That was then: Celebrating what was

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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The Chiefs success does kind of make Belichick's approach seem a bit over the top in hindsight. The Pats probably would have been great every year because Brady was an insanely competitive leader and Bill was a great coach. The other stuff... I'm not sure that it mattered that much.
I get the sense that Belichick does what works for him, what's always worked for him. The failure of his assistants as head coaches over the years is that they've all seem to have adapted the BB approach without any of the previous success backing them up, and thus no one buys in.
 

jezza1918

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I get the sense that Belichick does what works for him, what's always worked for him. The failure of his assistants as head coaches over the years is that they've all seem to have adapted the BB approach without any of the previous success backing them up, and thus no one buys in.
100% on the bolded. I know Col. Jessup was the bad guy, but I would hope that if Bill were ever asked about the way in which he orchestrated the greatest (one of, at the very least) run in the history of team sports he would say something like: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who cheered and celebrated under the blanket of winning that I provided and then questions the manner in which I provided it."
I really feel like, as others have mentioned, Brady wanting out by the end is way more nature taking it's course than anyone's "fault."
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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100% on the bolded. I know Col. Jessup was the bad guy, but I would hope that if Bill were ever asked about the way in which he orchestrated the greatest (one of, at the very least) run in the history of team sports he would say something like: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who cheered and celebrated under the blanket of winning that I provided and then questions the manner in which I provided it."
I really feel like, as others have mentioned, Brady wanting out by the end is way more nature taking it's course than anyone's "fault."
And I can certainly empathize with Brady in that after 20 years of hearing the same things from his coach, after accomplishing pretty much everything he could have hoped for an more, he'd prefer a bit more leeway and special privileges from his coach. I get that completely. And in some ways he did get that in terms of access to Foxboro by his snake oil buddy Guerrero. But after that long it's hardly shocking that he got tired of the cold approach.

And at the same time, from BB's POV, it's worked for 20 years, he's certainly not going to change things up now.
 

jezza1918

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And I can certainly empathize with Brady in that after 20 years of hearing the same things from his coach, after accomplishing pretty much everything he could have hoped for an more, he'd prefer a bit more leeway and special privileges from his coach. I get that completely. And in some ways he did get that in terms of access to Foxboro by his snake oil buddy Guerrero. But after that long it's hardly shocking that he got tired of the cold approach.

And at the same time, from BB's POV, it's worked for 20 years, he's certainly not going to change things up now.
Again completely agree, we are in lockstep here! Id add that if he treated Brady differently it has possibility of opening up a can of worms...sure maybe the 53rd guy on the roster gets it, but maybe Gronk, Edelman, etc dont and want to start getting those special privileges too.
The tough part as a fan is that we really can only see the negative consequences in a tangible way: for example we know Bill doing "his thing" and benching Butler had a material negative affect on the Pats chances of winning that Super Bowl. But it's impossible to sit here and point to specific examples where Bill did "his thing" with a specific positive outcome. The only thing I can say is, I am 100% sure his overall approach was a overwhelmingly net positive.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Again completely agree, we are in lockstep here! Id add that if he treated Brady differently it has possibility of opening up a can of worms...sure maybe the 53rd guy on the roster gets it, but maybe Gronk, Edelman, etc dont and want to start getting those special privileges too.
The tough part as a fan is that we really can only see the negative consequences in a tangible way: for example we know Bill doing "his thing" and benching Butler had a material negative affect on the Pats chances of winning that Super Bowl. But it's impossible to sit here and point to specific examples where Bill did "his thing" with a specific positive outcome. The only thing I can say is, I am 100% sure his overall approach was a overwhelmingly net positive.
We do not in fact know the bolded. No one knows anything about that, and to me it's pointless to assume that we "know" that benching Butler cost them the game. We have zero idea of Butler's condition leading into that game.
 

BaseballJones

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I'm curious how many of us here have worked in the same job for the same boss for 20 years.

And if any of you have (I haven't worked for the same boss for 20 years), how much tension and disagreement and even conflict (and maybe some resulting in a sense of "I don't want to do this anymore") did you have?
 

jezza1918

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We do not in fact know the bolded. No one knows anything about that, and to me it's pointless to assume that we "know" that benching Butler cost them the game. We have zero idea of Butler's condition leading into that game.
That's totally fair, the point I was trying to make is that from a fans perspective it's easier to connect dots on negative repercussions than positive ones.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I'm curious how many of us here have worked in the same job for the same boss for 20 years.

