Don't Let the Greatest Sports Dynasty Ever Pass You By
Greatness.
Everyone wants it but few ever achieve it. Those on the outside looking in either admire or envy those who are able to achieve it. There is often little middle ground when it comes to the public opinion of greats. I find this to be especially true in sports.
I grew up in an era of dynasties in the 1990's. The Chicago Bulls in the NBA. The Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The New York Yankees in MLB.
I despised the Michael Jordan led Bulls and Troy Aikman led Cowboys. To me they were the ultimate villains who stirred up loathing within my young heart. I rooted against them at every turn only to be disappointed every time they lifted another NBA Finals or Super Bowl trophy. Looking back, my youth along with my envy and loathing of these teams took away from appreciation of what they were actually accomplishing.
On the flip side growing up a Yankees fan in New York during the late 90's was glorious. I fell more and more in love with my favorite sports franchise as my heroes stirred up the same envy that I felt toward the Cowboys and Bulls around the country. It felt like the team would win the World Series every year led by my ultimate childhood idol; Derek Jeter. Of course all good things come to an end and it's taken me years to realize just how spoiled I was as a fan of the last true baseball dynasty.
As I've become older I've learned to appreciate greatness in sports when I see it happening in front of me. Whether it be once in a generation players like LeBron James and Sidney Crosby or dynastic teams like Alabama football; I've learned to appreciate greatness when I see it. This is not to say that I always root for greatness. In fact I still often root against the greats. For example, I'll never root for Crosby as an Islanders fan but I don't let my hatred blind me like it did early in his career. I now appreciate the great player he is even when he destroys my favorite team.
Why am I bringing this up now? Quite simply because we are in the midst of perhaps the greatest sports dynasty of all time. Whether you love them or hate them there is no denying one thing; the New England Patriots of the Brady and Belichick era have been nothing but great.
Father time stops for nobody and as Brady has hit his 40th birthday it's time to realize what you've been watching year after year before it's too late. As someone who's been a fan of Brady since his Michigan days and has thus rooted for him throughout his NFL career; it's probably easier for me than most people who don't label the Patriots as their favorite team (Mine would be the Eagles to clarify). However, love them or hate them the Patriots are something we may never see again.
We are living in an era where the rules promote parity in sports; free agency, the salary cap, and the structure of the draft all work against possible dynasties. Yet the Patriots continue to find ways to win. You can bring up deflategate and spygate and the such. However, those small blips on the radar, whether true or not don't build dynasties. Don't let the hatred blind you.
Since Belichick took over prior to the 2000 season, the Patriots have made the playoffs in 15 of his 18 seasons in charge (15/16 with Brady as the starter). Outside of his first season when he was tasked with rebuilding the roster, Belichick has never had a losing season in New England. The two other seasons that they missed the playoffs were 2002 when they went 9-7 and 2008 when they went 11-5 (despite Brady missing almost the entire season with a torn ACL). Most years 11-5 is a shoe in for the playoffs but in 2008 the Pats missed out on a tiebreaker.
Seventeen straight winning seasons and all of those playoff appearances is certainly a step in the direction of greatness. However, greatness is truly achieved when championships are won. This is where the Patriots are truly unmatched. No team's championship window should last for 18 years yet the Patriots have managed to accomplish this.
Think about it. The Patriots have won five Super Bowls over the last 18 years. The five won are the most ever for a coach or quaterback in the NFL. When you exclude Brady's rookie season when he didn't start and the injury lost season, he's basically averaged a Super Bowl every three seasons. There are plenty of talented quarterbacks who have barely won five playoff games yet alone five Super Bowls. Meanwhile, in that same time frame the Patriots lost two other Super Bowls to the New York Giants by a combined seven points. They were basically a couple plays from winning seven championships.
Great coaching and quarterback play can take you a long way in football and this is ultimately what the foundation of the Patriots dynasty is built upon. Brady and Belichick are the ultimate winning combination.
So as the Brady and Belichick led Patriots enter the Conference Championship round as the odds on favorites to lift their record sixth Super Bowl, do yourselves a favor; sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Don't let your loathing and jealousy blind you. You might miss out on the greatest sports dynasty there has ever been and perhaps ever will be. Whether you'll be rooting for or against them enjoy the Patriots and the Brady and Belichick combo before it's too late. Otherwise you may regret letting greatness pass you by when it was right in front of you all along.
