VIEWPOINT / HERE’S TO YOU, TOM BRADY

By W. Timothy Carrico Weaver, Ph.D.

There are some athletes so exceptional that they transform teams. When Bill Russell retired the Celtics continued to win but the greatness was over. We had to wait until Bird came along to return to greatness. This is to take nothing away from Red Cowens and John Havlicek. They were good, better than good, but they weren’t exceptional. Same when Jordon left the Buls, and Duncan the Spurs. Once the Yankee greats moved on the franchise has not dominated in decades.

Now it’s the Patriots, the most hated team in sport’s history. Why? They were at times almost unbeatable. Remember their 19-1 season? Brady was that once-in-a-lifetime athlete capable of transforming a team. His extraordinary talent, precision passing, fluid mechanics, and ability to see through defensive schemes enabled the team to do things on offense that allowed tactical improvement in every phase of the game. To count on an offense that could stay on the field and gain yards allowed adjustments in game planning on both sides of the ball.

The Patriots with Brady knew the right things in the would be done on offense. Many of these weren’t spectacular but they were essential to winning. Belichick was able to perfect the tight-end offensive weapon now deployed by every excellent NFL team because he could rely on Brady delivering to the big fellow or dumping off to a slant receiver like Welker and Edelman to grind out yards. All of this was made possible by Brady’s skill at reading defenses, outsmarting the best defenders in the game, and making very few costly mistakes.

I feel for my Patriots. Mac Jones is no Tom Brady. We who watched Brady from the day he took over from Drew Bledsoe knew we were watching something special. His obsession with perfecting mechanics and executing at peak performance inspired the rest of the team to be better. Brady understood the soul of winning—doing every little thing with near perfection. He believed that preparation was by far the most important component of winning.

Brady made them all look like geniuses—Kraft, Belichick, McDaniels. On defense, we had Crenel, Pees, and Patricia. Defense is easier when you can count on the offense to be on the field longer than your opponent. Watch the Patriot games. Brady kept the team in favorable field position far more often than any of his peers, some exceptional talents themselves.

All of the Patriot coaching staff and owners were geniuses with outstanding records. Look at them now without Brady. That alone is proof of exceptionalism.

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