And if any of you have (I haven't worked for the same boss for 20 years), how much tension and disagreement and even conflict (and maybe some resulting in a sense of "I don't want to do this anymore") did you have?
I've been in the same job for 23 years but have had several different bosses.
 

Van Everyman

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100% on the bolded. I know Col. Jessup was the bad guy, but I would hope that if Bill were ever asked about the way in which he orchestrated the greatest (one of, at the very least) run in the history of team sports he would say something like: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who cheered and celebrated under the blanket of winning that I provided and then questions the manner in which I provided it."
I really feel like, as others have mentioned, Brady wanting out by the end is way more nature taking it's course than anyone's "fault."
We wanted Bill on that sideline. We needed him on that sideline.
Again completely agree, we are in lockstep here! Id add that if he treated Brady differently it has possibility of opening up a can of worms...sure maybe the 53rd guy on the roster gets it, but maybe Gronk, Edelman, etc dont and want to start getting those special privileges too.
To the bolded point, Gronk going to Guerrero for conditioning/strength training in 2017 was precisely why Bill supposedly banished the latter from the locker room (which is why we saw Grumpy Tom getting his rubdown from Guerrero in a Gillette suite in Tom Vs. Time).
I've been in the same job for 23 years but have had several different bosses.
So maybe you’re the problem? ;-)
 

Curt S Loew

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We do not in fact know the bolded. No one knows anything about that, and to me it's pointless to assume that we "know" that benching Butler cost them the game. We have zero idea of Butler's condition leading into that game.
Apparently, Kraft speaks about this in the AppleTV piece. I doubt we learn anything new, however.
 

Van Everyman

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Apparently, Kraft speaks about this in the AppleTV piece. I doubt we learn anything new, however.
Supposedly Belichick completely avoids answering that question.

I would almost be willing to wager money that Kraft comment is in the context of him saying that he never questioned Belichick’s decision-making to his face.
 

jcd0805

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I'm curious how many of us here have worked in the same job for the same boss for 20 years.

And if any of you have (I haven't worked for the same boss for 20 years), how much tension and disagreement and even conflict (and maybe some resulting in a sense of "I don't want to do this anymore") did you have?
I've worked for same firm for 23 years but for my attorney for 17 of those and yea he irritates the heck out of me sometimes but for the most part I love working for him, knowing his quirks and how he likes things makes it much easier. The thought of starting over somewhere and having to learn all that about a new boss sounds dreadful. But then I've only a few years left (God willing) having to work, if I was younger I might could see where starting over could seem more desirable.

I can't read the review Chad Finn gave it but did he say it seemed fair? I just don't want to watch a BB hit piece :(
 

NortheasternPJ

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Supposedly Belichick completely avoids answering that question.

I would almost be willing to wager money that Kraft comment is in the context of him saying that he never questioned Belichick’s decision-making to his face.
It was being talked about this morning and apparently in the interview they asked BB about it he said Something along the lines of “We talked about that” implying it was discussed before they started filming and BB said he wouldn’t talk about it and they asked him anyways.
 

