Pigskin Over and Out

Sometimes the inevitable is still a shock to the system.

Bill Belichick is no longer the HC of the NEP. 

Now we know when the good old days officially ended.

Bittersweet Pigskins

This is it. The end of an era. Not often we have advance notice. But, here we are…

NYJ vs. NEP, 1:00pm, January 7, 2024

Pigskin Imminence

 Are we there yet?

The Good, The Bad (and the Beauty Challenged)

In retrospect, Tom Brady's return to Foxborough played out exactly the way we all should've known it would. Bill being Bill, making things ugly, and Tom being Tom, somehow finding a way to win.

It's Complicated

The New England Patriots may not be looking past this Sunday's game with the New Orleans Saints but the same cannot be said for local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads. There's really nothing else they want to talk about but Tom Brady's return to Foxborough, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town October 3rd, 2021. 

Can you blame them?

The New Guys

The draft is over, undrafted free agents have been signed; the roster building process isn't over - it's never over - but the story that is the 2019 New England Patriots has begun.

Somewhere on this roster is an undrafted free agent who will make the Final 53. A new folk hero is waiting to happen. A new starring role yet to be cast in this 21st sequel in the epic "The Goat of San Mateo" film series is waiting to happen.

So, who will win best actor in a supporting role? Who will be the breakout star? And who's story ends in tragedy?

The Waiting Game

I've said this before so forgive me repeating… Bill Belichick is like Chuck Norris. He does not sleep; he waits.

Thinking The Unthinkable

Would Bill Belichick trade Tom Brady?

I guess another way to put that question would be...

Could that ever be the best thing for the team?

Griff, We Hardly Knew Ye

Like almost any other player cut by other teams, Michael Floyd's release following a DUI arrest started a flurry of hot takes from the local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads on whether the Patriots should sign him up. There was the usual high minded moralizing about the troubled but talented wide receiver, concluding that even though Floyd checked all the boxes for what New England needed at the position - as in, alive and breathing - the Patriots shouldn't add Floyd to their injury depleted wide receiver group. Ride or die with an "everyone thinks there's something wrong with" Julian Edelman, a dinged up Chris Hogan and rookie Malcolm Mitchell and his bionic arm.

Bill Belichick disagreed.

Thanks for everything we never had, Griff Whalen. We'll miss not missing you.

Fantastic Pigskins And Where To Find Them

So, Bill Belichick is the head master of a Pigskin Hogwarts. And yes, okay, he came from the House of Slytherin. Geez, just one Voldemort an an entire house gets a bad name. Anyway, I'd say Belichick is more Snape than He Who Shall Not Be Named. Whatever. Be a hater.

Meanwhile, Belichick must occasionally play Quidditch against mere muggles. 

No surprise this game wasn't flexed to prime time.

Sturm und Drang und Sturm Again

Looking at the Curious Case of Dominique Easley, you might think you were talking about a General Manager who had just gotten fired with Easley just one of the many bags of trash the new GM was taking to the curb, another example of the kind of mistake that reshapes resumes in the NFL.

Did I say mistake? I meant megalomaniacal misjudgment of apocalyptic proportions.

Identity Management

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day.

-Aragorn at the Black Gate, “The Return of the King”

Do These Grapes Taste Funny to You?

Apparently, Bill Belichick owns a condo in the Houston Texans’ collective head. Or Antonio Smith’s head at the very least.

Wes Welker's Boyfriends

If there was one player who could fix what ails the Patriots, it wouldn’t be Wes Welker. I’m not sure any single player would be enough but don’t worry, I’m almost done with the time machine; I’ll be right back with in their primes Jim Brown, Deacon Jones, John Hannah and Jerry Rice.

That should do it.

Kinger

Okay, I know I’ve been down this road before but there’s just something about Peter King, isn’t there?

The Welker Referendum

Do we ever grow up? Life is like sixty years of high school. In the SI article on the Broncos being the Greatest Team Ever because Peyton Manning is the Bestest Quarterback Since God Created the Heavens and Earth, Wes Welker let his inner child out to pout. Bill Belichick was mean to Wes Welker. Apparently, he’s mean to just about everyone but I guess in Welker’s case it was personal or something. Anyway, the local media has gone berserker. It picks the Lawyer Malloy scab, the Ty Law scab, the Willie McGinest scab, the Asante Samuel scab, the Richard Seymour scab; it reminds the Pigskin Pundits and Bobbleheads that Belichick is mean to them, too.

What Did Bill Belichick Know and When Did He Know It?

Bill Belichick has spoken. You good?

Keeping the Faith

How about them Red Sox? In the wake of one the worst weeks in Boston sports history we are left with little that’s good other than the team everyone thought would finish in the basement of the AL East with the best record in all of the American League as we head into July and the All Star break. The Bruins fell short in game six and watched the Blackhawks hoist the cup on the TD Garden ice. I was one of those who thought the Celtics should’ve blown things up last year but it was still shocking to see Pierce and KG sent to the Brooklyn Nets for spare parts. All of that would’ve been bad enough and yet it wasn’t as we watched Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez arrested for murder.

There’s a silver lining here somewhere, isn’t there?