The New England Patriots two decades of excellent has been extra special for fans who grew up in this era of winning.
Seventeen years ago this week this New England Patriots fan celebrated his 11th birthday. It was your typical elementary school birthday party that included 12 pre-pubescent boys hopped up on birthday cake and caffeine. It was a sleepover party in the middle of a New England nor’easter and almost certainly had my parents contemplating how they ever agreed to this.
It wasn’t very different from other birthdays I had previously, except for the fact that our hometown football team the New England Patriots were actually playing in an important playoff game. It was a Divisional Round matchup in the middle of a blizzard against the Oakland Raiders, in what would be the last ever game held in Foxboro Stadium.
We all know the story of that game, I fondly refer to it as the “Snow Bowl,” but many Patriots haters and those outside New England refer to it as the “Tuck Rule Game.”
Until that point in my short life, I had never seen any of my beloved New England teams have any real postseason success, never mind winning a championship. I can still vividly remember the excitement among my friends and I when Adam Vinatieri kicked the game winning field goal in overtime. It was pure joy that we had never experience before.
Many consider that game, despite its controversy, to be the moment that started the greatest dynasty we have ever seen.
Fast forward 17 years later, I just turned 28 years old and here we are, still going. While the players and stadium have changed, three things remain: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and a dynasty.
Putting it all in perspective
I consider myself to have a unique perspective of this dynasty and just the remarkable achievement that it has been. I’m just old enough to remember when this team was not good and struggled to even sniff the playoffs, but just young enough to barely remember what that was like.
Two-thirds of my life this team has been a dynasty that always wins the AFC East and might as well just fast forward to the AFC Championship every season because they are always there anyways. My January 22 birthday is always celebrated around an AFC Championship game. It’s been 9 years in a row now and makes for an awesome birthday present when they win.
Anyone younger than me has never known anything else but winning. Anyone a little older than me will be quick to remind you of the torturous decades where this team was considered the laughing stock of the NFL.
It’s tough to put into words just how incredible it has been. We have watched Tom Brady transform from a 6th round draft pick that had the body of an adolescent boy, into the GOAT QB, GQ model, with a supermodel wife on his arm. Oh yeah, and 5x Super Bowl Champion, 3x NFL MVP, 9X AFC Champ, winningest player of all time… yada yada yada you get it.
We have watched Bill Belichick become the GOAT in his own respected profession. It’s tough to remember now, but after a 5-11 season in 2000 and a 0-2 start to that famous 2001 season, Belichick was considered to be on the hot seat and on pace to get fired for the second time in his career. Now he can almost literally throw a Super Bowl by benching one of his best defensive players, and his job was never even in question.
New England’s favorite team
Another thing people forget about this New England Patriots franchise is how close they were to moving to Hartford, CT or even worse, St Louis, MO.
Both scenarios sound like an alternate universe considering how beloved these Patriots have become. But when Robert Kraft bought this team in 1994, they were far and away the least important of the Boston area’s four major sports teams.
It went Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and then wayyyyy down the line was the insignificant Patriots. Nowadays though? Everyone is a “die-hard” fan and they are far and away New England’s favorite sons. I mean even my nana, who could care less about sports in general, knows that Tom Brady is married to Giselle, wears UGG boots, and kisses his son for uncomfortably long periods of time.
More from Chowder and Champions
- 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
- 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
- MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
- 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
- Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win
Simply put, the New England Patriots are entrenched in our souls at this point and as much as Brady and Belichick get the majority of the credit and rightfully so, it cannot be understated the impact Robert Kraft has had on this franchise. It was the 25th anniversary of him purchasing the team recently and in that time, he has 10 Super Bowl appearances, 5 Championships, and has become the proud owner of the second most valuable team in the NFL, valued at $3.8 billion. Not too shabby.
So again, I just think to myself how surreal it all is. When I think of legendary franchises or dynasties like the New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics, or even the Dallas Cowboys, they seem like these things that took decades in the making and were present long before I was even alive. But with the Patriots, it has all happened before my eyes.
And the crazy thing is that this dynasty might be the most impressive out of all those I just named. In terms of length and consistent winning, it’s unparalleled.
What the New England Patriots have done over the past two decades will never be replicated and it’s hard to wrap my mind around that. I just assume they will be good every single year because that’s basically what it’s always been.
Can you imagine rooting for a team like the Cleveland Browns?
Ugh, that sounds gross to even think about.
But one day, hopefully not anytime soon, that could and probably will be the Patriots. I will have to tell my grandkids stories about the GOAT Tom Brady like Brown’s fans talk about the great Jim Brown to theirs.
Just a distant memory of better times and something that those future grandkids will certainly not even care about in the slightest. They won’t have experienced what I have over these past 17 years, they’ll probably be more concerned about when President Justin Bieber is releasing his new album.
Don’t be sad when it ends, appreciate that it happened
So, enjoy it while it lasts my fellow New England Patriots lovers, I know I certainly have and will continue to do so. Like many of you can probably relate, this team has become more than just a “football team” to me over the years. They are like my family.
Bill Belichick is Grandpa, Tom Brady is the rich father I never had, and Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are my crazy uncles. There are the good times (5x SB Champs) and the bad (07,11,18) but no matter what they are always there for me when it counts. And by “when it counts” I mean my ability to talk smack to fans of other NFL teams. You know, the important stuff.
Yes, it will be sad when it all ends, but just like we should appreciate the time we have with our actual families, we should appreciate whatever time is left with our historic New England Patriots family.
They have been apart of my life for the past 17 years and have provided me with more moments of joy than I can count. Let’s hope they can bring us one more Feb. 3 against the Los Angeles Rams. The same Rams franchise they defeated 17 years ago as the biggest underdogs in Super Bowl history. If this ends up being the last go-round, I couldn’t think of a more fitting way for it all to end.