leftfieldlegacy

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Chris Russo (SXM) just had Jeff Benedict the author of "The Dynasty" on for an interview. Benedict was very forthcoming about a lot of the upcoming TV episodes including the tragedy that was the Aaron Hernandez story, the farce that was deflate-gate and the nonsense being pushed by Marshall Falk about the Pats filming the Rams pre SB walk through. You could hear that Mad Dog was getting more and more aggravated because Benedict was blowing up Doggie's long held opinions that the Patriot's were guilty of everything and his obvious disdain for BB.
When Benedict was first on air, Doggie's opinion was that Benedict is an "incredible author" with amazing access to all of the people that were the subjects in all of his books. Once the interview was over, Benedict was suddenly someone who was given access to the Patriots only because he would write a book that would show the Patriots in a favorable light. Initially, I had no intention of watching the series but I'm looking forward to it now.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Chris Russo (SXM) just had Jeff Benedict the author of "The Dynasty" on for an interview. Benedict was very forthcoming about a lot of the upcoming TV episodes including the tragedy that was the Aaron Hernandez story, the farce that was deflate-gate and the nonsense being pushed by Marshall Falk about the Pats filming the Rams pre SB walk through. You could hear that Mad Dog was getting more and more aggravated because Benedict was blowing up Doggie's long held opinions that the Patriot's were guilty of everything and his obvious disdain for BB.
When Benedict was first on air, Doggie's opinion was that Benedict is an "incredible author" with amazing access to all of the people that were the subjects in all of his books. Once the interview was over, Benedict was suddenly someone who was given access to the Patriots only because he would write a book that would show the Patriots in a favorable light. Initially, I had no intention of watching the series but I'm looking forward to it now.
Just listened to the segment on Sirius - classic Mad Dog. Benedict is great and I think the answers I like are true…but he won’t dignify the Rams walkthrough story or Deflategate so you gotta wonder about the integrity of that reporting!
 

NortheasternPJ

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Loved the first two. I’m surprised we’re not even at the first Super Bowl after 2 Episodes

Drew is the man. I was 11 when he was drafted and I think they did a good job showing what it meant to go to Brady and how hard it was.
 

Hoya81

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Apple must have spent a ton remastering all this old footage because it looks amazing. The second episode really does an excellent job of showing how much faith BB had in Brady when he’d had only the barest of glimpses to what he would eventually become.
 

grsharky7

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Really enjoyed the first episode, lots of stuff I hadn’t seen before. It’s amazing to see where Brady was as a rookie and where he ended up. The banter about the condo and Ty Law had me laughing for a while.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Really enjoyed the first episode, lots of stuff I hadn’t seen before. It’s amazing to see where Brady was as a rookie and where he ended up. The banter about the condo and Ty Law had me laughing for a while.
Which was also Zolaks condo which he sold to Ty hence the passed down comment.
 

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Al Zarilla

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I'm curious how many of us here have worked in the same job for the same boss for 20 years.

And if any of you have (I haven't worked for the same boss for 20 years), how much tension and disagreement and even conflict (and maybe some resulting in a sense of "I don't want to do this anymore") did you have?
It's different in the corporate world. If you work for the same boss for 20 years, you might just feel like you need to get out from under him/her so you can move up, if you're ambitious. Brady OTOH, can't get promoted to super quarterback or any other title (well, he earned that title on his own!).
 

BaseballJones

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It's different in the corporate world. If you work for the same boss for 20 years, you might just feel like you need to get out from under him/her so you can move up, if you're ambitious. Brady OTOH, can't get promoted to super quarterback or any other title (well, he earned that title on his own!).
I get that. I’m just talking about the relational angle. I just don’t know many people who have worked for the same boss for 20 years, and those that have (few and far between) have of course experienced lots of tension and conflict along the way.
 

bougrj1

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I had always held out hope that the dynasty could come in for a soft landing and Brady would be here until retirement. That hope faded after the last AFC Championship win when Brady was playing with new stitches in his throwing hand and Belichick said, "we're not talking bout open heart surgery here" when asked to talk about Brady's resourcefulness. We didn't know until a couple years later how rough that injury was. If there was ever a time to throw Brady some flowers and flex on his approach, that was top of the list.

And yes, there were definitely times in the offseasons or during the greatest player stuff Belichick did with Eisen where he would be complimentary. But I could see it hitting different in the heat of the moment. (And I'll caveat all of this by saying I think Bill is the best ever and wish he was still here)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hpd9oF69Xg
 

tims4wins

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I had always held out hope that the dynasty could come in for a soft landing and Brady would be here until retirement. That hope faded after the last AFC Championship win when Brady was playing with new stitches in his throwing hand and Belichick said, "we're not talking bout open heart surgery here" when asked to talk about Brady's resourcefulness. We didn't know until a couple years later how rough that injury was. If there was ever a time to throw Brady some flowers and flex on his approach, that was top of the list.

And yes, there were definitely times in the offseasons or during the greatest player stuff Belichick did with Eisen where he would be complimentary. But I could see it hitting different in the heat of the moment. (And I'll caveat all of this by saying I think Bill is the best ever and wish he was still here)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hpd9oF69Xg
This is a fantastic callout.

