Truth, Justice and the Patriots Way
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from [standing by their football team]; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. [The NFL], like hell, is not easily conquered“-Thomas Paine, "The Crisis” [changes by me]
Admit it, you lost faith. When the Patriots squeaked by in their first two games, then got smoked by Denver in Week 3, you stopped believing. Many people did. Seriously, how many people do you know last week were saying “The Pats didn’t play well, and they lost. But they’re 2-1 and in first place…let’s see what happens”?
Almost no one. All across the country and throughout Patriot’s Planet it was full scale, five-alarm, chaotic overreaction. It wasn’t “Hey, they got beat by a good team” followed by acceptance, lessons learned and hugs all around. No one, not the sportswriters, the TV pundits, the nitwits in your office pool…not even you, gave them a chance to beat Cincinnati. Two lackluster wins and one loss were enough to do the unthinkable: it made people question the Patriot Way of Doing Things.
We all know what the Patriot Way of Doing Things is:
1. Stockpile good players. Or as Belichick and Pioli like to put it, smart, tough, strong, fast guys who like to play football.
2. Put a dollar value on those players and sign them.
3. Get the most you can out of them for as long as you can.
4. Let some other ball club come along and pay those guys somewhere in excess of the value in Step 2.
5. Give the players a handshake and a pat on the ass and wish them well.
6. Repeat Step 1.
The PWofDT is the reason the Pats are in the Super Bowl hunt every season. But it also means that every off-season, someone has to go. One year it’s Drew Bledsoe. Another it’s Lawyer Milloy. Or Damien Woody, Ty Law, Adam Vinatieri, David Givens or Willie McGinest. Or the most recent casualty, Deion Branch. You’d think after a while, people would notice a pattern here.
But no. One lousy loss shook you to the point where it cracked the foundation of the faith you have in the PWofDTs. Apparently five years of consistent excellence and three championships weren’t enough to make you shrug off one September loss to the Broncos judging by the widespread panic that ensued. “We lost a game! We had trouble moving the ball! Brady lost his favorite targets and has no one to throw it to! Look, look! He’s slumping his shoulders! He looks miserable! Oh, what will become of us? Whatever shall we do?!!!”
Brady’s body language has been studied, picked apart and analyzed more than the flight data recorder from a crashed jetliner. No matter how many times he looked the world in the collective eye and said he’s gotten over the loss of Branch and Givens, that he’ll be OK once he and the rest of the team start playing better, no one believed him. Admit it, you kept watching the way he walked around on the sidelines for clues as to out what he’s really thinking. “Does he look unhappy? Is he yelling at the ref out of frustration? Does the sad look on his face mean that he wishes he never took less money to play here?” The assumption I guess, is that Brady is full of it, but in Shakira-like fashion, his hips don’t lie. (Of course, if you were really good at reading body language, you could tell I’m not interested in listening to your stupid theories on this.)
If you need further proof that the PWofDTs works, and I don’t know why you would, let’s go to the video tape. The other day I was re-watching my Patriots Super Bowl XXXVI DVD. (Yes, my life is just that exciting and I know you envy me.) And what struck me was how few teams on that tape have been consistently good in the five years since that season. Oakland went to the Super Bowl the following year, but ever since they’ve been horrible; to call them the “doormats” of the league would be an insult to doormats. The Rams lost key players and their coach and went from powerhouse to just another up-and-down NFL team. Carolina is a consistent contender, but that season the Pats faced them in Week 17 and they were so bad the Stadium was half empty, meaning Panther fans wouldn’t show up even to watch George Seifert get fired.
Beyond the Patriots, what other team has been a consistent contender for the last five seasons? Pittsburgh? Sure. Denver, maybe? The point is, that the Patriot Way of Doing Things works. The PWofDTs is the underlying core philosophy of this team and it keeps them perennially in the hunt for the championship. It also means that you lose popular players who helped you win past championships, so suck it up. Deal with it, and take a good look the guys who replaced those guys.
Here are the players, in the Belichick/Pioli era, that the Patriots allowed to walk and got killed for it in the media. “The All-Couldn’t Afford to Lose Him Team.” Followed by the guys that replaced them.
QB: Drew Bledsoe-Tom Brady
RB: Antoine Smith & Marc Edwards-Corey Dillon & Laurence Maroney
TE: Ben Coates-Ben Watson & Daniel Graham
OT: Bruce Armstrong & Tom Ashworth-Matt Light & Ryan O’Callaghan
OG: Joe Andruzzi & Mike Compton-Logan Mankins & Stephen Neal
WR: Deion Branch & David Givens-Chad Jackson & Doug Gabriel
S: Lawyer Milloy & Tebucky Jones-Rodney Harrison & Eugene Wilson
CB: Ty Law & Otis Smith-Assante Samuel & Ellis Hobbs
OLB: Willie McGinest & Chris Slade-Mike Vrabel & Rosevelt Colvin
ILB: Ted Johnson & Bryan Cox-Tedy Bruschi & Junior Seau
DE: Bobby Hamilton & Brandon Mitchell-Richard Seymour & Ty Warren
NT: Ted Washington-Vince Wilfork
You tell me which team you’d rather have. Sure there are some positions where the guys they have maybe aren’t as good as the guys before them; cornerback for instance. And wide receiver maybe, it’s too soon to tell. But in case you haven’t been paying attention, this is how the Pats win championships. Would you rather see them say “Screw it. Sign everyone. We’re going for the championship this year” then wander in the salary cap wilderness for the next five years like they’re the friggin’ Florida Marlins? Did you love Deion that much?
Look, I don’t like losing Branch, Givens, Vinatieri or McGinest any more than you. Those guys were integral part of championship teams. But you can’t hold on to all of them. The Celtics tried to do that in the early ‘90s. Any word on how that plan is coming along?
The PWofDTs is all about staying on top of the NFL. And sometimes that means saying goodbye to great players. Get over it. My faith is unshaken.