As soon as I saw the camera scroll to the left, tracking the ball that had just left Tom Brady’s grip, I glanced at the end of the play behind the line of scrimmage. Right before the camera moved towards Randy Moss, who caught (and subsequently fumbled) the pass, I clearly saw something had happened. Something BAD had happened. People I had spoken to who were at the game said that the crowd was fired up about the pass, then became even louder after the fumble, but as each person present at Gillette Stadium on September 7, 2008 gazed back at their quarterback, their “gift” for the last 7 years, it became more and more eerily quiet.
Complete silence overcame the stadium (as well as my family room) as Brady lay there, in obvious discomfort, gripping his left knee. Later we would find out that surrounding players heard him scream in pain, but as those present and others watching the broadcast looked on, the extent of the injury wasn’t truly known. This fact was especially deceiving as Brady stood up, walked off the field under his own power, and even took a flight of stairs down to the Patriots’ locker room. I’m sure many were thinking, “OK, he walked off, it shouldn’t be that bad”, and believe me, I was one of them. That was until the realization set in a short time later that I distinctly remember last year, when Ronnie Brown tore his ACL mid-season, ending his season and my chances for a Fantasy Football championship. He too walked off the field.
I remember sitting around listening to WEEI, Boston’s flagship sports station the following day, as Brady was undergoing his MRI while at the same time coach Bill Belichick was preparing his press conference. Right around 3pm, even before we knew the MRI results, before Bill’s conference, it was announced that Tom Brady was placed on injured reserve, ending his 2008 season. All of New England was crushed, heartbroken, and lost, and these were exemplified through that afternoon’s callers, as the “Big Show” began to take one after another. “What do we do now?” was as expected the general consensus. After all, 128 consecutive games ago, Brady stepped in for Drew Bledsoe after a hard hit and never looked back. Patriot fans hadn’t had to worry about anyone else leading this team since the beginning of 2001! We then found out on Wednesday that Brady in fact suffered a torn ACL and MCL, and is facing surgery and a 6 to 9 month rehabilitation schedule before potentially returning to lead the Patriots in 2009.
Well, Patriot fans (of which I am one, but I am as objective as it gets!), this is a team, and though they were led through wins, losses, playoffs, 3 Super Bowl wins, and an undefeated season, by a gifted and talented future Hall of Famer in Tom Brady, the New England Patriots now must find out if they can win a different way. After all, Matt Cassel is not, and might not ever be, of Tom Brady’s caliber. The Pats will not be dominating teams like the 2007 campaign, there most likely won’t be any 3 or 4-touchdown victories, Cassel probably won’t toss 53 TD passes, and more likely than not, Randy Moss will not catch over 20 for scores, similar to last year. Solid defense, limiting their opponents in the red zone and causing turnovers, will keep the Patriots in games, allowing Cassel to manage while at the same time gain his confidence. He will then be able to effectively utilize his weapons to make potential scoring opportunities (which certainly will become more valuable as they may not occur as liberally as in 2007) successful ones.
In 3 days, Matt Cassel will start a football game for the first time since 1999, and the hopes of an entire region of the country will be on his shoulders with such weight that he may find himself knee deep in the turf before he even takes his first snap. But the most important piece of information that I hope you gain from reading this small bit of insight is that New England Patriots fans have had it relatively easy for some time now. The going may and most likely will get rough, as many around the league have written off the 2008 club, unable to say with confidence that they can even win 6 or 7 more games. This, Patriot fans, is where the real fans are tested, where adversity helps teams realize that stepping up is not an option, it’s a necessity, to prove that a single superstar cannot and will not decide the fate of the entire team.
I humbly ask all Patriot fans around New England and around the
country, have patience with our 2008 club. The prospects for the 2008
season have changed dramatically since last Sunday, but I urge you, all
is not lost. I suspect that this season will show what a team, the sum
of its parts, really means.
I forward best wishes to Tom Brady the speediest of recoveries and Matt Cassel the best of luck in his opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to lead New England’s potent offense.
