Do you hate them a little bit less this morning? The New England Patriots, I mean. Do you hate them less? Now that Tom Brady is gone?
I do, and not because there's anything wrong with Tom Brady. There isn't. He's one of the most inspirational overachievers in the history of mankind, a former flabby co-quarterback at Michigan who shows up in the NFL with no speed, an average arm and a sixth-round pedigree and ends up winning three Super Bowls, dating a supermodel and becoming a cultural icon. He's George Clooney in cleats. Tom Brady is such a winner, he makes me feel like a loser. On second thought, maybe there is something wrong with him ...
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| We're not saying the Patriots won't enjoy some success, but perfection is out of the picture. (Getty Images) |
But when an entire organization has the right guy in the right spot in every spot, that's irritating. And when that team wins and wins and blows teams out and wins and lucks one out and wins and cheats and wins and ... just ... keeps ... winning ...
It gets annoying.
And so most of the world, not including the New England area or the inevitable steaming pile of shameless front-runners, roots against the Patriots. Which is a nice way of saying we hate you, New England.
But today I find them less hateable. Surely you must as well.
Adversity is charming, and the Patriots find themselves in their most adverse (real) situation since quarterback Drew Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding during a game in 2001 and was replaced by the sixth-rounder from Michigan. Seven years later, Brady suffered a knee injury Sunday in the season opener that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
Just like that, the Patriots go from one of the biggest winners in NFL quarterback history to Sam Matt Cassel, who has carried a clipboard for three years in the NFL behind Brady. And who before that carried a clipboard for five years at Southern California behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
Cassel will start the Patriots' road game Sunday against the New York Jets, and then the 14 regular-season games after that. And because this is New England, he will be expected to start a handful of playoff games as well. Because New England's playoff plan stops for no man, not even one as vital as Tom Brady.
Just one problem there. The last game Matt Cassel started at quarterback was in 1999. It was against Long Beach Poly. That's a high school in California. Cassel was playing for Chatsworth High. And he lost.
Note the wording of a sentence in the previous paragraph. The last game Matt Cassel started at quarterback ...
See, he has started a game since high school. It was at Southern California, where he backed up 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and then, instead of replacing him the following season, found himself beaten out by Leinart, who had been the third-string guy. So Cassel spent some time in 2003 at tight end, even starting a game there. He didn't catch any passes. Of course.
Since then Cassel has been in the witness-protection program in New England, behind young stud Tom Brady and old farts Doug Flutie and Vinny Testaverde. His most extensive action came in the Patriots' meaningless 2005 regular-season finale, when he played three quarters against the Dolphins. New England lost that game. And Cassel was sacked for a safety.
Whatever you think of the Patriots, you have to be rooting for Matt Cassel.
But I'm thinking there are some fence-sitters who will root for the Patriots now. I might even be one of them. Not sure about that just yet, but like I said, adversity is charming. We like underdogs. Nothing else explains the wild popularity of mediocrities like Dane Cook and Dave Matthews. Being a loser can make you a winner.
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| aznfatmad: I've hated the Patriots ever since 2001. It's not because the team is good, it's because the fans are so arrogant and annoying. When the Pats beat the Rams, I was happy. It was a Cinderella story that everyone could enjoy. Then came the fans... With no regard to the rest of the league, they decided they owned the NFL. The Bostonian I knew didn't even want to bet on the Super Bowl because he "felt bad for taking my money". If Matt Cassel can lead his team to the playoffs, I give him props as a NFL fan. But any New Englanders should know it's a fluke! |
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| Gregg Doyel: What fans of a great team, in any sport, AREN'T arrogant and annoying? Come on, fat-and-mad. You have to do better than that. |
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That's the Patriots right now. In one freak play, they lost more in Week 1 of the NFL season than any team has lost, on the field, in the history of the league. Think about that, and tell me I'm wrong. What NFL team has suffered a bigger, earlier, more unexpected loss than Tom Brady on Sept. 7? The only quarterbacks to surpass Brady's three Super Bowl titles with four, Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw and San Francisco's Joe Montana, never went down in their prime in Week 1 of an NFL season. Montana did miss the entire 1991 season with an injured elbow, but the 49ers plugged in Steve Young, who led the NFL in passer rating that season.
If Matt Cassel leads the NFL in passer rating in 2008, I'll stand naked at Boston Common. I kind of hope he does, come to think of it ...
OK, gross. But we like gross. We can embrace gross, because there's a little something gross in all of us. Unless Tom Brady himself is reading this -- and I bet you are, you rascal -- not a single one of you is without yuckiness. Our propensity for grossness makes us equals, and now the Patriots have that propensity just like we do.
They're no longer perfect. Their coach may be inhuman, but as a franchise, the New England Patriots are no longer cyborgs. They're regular people now. They're imperfect.
And there's nothing prettier than imperfection.
