Firstly, we’d both like to thank Jeff Benedict and Simon & Schuster publishers for sending us copies of the book prior to its release. Spanning 25 years, this is a comprehensive 600-page book that tells the full story of the greatest and most controversial team in modern football.
The book itself gives a detailed account of the past 25 years from the main viewpoint of the owner, Robert Kraft.
As many exciting nuggets of information have begun to make headlines on social media, we’ve decided to each choose two of our favorite chapters from the book, explaining why we enjoyed them, and a brief look into each chapter.
Tom’s Picks
Chapter six – SOLD!
This chapter was particularly intriguing to me as it showed how much of a struggle it was for Kraft to obtain the franchise, something which isn’t well known, especially among fans who may have begun following the team during ‘The Dynasty’.
President of Bank of Boston, Charles Gifford, determined that the market value of the Patriots franchise was around $115 million, but Robert Kraft knew he’d need to bid upwards of $150 million to have a chance at winning ownership of the team. After Kraft made an initial bid of $158 million, Goldman Sachs, the company that brokered the sale, came back to Kraft with a message that he’d need to bid more. After persuading Gifford to lend further capital, Kraft was ready to make a final bid worth roughly $173 million for the team.
Kraft told Goldman Sachs that he was willing to table an increased offer based on one condition, that he could meet the Patriots owner, James Orthwein. When the two met, Kraft learned that his bid had been around $25 million less than the offer made by Stan Kroenke, the current owner of the LA Rams. Although Kroenke’s offer was higher, it came with additional costs that Orthwein wanted nothing to do with, so he reluctantly agreed to the sale with Kraft.
On January 21, 1994, twenty-three years after becoming a season ticket holder, Robert Kraft held a press conference in Boston to announce that he’d just purchased the New England Patriots.
“I would just like to say that my objective in doing this is to bring a championship to New England. We didn’t do this to be a doormat for any other teams.”
And boy, he was right.
Chapter twenty-one – WE ARE ALL PATRIOTS
When you sit back and think about it, winning six championships in the NFL is a ridiculous achievement, I guess that’s why for me, becoming a fan during ‘The Dynasty’, this chapter about the team’s first Super Bowl win stuck with me the most.
The chapter begins during the 2001 AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. After being named Tom Brady’s backup following a life-threatening injury earlier in the season, Drew Bledsoe was called into action after Brady went down at the end of the first half. Bledsoe, in his first real game time since his injury, led the Patriots to an emphatic 24-17 upset over the Steelers, the Patriots were going to the Super Bowl.
In the aftermath of 9/11, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue felt that a change to the usual halftime performances was in order, eventually, the hit rock band U2 were asked to perform and gracefully accepted. At a rehearsal of the band’s halftime show a week before the Super Bowl, Jonathan Kraft, who was a huge U2 fan, attended the performance and struck up a conversation with Bono and the Edge.
“Tell me, who’s going to play quarterback?” Bono said.
“Brady” Kraft said in a hushed voice.
Unfortunately for Kraft, the press was advised that Bono may have been discussing the New England Quarterback situation with Kraft and were primed with questions. Luckily for Kraft, Bono kept a tight lip.
As Super Bowl 36 arrived, the Patriots knew that they were the underdogs, the St Louis Rams had been dubbed “the greatest show on turf” for a reason. Just as the teams took to the field, Rams receiver Ricky Proehl, in quite possibly the best quote in this book, looked into a television camera just outside the team’s tunnel and said:
“Tonight, the dynasty is born, baby.”
After becoming flustered with the Patriots opening gameplan, Rams quarterback Kurt Warner threw an interception to Ty Law, who returned it for a touchdown to give the Pats a 7-3 lead. Following a second turnover, Brady led the Patriots downfield in less than fifty seconds to put his team up 14-3 at the end of the half.
As the teams headed into a locker room, Robert Kraft spoke to his son about what he would say if the Patriots won. After expressing the basic idea of what he wanted to say, Jonathan went into a bathroom stall and began writing a speech, whilst missing beloved U2 perform one of the greatest halftime shows in history.
-A side note, if you’ve never seen U2’s performance, go watch, it’s incredible.
The Patriots stuttered during the second half, allowing the Rams to tie things up 17-17 before Tom Brady came of age before the entire world, leading the team on a drive which saw him complete pass after pass, whilst managing the clock to get them in the perfect position for a field goal to win the game.
With seven seconds left on the clock, Brady spiked the ball and on came Adam Vinatieri to try and win the team’s first-ever championship. After swinging his foot, the ball sailed towards the goalposts:
“AD-DUM VIN-A-TARRY! No time left on the clock. And the Patriots have won Super Bowl Thirty-Six!” Pat Summerall said in the final call of his career.
