Patriots In Their Opponents Heads
by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle
This past Sunday I attended my 12th AFC Championship Game. All of them have involved the Patriots, eight of them in Foxboro. While standing in Gillette Stadium with my son and my best friend, we got into a spirited but friendly chat with a couple of Jacksonville Jaguar fans.
After the usual jousting (they claimed they were going to win, and we arrogantly told them that was cute), they started talking about how thrilling it was just to be in the game. That brought into focus for me just where the Patriots are in the minds of the rest of the country.
“We’re going to beat you, it’s our time,” the young man said while his female companion supported him. I responded with some witty remark about how if Tom Brady only had eight fingers, he would be Blake Bortles. Then after wishing each other well, the Jags fan said something that struck me.
“You know, even if we lose – we’re here,” he explained earnestly. “I mean, to play in this stadium, against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, is unbelievable. Most teams don’t even get that far. It’s really awesome.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the New England Patriots have done to the rest of the NFL and its fans. They have made their opponents “just happy to be here.”
The Patriots are the most hated team in professional sports today. That’s largely due to the fact they are the most successful sports dynasty of the 21st century.
In less than two weeks they will play in their record 10th Super Bowl, and hopefully win for a record-tying 6th time.
Of course, they are also despised for other reasons. Spygate, Deflategate, and several other alleged “gates” have also contributed to that elite level of hatred.
Toss in a genius coach who resembles an angry Yoda, a handsome quarterback with a supermodel wife, and a spoiled Boston fan base with 10 major sports championships in the last 16 years and you’ve got the perfect villain.
The Patriots are Big Tobacco. They are health insurance companies. They are that kid who lived down the street who always got the date you wanted.
They are that family in the neighborhood who always has the better-looking lawn, no matter how much you spend or how hard you work on yours.
If you had told me back in the 1980’s this would happen, I would have thought you were nuts.
Sitting on a cold aluminum bench in the league’s worst stadium watching the league’s worst team, the idea of anyone fearing the misfits from Foxboro was laughable.
But no one is laughing now — except us.
In less than two weeks, the Patriots will once again have the chance to disappoint the rest of the country. And the City of Brotherly Love and their loyal fans could be left having little beyond the honor of losing the Super Bowl to the best franchise in the history of football — again.
We are living sports history here. Enjoy it — we may never see its like again.
Go Pats.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and a Patriot season ticket holder since 1973. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.
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