What signifies a successful season in the National Football League? Is it a winning regular season? Advancing to the playoffs? Perhaps breaking records and setting new ones shows that you are a playmaker and are capable of achieving at the highest level. Most fans of the game, however, would agree that a team who plays in the Super Bowl and brings a championship back to their home city would wholeheartedly be successful.
How about if one player and head coach repeatedly had several winning seasons?
What if they advanced to the playoffs year in and year out. They continuously appeared in the Super Bowl. They won more times than any franchise in league history.
Is that team just lucky? Or truly successful?
Each one of the 32 professional football teams set their sights on advancing to the Super Bowl and hoisting the beloved Lombardi Trophy at the end of a successful season. Only one franchise seems to find themselves back in the big dance consistently. The New England Patriots have been that team.
Under the orchestration of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the expectation from their camp has been to win. How is this possible?
Act One: Who is this Brady Kid?
Immediately following a brutal hit to quarterback Drew Bledsoe during the season opener against the New York Jets in 2001, the world was introduced to Tom Brady. The tall, lanky, uncoordinated sophomore quarterback trotted onto the field and attempted to bring the New England Patriots a win.
Unfortunately, this game was not the beginning they had hoped for. In lieu of turning to the veteran quarterback, Bledsoe, they opted to start Brady. This decision by the organization meant that Drew Bledsoe had seen his final start with the Patriots, and it was Brady’s turn to shine.
In his very first Super Bowl appearance, the Patriots were going against a team known for their explosive playing style. The St. Louis Rams, better known as “The Greatest Show on Turf” were taking on the inexperienced Brady. The Rams came into this matchup just two years removed from their last Super Bowl championship. How would this daunting challenge play out?
Throughout the course of the game, the Patriots stayed ahead of the Rams 17-3. However, the Rams rallied and erased the deficit to tie the game 17-17 with just over a minute to play. Fourth quarter nerves seemed to appear across all spectators’ eyes. Would the Rams start their dynasty with a win against the Patriots? Or could the underdogs prove the world wrong and beat St. Louis?
Seven seconds were left on the clock and the heroics of kicker Adam Vinatieri put the ball through the uprights, winning the game for New England. Their very first Super Bowl appearance with Tom Brady as the starting quarterback and he won them a title, something nobody would have thought was possible for someone picked in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.
In 2003, Brady was at at the helm again as the Patriots found themselves in the Super Bowl. He was coming off a regular season throwing for 3,620 yards and connecting for 23 touchdowns. On the other side of the field stood the Carolina Panthers. The game proceeded to go back and forth with a tied score of 29-29 in the fourth quarter, and Brady had the football with 68 seconds left. Driving down the field, he put New England in position to try and win the game. Another clutch kick by Vinatieri gave the Patriots their second Super Bowl victory in three years.
By now, the world was starting to open up their eyes to the AFC East. The Patriots were starting something. They had a starting quarterback who was not selected in the first round of the draft. A head coach who was just starting to build success.
The city of Boston and the entire region of New England stood behind this potential dynasty, needing every reason to doubt that this was simply a fluke. Consequently, this team was almost sold and given up for adoption before all the winning began. Had it not been for Robert Kraft making a conscious decision to purchase the team in 1994, the Patriots would probably be in St. Louis.
As a result of their previous years as the AFC representative in the Super Bowl, everyone expected the 2004 season to be different. The Patriots were ready to start this dynasty.
After winning the AFC East, New England went on to face the Philadelphia Eagles in yet another Super Bowl. It took 236 passing yards and two passing touchdowns for Brady to bring the Patriots back to the fourth quarter of the biggest game of the year.
Another tied game with limited time on the playing clock placed them in position to try and win. One more Super Bowl and one last game-winning kick from Adam Vinatieri gave New England the victory after the Eagles tried to mount a late comeback.
Brady and the Patriots found themselves winning three Super Bowls in four seasons. This was unprecedented. No one expected them to win this many games. There was no way that this team, with that quarterback, was turning into a dynasty.
It seemed as if the Patriots were going to be a dynamic unbeatable force in the National Football League. Turns out, this was just the beginning of New England and their dominance over the next two decades.
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