Brady leaves the Patriots

Photo by Jeffrey Beall via Flickr

By Lou Roesch
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 18, 2020) Tom Brady has left the New England Patriots for greener pastures both figuratively and literally. The time has come where we will now find out if the system made Tom Brady or Brady really is the G.O.A.T.  The argument has raged for years as to whether Bill Belichick made Tom Brady or Brady made Belichick. 

It all began when the sixth round pick stepped in following the hit that benched then Patriots star quarterback Drew Bledsoe. The 199th pick of the 2000 NFL draft has been the New England field general ever since.

So is it the system or is Brady just that good? Well to hedge the bet, it’s a little bit of both. In the seasons previous to Brady taking over the offensive reins, the Bledsoe led Patriots had not made it to one SuperBowl. Without Brady in 2011, the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassell under center. With Brady sidelined for DeflateGate in 2016, the Patriots went 3-1 with Jimmy Garrapolo and Jacoby Brissett before Brady returned to finish 11-1 and 14-2 overall.  

Here’s where the system doesn’t matter….. the Super Bowl. With Brady, they have won six SuperBowls in 9 appearances. No other quarterback, not Joe Montana, not Terry Bradshaw, not Troy Aikman, not Bart Starr, not Johnny Unitas not anyone has come close to Brady’s accomplishments when the lights were the brightest. 

You can’t pooh-pooh a quarterback who has thrown for more than 75,000 yards, won three regular season MVP’s and is the only player ever named SuperBowl MVP four times. Plus throw in the 54 other NFL records he holds including most career wins by a quarterback with one team. Brady is also tied for the record in these two categories; most seasons with 35 plus touchdown passes and most touchdown passes in a single postseason game with six scoring strikes.

Brady, under Belichek, led New England to a 215-64 regular season record. More importantly, it was done with a plethora of good pieces but not great parts. With really only one running back (Corey Dillon), fans might remember, one wide receiver Randy Moss, one slot receiver (Wes Welker) and two tight ends in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski who else has Brady had to win with in nearly two decades?

Brady will get his money (L.A. is my guess) and he will deliver the payroll too with another Superbowl title. After all where else would the final chapter to be written on the G.O.A.T be more perfect for the San Mateo California Kid.