I had every intention of doing another "Patriots changes by position" and concentrating on linebacker. Afterall, a lot has happened and a lot needed to happen. And Tyrone? Man, I had a few things to say about that, too. Until...I read our morning Shots Heard 'Round the Web. I swear, Marima puts these links in there on purpose. She KNOWS links like DJ Gallo's story will drive me nuts and get me ranting.
DJ Gallo of ESPN has jumped on the "Tom's gone soft" bandwagon and turbocharged it. Not only is he saying Tom Terrific has gone soft, but he titles his story, Brady's days as a great QB are done. Let's get this rant by using a quote from DJ's story:
And good for him. No one should begrudge Brady a thing. There isn't a guy out there who would turn down traveling the world with Gisele Bundchen on his arm.
It just probably means that Brady is done as a football player.
Really? How much do you know about football...DJ? If you were an industry insider, like Mike Lombardi or something, maybe I'd cozy up a little closer and give you the benefit of the doubt. However, your main contribution to this world is Sportspickle.com which is, in all essence, a sports satire site. It's kind of funny, I'll grant you that, but in no way, shape, or form should anyone assume there's meat to your statement that "Brady's days as a great QB are done".
Oh, and the "60 Minutes" interview? I've read the transcripts and viewed the interview a number of times. I've never gotten the impression Brady said, "that football wasn't necessarily doing it for him". Watch the whole interview and you'll get the gist of what he's trying to say. If you're lucky, you get to play football into the mid to late 30's. Then, you have 40 or so years to do something else. Shame on Brady for talking about that. Shame...shame...shame.
Apparently, we should see less of Tom wearing funny hats and more pictures of him rehabbing his knee and working out at Gillette Stadium. Would that satisfy you, DJ? Tom, on a stationary bike, sweating bullets while he pounds down a few Gatorades? I don't understand DJ Gallo's angle with this story other than to create a fervor, to incite commentary and hits. Tom did what a lot of guys do: flirt with his hot supermodel girlfriend, play with his son, and get married to previously mentioned hot supermodel girlfriend. Did I mention there's millions involved? Oh, you knew that.
Here's what I think (hope?). I think Tom is seething mad he couldn't complete the 19-0 deal that everyone was soooo ready for. Yes, I said "he couldn't complete" because EVERY champion believes the weight of the world is on his shoulders and his alone. I think he's seething mad about that and I think he's really peeved he wasn't running the show in 2008. Could they have gone much further with the injuries they had to endure? That's anyone's guess, but I do believe he has a burning desire to come back on fire, to prove to the world 2007 wasn't a fluke and to seal the deal one...more...time.
Tom's gone soft. Soft enough to air a floater into Moss's hands again...and again...and again... Because that's what we're going to see in 2009. Are you ready?