Everyone wants it but few ever achieve it. Those on the outside looking in either admire or envy those who are able to achieve it. There is often little middle ground when it comes to the public opinion of greats. I find this to be especially true in sports.
I grew up in an era of dynasties in the 1990's. The Chicago Bulls in the NBA. The Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The New York Yankees in MLB.
I despised the Michael Jordan led Bulls and Troy Aikman led Cowboys. To me they were the ultimate villains who stirred up loathing within my young heart. I rooted against them at every turn only to be disappointed every time they lifted another NBA Finals or Super Bowl trophy. Looking back, my youth along with my envy and loathing of these teams took away from appreciation of what they were actually accomplishing.
On the flip side growing up a Yankees fan in New York during the late 90's was glorious. I fell more and more in love with my favorite sports franchise as my heroes stirred up the same envy that I felt toward the Cowboys and Bulls around the country. It felt like the team would win the World Series every year led by my ultimate childhood idol; Derek Jeter. Of course all good things come to an end and it's taken me years to realize just how spoiled I was as a fan of the last true baseball dynasty.
As I've become older I've learned to appreciate greatness in sports when I see it happening in front of me. Whether it be once in a generation players like LeBron James and Sidney Crosby or dynastic teams like Alabama football; I've learned to appreciate greatness when I see it. This is not to say that I always root for greatness. In fact I still often root against the greats. For example, I'll never root for Crosby as an Islanders fan but I don't let my hatred blind me like it did early in his career. I now appreciate the great player he is even when he destroys my favorite team.
Why am I bringing this up now? Quite simply because we are in the midst of perhaps the greatest sports dynasty of all time. Whether you love them or hate them there is no denying one thing; the New England Patriots of the Brady and Belichick era have been nothing but great.
Father time stops for nobody and as Brady has hit his 40th birthday it's time to realize what you've been watching year after year before it's too late. As someone who's been a fan of Brady since his Michigan days and has thus rooted for him throughout his NFL career; it's probably easier for me than most people who don't label the Patriots as their favorite team (Mine would be the Eagles to clarify). However, love them or hate them the Patriots are something we may never see again.
We are living in an era where the rules promote parity in sports; free agency, the salary cap, and the structure of the draft all work against possible dynasties. Yet the Patriots continue to find ways to win. You can bring up deflategate and spygate and the such. However, those small blips on the radar, whether true or not don't build dynasties. Don't let the hatred blind you.
Since Belichick took over prior to the 2000 season, the Patriots have made the playoffs in 15 of his 18 seasons in charge (15/16 with Brady as the starter). Outside of his first season when he was tasked with rebuilding the roster, Belichick has never had a losing season in New England. The two other seasons that they missed the playoffs were 2002 when they went 9-7 and 2008 when they went 11-5 (despite Brady missing almost the entire season with a torn ACL). Most years 11-5 is a shoe in for the playoffs but in 2008 the Pats missed out on a tiebreaker.
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| Take a look at the Patriots season by season results under Belichick. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia) |
Seventeen straight winning seasons and all of those playoff appearances is certainly a step in the direction of greatness. However, greatness is truly achieved when championships are won. This is where the Patriots are truly unmatched. No team's championship window should last for 18 years yet the Patriots have managed to accomplish this.
Think about it. The Patriots have won five Super Bowls over the last 18 years. The five won are the most ever for a coach or quaterback in the NFL. When you exclude Brady's rookie season when he didn't start and the injury lost season, he's basically averaged a Super Bowl every three seasons. There are plenty of talented quarterbacks who have barely won five playoff games yet alone five Super Bowls. Meanwhile, in that same time frame the Patriots lost two other Super Bowls to the New York Giants by a combined seven points. They were basically a couple plays from winning seven championships.
Great coaching and quarterback play can take you a long way in football and this is ultimately what the foundation of the Patriots dynasty is built upon. Brady and Belichick are the ultimate winning combination.
So as the Brady and Belichick led Patriots enter the Conference Championship round as the odds on favorites to lift their record sixth Super Bowl, do yourselves a favor; sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Don't let your loathing and jealousy blind you. You might miss out on the greatest sports dynasty there has ever been and perhaps ever will be. Whether you'll be rooting for or against them enjoy the Patriots and the Brady and Belichick combo before it's too late. Otherwise you may regret letting greatness pass you by when it was right in front of you all along.
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