Nick Wright is Demanding the NFL Take Draft Picks Away From NE Over Drake Maye's Injured Shoulder. So the Patriots are Back After All.
Not enough can be said about Drake Maye's conduct in the postgame Sunday. He talked for over 15 minutes. Took all the questions. Looked everyone right in the eye/camera lens. Faced the music. Was fully accountable. Did what true leaders do. And if you didn't get emotional at the 0:30 mark when he choked on his words as he tried to express how special his teammates are, then put down this device and call 911 because your heart is flat-lining.
Coming right after having to watch the celebration of the victors, and getting left hanging by his opposite number:
All of this is exactly the kind of raw, authentic, genuine, and honest reaction to disappointment you look for in the face of your franchise for the next 20 years.
Maye also mentioned what he had to do just to take the field:
Which should, and did, earn him all the more respect. Despite the painkillers or horse tranquilizers or whatever they pumped him full of not helping his accuracy any, he gave it his best effort. And in doing so, gave his team the best chance they could've had to win. Something that earned him unanimous praise and explained a lot about his struggles.
But just as a reminder, in case it slipped your mind, these are still the Patriots. Even if they're not the Belichick Dynasty Patriots, that fact alone is enough to take this otherwise benign, even inspirational development and turn it into something sinister. Even - and stop me if you've heard this before - a form of cheating that must be punished.
Patriots Hater Hall of Fame Member Nick Wright certainly thinks so:
“Do you agree with me that at this point the NFL has no choice but to put some type of punishment on the Patriots for their Super Bowl injury report? If we are at Wednesday and the number one story is the quarterback’s injury - and the quarterback said he had the shoulder shot up, that he was dealing with something - especially in the modern NFL world where gambling is legal, if not encouraged… it is the quarterback of a Super Bowl team. I have no way to read that other than, let’s call it what it is. The team fudged information on the final injury report leading into the Super Bowl.
"I think the NFL is obligated - whether it's take a 6th round pick … I'm not making that up. That has been a penalty for injury report stuff in the past. But they have to do something, right?"
Unfortunately for the Nick Wrights of the world, this was the Wednesday injury report:
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And since he fully participated in practice, there is nothing to punish.
But that's neither here nor there. What really matters here is an answer to a question I've long pondered. And that is, "If the Patriots ever did get good again, to the point they're competing for championships once more, but with an entirely different crew, would America hate them again?"
And the obvious answer is YES. Not everyone's there yet. Nick Wright is doing some pioneering work. But he's blazing a trail others will follow as this next Dynasty takes it's first steps toward making runs at more Super Bowls in the years to come.
It's a beautiful thing. Is it better to be loved or feared? Michael Scott would say he wants people to fear how much they love him. But Pats fans know better. In this business, fear is much better. And the Patriots are back to getting it. The future is bright.