After hoisting the team’s first championship, Robert Kraft announced to the world:
“Fans of New England have been waiting forty-two years for this day. Spirituality, faith, and democracy are the cornerstones of our country. We are all Patriots. And tonight, the Patriots are world champions.”
Jason’s Picks
Chapter fifteen – Getting Belichick
I found this chapter to be one of the most interesting chapters in the entire book. The chapter started off detailed how Robert Kraft was, “kicking himself,” for not hiring Bill Belichick as the Patriots’ head coach after the 1996 season. Instead, Robert Kraft elected to hire Pete Carroll to be the head coach. The only thing that stopped Bill Belichick from getting the head coaching job was his connection to former Patriots head coach, Bill Parcells. Kraft wanted to separate the team from Parcells and wanted to start a new culture in New England.
But, after Pete Carroll’s three seasons in New England, Kraft had seen enough. The Patriots fired Pete Carroll after the 1999 season and turned their attention towards Bill Belichick. After the firing of Carroll, Jonathan Kraft sent over a fax to the New York Jets seeking permission to speak to Belichick about the vacant coaching position. At the time, Belichick was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Jets. However, once the notice was received by Jets head coach Bill Parcells, he tossed it in the garbage and failed to mention it to Belichick. Then soon after, Parcells gathered up the Jets players and informed them that he would be retiring, and Belichick would be taking over as the Jets new head coach.
After the Jets denied the Patriots an opportunity to speak with Belichick, they protested the refusal to the league office. Once Belichick caught wind that the Patriots had wanted to speak with him, he reached out to Parcells to find out if the story was true. Parcells acknowledged it was true, and Belichick did not appreciate the lack of communication. Parcells proceeded to tell him, “If you feel that undecided, maybe you shouldn’t take this job.”
The next day, Belichick came into the Jets facility with a lot on his mind. He went up to speak to the media and announced that he would resign as the team’s head coach. After the press conference, Parcells was fuming, he told Belichick that the Jets would prevent him from interviewing with other teams, but Belichick was, “undeterred.” NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue had to get involved to resolve the conflict. Tagliabue ruled that Belichick had, “improperly breached his contract with the Jets.” This meant that Belichick could not seek any other job in the NFL without the Jets’ permission. Belichick then filed an antitrust suit against the Jets, but the court ruled in favor of Tagliabue’s decision.
Once the ruling was final, Robert Kraft made a call to Bill Parcells to strike a deal for Belichick. After a period of ruthless negotiations, the Patriots and Jets finally agreed on a deal for Belichick. The Patriots would send a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the Jets for this coming draft. The Patriots would receive a fifth-round pick the following year, and the Jets would land a seventh-round pick the year after that. Bill Belichick was officially introduced as the Patriots’ head coach, the rest is history.
Chapter sixteen – Tommy
This chapter provided a great deal of insight on Tom Brady in his college years. Unlike most NFL superstars, Tom Brady’s college career did not go as planned. After being buried at the bottom of the depth chart in his early college career at Michigan, Brady heavily considered transferring. But, Brady elected to stay at Michigan and began to gain some people’s attention. Including, Dick Rehbein who was the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach. Rehbein made a trip to Michigan and put Brady through a plethora of workouts.
After returning from the scouting trip, Rehbein told Belichick that he liked Brady, “more than any other quarterback in the draft.” Belichick followed up on Rehbein’s scouting report and did his own research. He noticed that Brady always performed well in big games, and he was intrigued by that.
Even with the Patriots having an eye on Brady, they still felt good about quarterback Drew Bledsoe going forward. Belichick felt that Brady would be a mid-round pick, and they did not want to take a look at the quarterback landscape until the late-rounds. As the draft continued to progress Dick Rehbein was “puzzled” about why Brady was still on the board. As each quarterback was selected before Tom Brady, Belichick and Rehbein grew more and more confused. Robert Kraft watched while Belichick and the rest of the Patriots’ war room discussed why Brady was still on the board. Kraft was confused about why a quarterback was even in the discussion.
As Brady watched the draft, he continued to see his stock tank. At one point, Brady “stormed off” after still not being selected. He was questioning what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Then the Patriots had the 199th overall pick and began to weigh out their options. Belichick was still fixated on Brady, “Brady’s too much value, why’s he still there?” After a quick discussion, Belichick knew was going to be their pick. The Patriots got in touch with Brady, telling him that he was going to be their selection. Brady was speechless, having trouble controlling his emotions as Belichick spoke to him on the phone.
“In the Patriots war room, Robert and Jonathan Kraft looked at each other in silent disbelief. They were both wondering the same thing: Why are we drafting a quarterback?”
Benedict did a brilliant job of narrating the highs and lows of the most decorated sports teams in history, even for a regular football fan, this is a must buy.
‘The Dynasty’ by Jeff Benedict is now on sale, available at all major retailers in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook)