New England Patriots: How Tom Brady dismantled the dynasty
When Tom Brady returns to Gillette Stadium standing on the other sideline looking up at those New England Patriots Super Bowl banners, his eyes will be filled with glimmering tears of memories, achievements, and triumph. Then, his eyes will pan down to Bill Belichick.
Ahead of the most-anticipated matchup in perhaps NFL history, the two men who built the most dominant and controversial sports dynasty will be on opposite sides for the first time. The fans in Foxborough along with the owner of the franchise, Robert Kraft, will get to see how those blue jersey’s look against the player who made them relevant.
It will be an emotional rollercoaster, but also a reminder that one of the main architects of two decades of dominance has caused it to crumble by winning his seventh Super Bowl championship away from the organization that created him.
Oh, you thought I was going somewhere else with this, huh?
New England Patriots: How Tom Brady helped build a winning philosophy
As a fan who watched the Pat Patriot logo Patriots play the role of the New York Jets in the NFL through the 80’s and prior to the Bill Parcels regime, I can only appreciate what the great Tom Brady has delivered.
He emerged in the second half of the second game of the 2001 NFL season to lead this fan and many fans on a journey of championship pedigree. He took the Patriots from NFL darlings in that 2021 season to the most-hated team in the NFL because of the winning and simply because they were led by that grouch of a coach.
Related Story. The 5 faces of the New England Patriots: The stars, the coach, the dynasty. light
Sure, great players like Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Corey Dillon, Vince Wilfork, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Willie McGinist and Rob Gronkowski have written chapters in the two-decade dynasty that was a couple of New York Giants prayers away from 8 Super Bowl champions, but Brady wrote the entire book. However, don’t forget a great book doesn’t get published without a great editor.
As much as Brady appears to have the upper hand in this Brady-Belichick media war, the two would not be who they are without one another.
A player I neglected to mention in the list above, summed it up perfectly during an appearance on WEEI’s Merloni & Fauria on Thursday. NBC analyst Rodney Harrison, who was a teammate of Brady and coached by Belichick is simply admiring the genius of both men.
"“At the end of the day everyone wants to make it something about Bill and Tom,” Harrison said, as transcribed by WEEI. “I’m not making it about Bill and Tom, as far as anything negative. To me, it’s nothing but positive. Coach wouldn’t be the coach that he is if he didn’t have Tom. Tom wouldn’t be the player that he is if he didn’t have Coach. And you know what, both of them have a lot of respect for each other. I’m just so pumped up, I can’t wait.”"
It really is as simple of that.
As shocking as it was when a 42-year-old Tom Brady decided to take his talent to Tampa, it was time. It was simply time to end the Brady-era in a New England Patriots uniform and his play on the field during that Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans proved it.
Fans hoped more for retirement rather than watching him go on to win a seventh Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, but he did that because Belichick gave a 6th round pick an opportunity, the same opportunity he is giving Mac Jones.
dark. Next. Tom Brady’s top 5 receivers of all time
In all, Tom Brady has proved he can win without Belichick. Now, it’s Belichick’s turn to restart what he build over twenty years ago with a different kind of architect. It will be poetic if that starts on Sunday with a win over that architect. Yes, the same man who destroyed the dynasty by simply walking away.