That said, it goes back to what I said earlier about us not knowing if TB was just trying to prove himself to BB. TB went out in the Super Bowl and had (by statistical measure) maybe his best Super Bowl two weeks after those comments were made. Was he extra motivated by those comments? Who the eff knows. But we can't dismiss the possibility.
 

BaseballJones

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I always thought BB was just joking about that and figured Brady had a good laugh about it as well. Maybe I'm wrong.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Few things that stuck out that hasn't been mentioned

1 - WTF is BB wearing in those practices? It's like a nylon / semi-water proof pullover that couldn't look worse. I'm not even sure what material that's supposed to be.
2- The footage of Drew at his locker about to cry and holding back tears trying to address the media and there's 24 year old Tom Brady in the locker room next to him smiling and basically snickering at the whole thing. It's amazing that locker room held together.
3- Drew nearly dying forced the D to step up and take over. They weren't on cruise control before but definitely seemed to have to step up and take over when Drew went down. If Drew didn't go down, the D probably rides it out to another shitty season.
 

Jinhocho

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Few things that stuck out that hasn't been mentioned

1 - WTF is BB wearing in those practices? It's like a nylon / semi-water proof pullover that couldn't look worse. I'm not even sure what material that's supposed to be.
2- The footage of Drew at his locker about to cry and holding back tears trying to address the media and there's 24 year old Tom Brady in the locker room next to him smiling and basically snickering at the whole thing. It's amazing that locker room held together.
3- Drew nearly dying forced the D to step up and take over. They weren't on cruise control before but definitely seemed to have to step up and take over when Drew went down. If Drew didn't go down, the D probably rides it out to another shitty season.
I had season tickets back then and was as into the pats as humanly possible. My memory of that year was the team was that they had something going and that maybe they were going to be...? Then they hit the game against the Rams and even though they lost I felt the whole stadium came away thinking something along the lines of watch out of this team makes the playoffs.
 

Joe D Reid

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I've only seen the first episode (and not really learned anything new), but they've done a good job starting the story in the right place with Bledsoe and a nice amount of background on the Pats, Kraft, and Bill. I don't think this will reveal a lot, but might be a good single-setting review of the whole deal.
 

NortheasternPJ

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I had season tickets back then and was as into the pats as humanly possible. My memory of that year was the team was that they had something going and that maybe they were going to be...? Then they hit the game against the Rams and even though they lost I felt the whole stadium came away thinking something along the lines of watch out of this team makes the playoffs.
I was at that game. That was my first game in quite awhile. I was a sophomore in college but on Co-op (Thanks Northeastern!) and my dad and a friend just started going together quite a bit to games. It was a night game, they had to work, offered me the tickets and me and a buddy and I went down on the train for the game. 100% agree with you, they lost, but it was a moral victory. "Damn, if they can hang with the Rams, maybe we have something here" and as they said in the show, they fucked up about 5 times massively and still were in it.

In college we watched football all day, one of our good friends was a huge Rams fan (from there, not a bandwagon) and it was all Greatest Show on Turf all the time, then that game happened. Maybe the best losing game I've ever been to.

Also, it's jarring what a dump the stadium was. I'd been to games there, was at that game, was at the Snow Bowl, remember the benches, hell even one game I went to when I was younger we saw Kraft up in the 300's after he just bought the team. I remember it being a dump but watching it last night it still stuck out.

My only nitpick is interviewing the stupid fans like the silver faced guy or the other idiot with the PATS FAN license plates. Super fans are the worst. As long as Jake from Boston doesn't show up I'm good.
 

Andy Merchant

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NortheasternPJ

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I've only seen the first episode (and not really learned anything new), but they've done a good job starting the story in the right place with Bledsoe and a nice amount of background on the Pats, Kraft, and Bill. I don't think this will reveal a lot, but might be a good single-setting review of the whole deal.
I found the Bledsoe stuff extremely interesting as to how Kraft was involved, Bledsoe went to Kraft multiple times. Kraft felt that he betrayed Bledsoe, but his hands were tied.

