I woke up Sunday Morning, February 5 to a suggestion:
“Can we rearrange the living room today?”
I tried to remain calm. In nearly all facets of life, I’m not a superstitious guy, or believer in ghosts, or luck, or anything of the sort…except in football.
“You think I’m rearranging the furniture, where I watch the games, on Super Bowl Sunday? No.”
“Why?”
I blame my dad (he’s alive and healthy. I’m not Futurama Dog Episoding you, here). When I was a kid and he played bar league sports, he always needed to have the same number. The four years that I played youth football, we’d have the same breakfast every gameday until we lost (which was infrequent), and then start a new breakfast plan. It was little things like that all over the place that added up into some lunacy. After the final game of the 18-1 season, one of my dad’s laments was “We forgot to make the venison chili this time!”, which we had made for every previous Brady/Belichick Super Bowl, as if that lack of preparedness was a contributor to the final score. I still bought in, even in my 20s.
Anyways, my eventual set of responses to the suggestion of the living room rearrangement was met with casual mockery. She thought it was hilarious, especially for me. I *knew* it was silly, but I still refused. Tough to kick those old habits. More on this later. The day went on.
We know and love what happened.
The greatest quarterback of all time and the greatest coach of all time did it. They won the most Super Bowls by a quarterback or head coach…ever…and they won them together. We all know that. Brady and Belichick, I hope they induct each other into Canton.
It was only fitting that the game featured the greatest comeback in NFL playoffs history, as Tom Brady’s early legacy was that he was never out, and could always come back and take a game from you that you thought you were going to win. It’s why people started to tire of him, BEFORE any sorts of allegations, any sorts of politics, or consistent blowouts.
This Super Bowl solidified it for all of us, and we needed it, unfortunately…because of past allegations, witch hunts, and lack of faith in science, it NEEDED to be this way, with FIVE titles to shut everyone else up. “Can’t win without putting cameras in a non pre-approved part of the stadium pointed at the sidelines!!!” OVER, for us, as of 2014. “Can’t win without deflating footballs! (which never actually happened)” Technically over for us immediately, as the Patriots beat the Seahawks in 2014 as well, but this year was a full season in the books with a title…down our hero starting quarterback for the first 4 games of the season. Just enough for the greatest coach ever to be incredibly prepared, and go 3-1. Taking it all down this season and winning, even getting the incredibly ridiculous Foot Catch to neutralize the hellish sports memory of David Tyree’s final career reception, was the icing on the cake.
Ladies and gentlemen…this feels fantastic. Nobody can take this fan experience away. Five.
As Monday night went along, 24 hours after the game ended, the euphoria didn’t end, but a calmness began to take over. A calmness of “Wow, it’s crazy that it took THIS long into the Brady/Belichick era…but no matter what good happens from here…it’s all gravy.” (note: it would have taken significantly less if we as fans didn’t have to deal with “HAHA CHEATERS!!!” allegations and hunker down to defend the wall whenever necessary).
More titles, no more titles, as of last night, I thought “it doesn’t much matter. Everything about being a Patriots fan during this era is amazing, FOREVER. Hopefully now, we all as Patriots fans can simply sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride, wherever it takes us.”
Along with the “it’s all gravy”, and back to the idea of superstitions and jinxing. Maybe I (or we) don’t need to be so superstitious. Why should we be? Tom Brady went and made this commercial ahead of the Super Bowl!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3y831EOs8
I don’t think I have any reason to believe in the few superstitions I had anymore. Tom Brady just beat my dad. What an honor!
This morning, I woke up, and the feeling hadn’t changed…
Of course, there was also a parade this morning, and with that parade came two things:
NO DAYS OFF. Belichick is already ready to win that 6th ring.
pic.twitter.com/aGOvOjJleR— Patriots Militia (@PatsMilitia) February 7, 2017
“NO DAYS OFF! NO DAYS OFF!”
We want 6 pic.twitter.com/ngHhcHgC5f
— feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) February 7, 2017
“WE WANT SIX! WE WANT SIX!”
KEEP THE TRAIN ROLLING, EVERYBODY!
LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (Superstition free)
Brady in the commercial beat his own superstitions (if he has any), not mine. Only way Brady would have beaten me would be if you rearranged the living room and the Pats still won. You didn’t.
Pats won… and so did I. (remember… you hate to lose because of me too)
Well, the point was more that I’m quitting the superstitions, because if THAT wasn’t a jinx/superstition chance/whatever, then NOTHING is. Plus, they have FIVE titles now…I can just let it all ride. Tom Brady beat you in my psyche.
At my parents house, we have to sit in the same seats for every game or its bad juju. Dan has a jersey he doesn’t wear often. We went to one game this year at Gilette, he wore the jersey, pats lost. We were watching a game at my parents he was wearing the jersey. They were losing horribly. Jersey came off at half time and the Pat’s won. Superbowl, Dan has his jersey on again for first half. Came off at half time. Pats won. Alex proceeded to tell him that we need to burn that jersey its bad juju lol.