As you’re all aware of by now, on Friday morning there were murmurs that something BIG was going to happen with the Patriots. Something that, in the words of Jerry Thornton, would be a 9.5 on the Richter scale, something that would instantly overshadow Thursday’s Edelman suspension.
Notably, it wasn’t ESPN or the mainstream beat guys tantalizing us and having us brace for the worst. It was compadres like Jerry, and the lesser-known blogger types like myself. Now, I don’t claim to have sources. I have people who occasionally tell me things, sometimes they’re true, sometimes not. As a blogger who is unconcerned with breaking news, I never run with anything in an attempt to be first.
I prefer to let things play out and stick to my mantra of this being a Patriots football blog, not a Patriots rumor blog. I know that seems to go against the stereotype of me sitting in my mom’s basement, trying desperately to break a bit of news that will put me in the spotlight, but that’s what I’ve been doing for over a decade.
And I heard the same rumblings that my fellow bloggers were reporting, so like everyone else I was waiting on pins and needles. As I pondered what it might be I came to the realization that only three Patriots people truly mattered to me — BB, TB and Gronk. Anything outside of that trio and I wouldn’t even blink. There’s just no one left who is untouchable outside of maybe Dont’a Hightower.
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Devin McCourty pinched in a world-wide sex trafficking ring? Next man up, hope Duron Harmon isn’t getting suspended for that weed in Costa Rica thing. These are the kind of places my brain was going as Friday wore on.
I’m hearing Gronk may not be a Patriot by the end of the day? If I’m right I want credit. If I’m wrong I don’t want any blame.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 8, 2018
Alas, the bubble burst in the mid-afternoon, once Dave Portnoy ran with a “Gronk getting traded” tweet. That set off the mainstream beat guys digging and they all received emphatic denials. The Patriots have denied plenty of stuff over the years, but these denials felt like SMDH denials… “this is so stupid” denials… “people just making shit up now” denials. Of course, not before half of Patriots Nation had promised to commit hari kari if their big lovable tight end was moved.
Then came a Redditor claiming to have Punk’d everyone, that he got lucky predicting the Edelman suspension and piggybacked that by claiming something even more seismic was coming. So if it was fabricated that would mean the end right?
— Easy Pretzel 🥨 (@EasyPretzel) June 8, 2018
Nope. More people with “sources” were still saying that Belichick had agreed to trade Gronk but that Kraft said no, Brady threatened to retire and the deal was nixed. Again, the Patriots emphatically denied this, while many also pointed out Belichick was in New York, thus making a rumored “closed-door” meeting impossible.
Confused yet? Me too. I’m not writing this now to lambaste any in the media, well-known or blogger. Their job is to report what they’re told and if they trust their sources they should run with what they’re told if they believe it’s genuine.
The big takeaway I have from Friday’s episode is one that has been building all offseason, and it’s that there are now people, at least loosely connected to the Patriots, who are now actively trying to sow dissension — between Kraft and Belichick, Belichick and Brady/TB12, and ultimately, the fans vs all of them. Sources who have earned reporter’s trust and are now more interested in helping break up the Patriots dynasty.
Maybe this was all started by a random Redditor, but there were also some on the inside who were happy to go along for the ride and help feed any potential controversy.
It’s been impossible not to notice how all offseason we continued to get drips and drabs of reports about the 2017 season and all the internal problems that were going on. For a team that has been at the center of plenty of controversies, this was something new, the calls were now coming from inside the house.
All offseason the RK-BB-TB hate triangle was on a slow-drip IV, with a new little nugget from 2017 popping up just often enough to keep it at the forefront of everyone’s Patriot brains.
For their part, the media has been more than ready to take the bait and run with it. Spinning the Edelman suspension back to TB12 was an easy leap for those who feel it’s their job to “just ask questions.” Mind you, not asking questions of those who would know, instead rhetorical questions on Twitter just to see their mentions lit on fire then hiding behind “I’m a journalist, I’m just asking questions! I totally didn’t do this so everyone will talk about MEEEEEEEEE!”
While I don’t believe the local media is as culpable as many would make them out, I do believe that they’re following this total internal dissension story that’s been fed to them with an astonishing amount of fervor. When Brady won’t commit to next week’s optional OTAs it’s immediately connected to the internal power struggle and a sign that tempers are still raw in Foxboro.
By this point in the offseason, the previous campaign has always been completely laid to bed by the Patriots, both on the field and off it. I truly believe that is again the case internally. Brady’s new phase, which includes making his young family more a priority, has been accepted by Belichick and the Patriots will just have to do their best without having their quarterback living at the stadium.
But this is seemingly unacceptable to many. They don’t buy Brady wanting to spend more time with his family. He’s Tom Brady. Football > Family for him 4-eva. No, it must be because he hates Belichick and is still super mad at him and they need a beer summit or else… they might lose another Super Bowl on the last possession.
That’s what is most funny. It’s the inescapable truth. They spend all this time eating up what sources with clear malicious intentions feed them, spinning it their own way, but then coming around in the final paragraph to mention “but it probably won’t even matter as they go 12-4, win the AFC East and play in a toss-up Super Bowl game.”
It’s sad that there are so many actively rooting and meddling for the end of the Belichick-Brady Patriots. As I wrote this week, we the fans should just enjoy it but it’s getting harder and harder for those who just can’t ignore the noise.
The Patriots have been sitting on their trademark for Ignore the Noise for a few seasons now, and there’s no question, of all the tacky season mottos they come up with every season, there’s never been a more appropriate season to bust it out in force than this one.
All of what you wrote needed to be said. THANK YOU, Mike.