I thought they also did a good job going back to the Kosar stuff and it was jarring to see them literally hanging BB mannequins in the parking lot. Plus BB did it with no actual plan on what to do after. It's a common story that he cut him for Testaverde, but that's not what happened and how much that whole mess played into the Bledsoe -> Brady transition.

I've said it here before but I don't think Dick Rehbein was even passingly mentioned, which kind of sucks. This is a massive documentary with tons to cover but covering Brady getting drafted, his start in the league and how much BB and those saw all those qualities without mentioning him was an oversight.

I thought Ernie Adams came off as a dick. I know most of the people here shit on sports radio (and rightfully so, I fucking hate Felger and Mazz etc.) and a lot of it is justified but Ernie coming off with "ohh if you weren't in the building you don't know anything" or something along those lines. When a majority of what was reported from the original Wickersham article to now seem to be true. A lot of people here doubted it, shouted it down, said it was just garbage but from but it seems like it wasn't only true but it was worse. It's like BB and the Pats staff saying they ignore the noise and don't pay attention to it, but they clearly do by all accounts even down to the BB camp leaking the "BB signed a multi-year extension" BB knows the media, he shits on it, but uses it to his advantage. You'd have to be an idiot to think he's not aware of it and the Bledsoe stuff shows he not only is aware of it but considered it at one point.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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I had season tickets back then and was as into the pats as humanly possible. My memory of that year was the team was that they had something going and that maybe they were going to be...? Then they hit the game against the Rams and even though they lost I felt the whole stadium came away thinking something along the lines of watch out of this team makes the playoffs.
Didn’t they have the ball at like the 1 yard line near the end of the half, going in to score to tie it up and then fumbled. The Rams scored again before the half. Huge swing. I remember thinking hmmm, they could have won that game.

fake edit: Smith fumbled at the two. Would have made it 17-7 Pats. Rams drive 97 yards in 2:05 to take the lead into the half.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay/_/gameId/211118017
 

tims4wins

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Didn’t they have the ball at like the 1 yard line near the end of the half, going in to score to tie it up and then fumbled. The Rams scored again before the half. Huge swing. I remember thinking hmmm, they could have won that game.

fake edit: Smith fumbled at the two. Would have made it 17-7 Pats. Rams drive 97 yards in 2:05 to take the lead into the half.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay/_/gameId/211118017
I'll take it to my grave that the play should have been blown dead for forward progress.

That said, if you play it forward and the Pats win that game, who knows if they actually win the Super Bowl.

Here's the play. The refs said no conclusive evidence. He dives into the pile, he's on top of other guys, he's not going anywhere, at some point his knee hits. It was a pretty BS call.

View: https://youtu.be/yzlBZXmel-w?si=u8x7mFB7U-fJpUoD&t=2887
 

BaseballJones

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I didn't remember that play at all but seeing that video you posted @tims4wins - omg his knee is so clearly down, it's incredible that they didn't correct that on replay. Talk about indisputable evidence.
 

cornwalls@6

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After they all drop, I assume they will be available to binge then? Not an AppleTV subscriber, have used up my free preview apparently(think I had a year free last time I upgraded my phone), and really only want to subscribe for one month, and watch them all. Don't care about anything else on there.
 

RIrooter09

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After they all drop, I assume they will be available to binge then? Not an AppleTV subscriber, have used up my free preview apparently(think I had a year free last time I upgraded my phone), and really only want to subscribe for one month, and watch them all. Don't care about anything else on there.
Yeah once they’ve all been released you can binge them. Apple TV is awesome though, lots of good stuff.
 
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cornwalls@6

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Yeah once they’ve all Ben released you can binge them. Apple TV is awesome though, lots of good stuff.
Thanks, figured they would be. I wasn't blown away by Apple TV when I had it, and not really looking to ad another ongoing streaming service. But definitely need to see this, and beyond cost, I would rather watch it all at once over a weekend anyway.
 

Ed Hillel

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I've only seen the first episode (and not really learned anything new), but they've done a good job starting the story in the right place with Bledsoe and a nice amount of background on the Pats, Kraft, and Bill. I don't think this will reveal a lot, but might be a good single-setting review of the whole deal.
Episode 4 is Spygate, which I think is going to break ground, mainly in that we’re probably going to get some quotes from people who have never gone into any sort of detail on it.
 

