accomplish.
I just wish the aftertaste wasn’t so bad.
This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 9:04 PM.
