Happy Belichick-Brady Day!
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When you’ve won as much as the Patriots have during the Bradichick Epoch, there really aren’t enough days in the year to commemorate all your great victories and historic moments. If this dynasty was its own sovereign country and declared a holiday to recognize all its past achievements like the U.S. does the 4th of July, its kids would never go to school. So you learn to pick your spots. For instance, January 21st, 1994, the day Mr. Kraft bought the team and saved it from moving to St. Louis. Or 3-28 Day, which speaks for itself. August 3rd every year is a big one at training camp because it’s Tom Brady’s birthday. We pick our holidays carefully. And no day looms larger than April 16th.
Bill Belichick turns 67 today. And 19 years ago today, on his 48th birthday, he gave himself the greatest present ever when he took Tom Brady in the 6th round. The most successful draft pick in the history of all sports. The gift that, in the most literal sense, keeps on giving.
And to observe this high holy day, I’m going to recommend this audio from the Patriots official site, which I can’t embed here because the NFL still runs its media accounts like a Third World dictatorship trying to control the flow of information. It’s Brady’s first conference call with the Boston media back in 2000. And it’s an extraordinary historical artifact. You see Brady still playing at an elite level and your brain tells you this wasn’t that long ago. But then you listen to the clip and it sounds like a recording of an old pre-war radio broadcast. Like you half expect the beat writers to break out in that mid-Atlantic accent from the 1930s. “Say, Tommay, you didn’t get ta play much out theah in Ann Ahbah, Coach Carr splittin’ ya time with that Drew Henson fella. What do you say to the folks back in Beantown about ya chances against theah own beloved Drew, Mr. Bledsoe?” It’s truly jarring to listen to.
But if you’re in no mood to have your browser slowed to a halt by an NFL teams site, here’s the next interview he did:
Or, if you’re so inclined, you can skip a young Baby GOAT being humble yet confident, and instead enjoy clips of Belichick being the same savage, determined task master he is today, swearing at opposing players, destroying league property, grabbing replacement refs by the arms and beefing with officials in preseason games:
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That’s the beauty of April 16th. It’s like Christmas, New Years and Mardi Gras rolled into one. Where you can worship, celebrate and indulge all your desires. There’s simply no wrong way to observe it. Just as long as you take some time to count your blessings and appreciate how good you have it.
Happy Belichick-Brady Day, from the bottom of my heart.