We're On To Football

I just needed to sleep on this one. I know, in today’s instant everything hot take live streaming world that taking a moment to actually think about anything is pointless. Everyone will have moved on by now, I’m sure. People are dying, governments are falling and the problems of few little people have never amounted to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Still, I needed a little space after nearly two years of the mental disease we came to know as Deflategate. Last night I sought refuge with my family in a local bistro where the air conditioning wasn’t quite up to the heat wave but the lobster with oat risotto was one of the most delicious dishes I’ve ever eaten (thank you Thistle Pig). The two tall vodka and tonics didn’t hurt either. And my wife and daughter spent most of the meal talking Harry Potter as they recently decided to re-read the entire series. They’re up to the “Order of the Phoenix.” I’ll leave you, gentle reader, to determine if there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

And now it’s the next day and I’m waiting for the coffee maker to finish…

Denial

When the news first broke, I couldn’t believe it. I seriously wondered if someone had hacked Tom Brady’s Facebook page. I had always believed Brady would fight this to the more likely than not bitter end. Quit is not in the Tom Brady New English Dictionary. Just moments later Robert Kraft’s statement was out and this was clearly and really for real.

Deflategate was over.

Tom Brady would miss the first four games of the 2016 season.

And worst of all, perhaps, Roger Goodell had won.

Anger

Yes, I was a little upset with Brady initially. But then I remembered we all have jobs and most of us have to eat a little side dish of the boss’s shit each and every day in order to keep our paychecks. We just don’t have to do it publicly. We have unreasonable expectations of all our heroes, regardless of the context and that was obviously true in this case. It was Brady's decision and he had to make it for himself and no one else.

I am still angry - as a fan not just of the New England Patriots but a fan of football in general - that four games of Tom Brady’s career have been stolen from me. There’s no getting that back. That’s going to hurt for a while.

And I’m angry that actual facts, science and proof beyond a reasonable doubt didn’t matter. I think this Dan Wetzel piece on Yahoo.com sums it up for me.

Bargaining

Cue my rueful laughter (or is it my snicker of disgust) at the mention of any kind of a deal made behind the scenes. It didn’t make any sense before Brady’s decision and it makes even less sense now. Brady will never admit guilt for something he didn’t do and Goodell and the Other 31 Owners aren’t going to give up that four-game head start on the Patriots after working so hard and spending so much to get it.

Is Brady taking one for the team? Giving the team a better chance to get ready for those first four games of the season? Maybe.

Still, it's hard to buy any of the “this will actually be better for the Patriots in the long run” arguments in absolute terms but what else have we got? It’s never better to not have the greatest quarterback to ever play the game on the field. But I refuse to buy the 0-4-0 worst case scenario either.

Yes, it’s all rationalization at this point; call it perspective or context but in my heart of hearts I know it stands uncomfortably close to wishful thinking. And yet…

The Patriots still have the best coaching staff in the NFL and one of the better defenses in the league. Pro Football Focus just ranked their receiving corps the best in the league so Jimmy Garoppolo - who has played the faithful understudy for two years - will hardly be wanting for weapons come September. If Dion Lewis is good to go, Garoppolo will have yet another option at his disposal.

Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels have seven weeks to get Jimmy G ready to go.

Belichick will have the Patriots totally amped for those first four games. There’s already plenty of billboard material with opponents licking their chops and calling the AFC East “up for grabs.” Who hasn’t been looking forward to a return of the “no respect” card being thrown down by Pats players? I’m not sure who the Rodney Harrison is of this bunch is but should New England come out of the desert with a win, I guarantee you’ll hear “nobody believed in us but the guys in this locker room” if one of the defensive players visits with the Sunday Night Football crew after the game.

4-0-0 is probably a stretch but 3-1-0 - winning the home games with a full-throated Patriots Nation crowd in Gillette - doesn’t seem beyond the realm of reason.

Really though, 2-2-0 with the two wins against Buffalo and Miami will be all New England needs to be in position for another AFC East championship.

I hope Dante Scarnecchia has the offensive line sorted for the season opener (as do Jimmy G’s parents) but by Week 5 and Brady’s return they should certainly be performing up to spec. Brady will have missed the breaking in period and the hits that would’ve come with it. All things being equal, Tom Terrific will be as healthy as he’s ever been when the playoffs start.

As wishful thinking goes, that's pretty good stuff.

Depression

Yeah, this whole thing is still a bummer.

Facts, science and proof don’t matter to the haters and trolls.

I’ll have to stay out of the comments section of any public forum for the rest of my life. Probably not going to miss that.

Turning off “Around the Horn” every time Bill Plaschke is on - and he’s always on - will only hurt for a while. I don’t see Deflategate being made much of in a “hot take” forum like that for much longer. Brady was wise to dump this news in the Friday dumpster. It will be over by Monday. They’ll be moving on to the Cubs second half swoon before too long, arguing about Bryce Harper’s haircut and whether or not Pokemon Go is a fitness app. Wait. That’s kind of depressing, too.

It will be bittersweet if when Bill Belichick is asked about Brady in any of the Week 1-4 post-game pressers and he responds with his classic “I’ll talk about the players who are here” line accompanied by the Death Glare. I’ve always believed that in those moments, Belichick is actually trying to cripple that pigskin pundit or bobblehead with the power of his mind. I believe that deep in his underground lair he conducts nightly experiments in telekinesis, attempting to move objects only with his thoughts. And I believe the pigskin pundits and bobbleheads who receive the Death Glare in press conferences later experience insomnia, severe headaches and in their next visit to the dentist, discover cavities that heretofore did not exist.

Hey! I think I’m starting to feel better already!

Acceptance

It is what it is.

We’re on to training camp and some actual football.

If you want me, I’ll be in the basement, working on my time machine.