NFL
By Steve Atkinson
It’s been 25 years since the Patriots won their first Super Bowl. The Patriots will honor the 2001 team against the Raiders, but you know who won’t be there—the part owner of the Raiders, Tom Brady. Brady, who has a statue outside Gillette Stadium, pretty much built the dynasty for two decades because, aside from the Patriots, he doesn’t have many ties to Boston. He’s not like Julian Edelman or Gronkowski, who come back to Boston for other reasons. Brady, unless there’s Patriots money involved, isn’t doing it.
He’s definitely moved on. It ended so badly here with Belichick that he had to go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win a seventh Super Bowl. Then he went to Mark Davis and bought a piece of the Raiders instead of Kraft giving him a stake in the Patriots.
Brady said he’ll forever be a Patriot at his Hall of Fame induction because he is, but outside of that, he has no interest. Robert Kraft could’ve given him a stake in the team and been an ear for Drake Maye. But deep down, I don’t think Brady wants Drake Maye to win a lot of Super Bowls because he doesn’t want Maye to catch up or come close. The only one close to that is Mahomes, which is why Brady gave advice to Seattle before the Super Bowl in February.
2001 Patriots Started Something Special
With Brady’s Raiders coming to Foxborough, Brady wants no part in the 25th anniversary celebration. It would be one thing to just honor Adam Vinatieri because his snow kick in the Raiders game in 2001 was probably one of the greatest kicks of all time. But they are honoring the entire Super Bowl team.
The other person who won’t be there or do a video is probably Bill Belichick, who has really tarnished his legacy post-Brady. His ego got in the way, and he went from the greatest coach of all time to probably just the greatest defensive head coach of all time. The offense was Brady and how he made it work with less talent at receiver. Belichick can’t get a job in the NFL now and is having a tough time at North Carolina.
But the 2001 Patriots were something special; they came together as a team in the Super Bowl, and it all started in the Raiders game with the tuck rule, Troy Brown’s return in the Steelers game, and Ty Law’s interception in the Super Bowl. The team that started two decades of winning championships will be missing its quarterback and head coach Sunday.
