Once upon a time, the New England Patriots were beloved.
Running onto the Superdome field en masse prior to Super Bowl XXXVI thrilled the masses. “Look at that!’’ people said. “They’re a T-E-A-M, team, not a bunch of me-first guys!’’
And when they outfought and outthought the mighty St. Louis Rams, they came away from that game with the designation of being America’s Favorite Team.
It far transcended football. Coaches in every sport, at every level, held up the Patriots as the ultimate example of what it means to be a committed, selfless athletic aggregation.
That was then. Next Sunday evening, the Patriots will take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium against the New York Giants with the distinction of being the most reviled team in all of American sport. For most of America, the Patriots can’t lose by enough.
Patriots fans should face the facts. It is very definitely a matter of Us against Them, and there are a whole lot more Thems.
In a football sense, nothing has changed. The Patriots have won two more Super Bowls and come within 35 seconds of winning a third by sticking to the same T-E-A-M principles that earned them the first triumph 10 years ago.
Tom Brady has advanced from being a second-year curiosity to earning a spot in the inner sanctum of all-time great quarterbacks. The owner carries none of the baggage of celebrity CEOs such as the late Al Davis or Jerry Jones. Indeed, he has been hailed as the Great Conciliator who calmed the hotheads and brought people together to ensure that there would be a 2011 season. Bob Kraft’s individual stature has never been greater in the eyes of the league office, his peers, the players, and the fans.
Could Brady be a problem? Perhaps. We see a guy who is always humble and always in a team-first mode. We’ve become accustomed to the amazing way he compartmentalizes his life, somehow balancing being One Of The Guys with being the husband of the world’s foremost supermodel, who, during the offseason, is seen in Paris and Milan, hobnobbing with an entirely different class of people.
The Outside World may now regard him as a certified Pretty Boy, someone they love to see get hit. That may have a little bit to do with the way America loathes the Patriots.
But I think I’ve buried the lead long enough. The No. 1 reason America has come to loathe the otherwise exemplary Patriots is the coach, and, specifically, his involvement with the word so many people around here refuse to acknowledge: Spygate.