BaseballJones

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I really, really want to see what they say about Deflategate. As many of you know, this has been a particular topic of interest to me, and I've written a pretty sizable amount about it. I hope they get into it.
 
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Of course, neither you nor I were in the building and had to deal with whatever work conditions were present at Patriot Place. All I know is:

1. Belichick was the head coach during the greatest 20 year run in NFL history,
2. Tons of players kept coming back for more, including Tom Brady,
3. Whatever else *may* have happened if BB had a different coaching style, we know what *did* happen, which was 17 division titles, 13 trips to the AFCCG, 9 trips to the Super Bowl, and 6 Lombardis.

Nobody else in the history of the sport even came close to accomplishing this. That's not playing "what if" like so many are doing in light of the end here. That's playing *what DID*. So I'm with you. I wouldn't want to go back and try it a different way. It was absolutely glorious and the greatest run of all time.

I'll happily take that.
I agree with this. We were blessed to have both Brady and Belichick. Did BB have a way of coaching that was especially tough, particularly in terms of the personal? Obviously. Is Brady as a "beaten dog" or whatever a bit over the top? Probably. But this is something that, to me, is unfathomably short-sighted and an indictment of BB's lack of judgment, at least in this limited (but hugely consequential) area:

He genuinely believed, and counseled ownership to this conclusion, that agreeing to Brady's request for a two-year $50 million-dollar contract was a bad idea. That's INCREDIBLY stupid. Like...mind-blowing. Even at that time $25 mill per season was a STEAL for a QB of Brady''s stature and talent level at the time. I will never understand how someone as astute as BB could totally blow such an obvious call. And the "but it was fully guaranteed" argument falls flat for me b/c if, say, Brady were to have been injured in year one of that theoretical extension, it's not like the team would realistically cut him. They'd wait for him to rehab then run him back out there. Everything about that decision - that should never have even been a "decision" - is unfathomable to me. It's such a misstep.

edit: typos
 
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BaseballJones

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24,808
I agree with this. We were blessed to have both Brady and Belichick. Did BB have a way of coaching that was especially tough, particularly in terms of the personal? Obviously. Is Brady as a "beaten dog" or whatever a bit over the top? Probably. But this is something that, to me, is unfathomably short-sighted and an indictment of BB's lack of judgment, at least in this limited (but hugely consequential) area:

He genuinely believed, and counseled ownership to this conclusion, that agreeing to Brady's request for a two-year $50 million-dollar contract was a bad idea. That's INCREDIBLY stupid. Like...mind-blowing. Even at that time $25 mill per season was a STEAL for a QB of Brady''s stature and current talent level. I will never understand how someone as astute as BB could totally blow such an obvious call. And the "but it was fully guaranteed" argument falls flat for me b/c if, say, Brady were to have been injure in year one of that theoretical extension, it's not like the team would realistically cut him. They'd wait for him to rehab then run him back out there. Everything about that decision - that should never have even been a "decision" - is unfathomable to me. It's such a bad call.
Yeah I hear you. But from the sounds of it, Brady himself said that there was no way he was returning to the Patriots. That sound bite is in this documentary, apparently. So even if BB was willing to give Brady that contract, from Brady's own words, he wasn't going to say yes.

Is Brady telling the truth in that sound bite? Who knows.
 
Apr 7, 2006
2,578
Yeah I hear you. But from the sounds of it, Brady himself said that there was no way he was returning to the Patriots. That sound bite is in this documentary, apparently. So even if BB was willing to give Brady that contract, from Brady's own words, he wasn't going to say yes.

Is Brady telling the truth in that sound bite? Who knows.
Huh. I had thought that that was due to Brady's originally asking for that contract and BB rebuffing it. Previous to that final stand-off during his last off-season in N.E. It was because of BB's previous unwillingness to extend. That said...

Six rings. I'll take it.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,808
As will I. People can talk crap all they want about Belichick. Dude ran the show for the greatest 18-20 year run in NFL history. I couldn't be happier with the results.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
44,230
Here
Ernie saying Bledsoe looked like “a wildebeest getting attacked in the pocket” is the highlight so far for me.