5 takeaways from episodes 1 and 2 of ‘The Dynasty: New England Patriots’
A few thoughts on Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe, and the beginning of the Patriots' dynasty.
The first shot of Apple TV’s 10-part Patriots documentary “The Dynasty” is of Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field-goal to end Super Bowl XXXVI, which kicks off a three-minute montage of the highs and lows of the Patriots dynasty.
The moments flash quickly. Vinatieri leaps with both fists in the air as he celebrates the kick. A smiling Bill Belichick waves from the red carpet. There’s championship footage, as well as a snippet of quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Giselle Bunchden on the red carpet.
Some darker moments surface as well. Aaron Hernandez is shown being led out of his North Attleborough home in handcuffs after the murder of Odin Lloyd. Brady throws a tablet in frustration. “There’s going to be some things that aren’t [expletive] great,” Belichick says shortly after a commentator talks about the inevitability of a Belichick-Brady breakup.
Beyond the montage, the first two episodes take a pretty narrow focus. The first episode begins with Robert Kraft’s purchase of the team in 1994. The second one concludes with the Patriots’ victory over the Raiders in the Snow Bowl.
The bulk of the first two episodes deals with the 2001 season and the rise of Brady from fourth-string quarterback to starter.
Here are five takeaways from episodes 1 & 2.
Bledsoe wasn’t worried about Brady…until it was too late.
At the time, Drew Bledsoe figured that he didn’t have to worry about Tom Brady.
Bledsoe was a former No. 1 overall pick who had just signed a $103 million contract and was the face of the franchise.
Brady was a sixth-round pick who came into training camp as the team’s fourth option at quarterback. Former teammate David Nugent described Brady as slow, awkward looking, with a running style similar to that of a baby giraffe.
“He was never a threat,” Bledsoe said. “This was not the guy that I was worried about.”
But, when Bledsoe was knocked out of a game against the Jets after a vicious hit from New York linebacker Mo Lewis, Brady took the reins as the starter and never looked back.
“I was angry,” Bledsoe’s wife, Maura said. “The Patriots brought him in at 21 years old and he had built this team, this franchise. For this one hit to change everything, I just think there’s no loyalty.”
Players were split on Brady vs. Bledsoe.
Brady, of course, was not a superstar quarterback at the time. He was much more of a game manager.
He admitted that the Patriots were beating teams like the Colts because New England’s defense was playing really well.
But as the team kept winning games while Bledsoe was hurt, some players were split on who should start when Bledsoe returned.
“Me and Lawyer looked at it and said, ‘Man when Drew comes back, his {expletive] is back on the bench,'” said Ty Law.
Milloy recalled things differently, saying, “In the back of my mind, we were probably like, ‘shut the f*** up. This is Drew’s team.”
Tom Brady said Ty Law ‘fleeced’ him on condo sale.
One of the funnier moments was when Brady talked about the condo he bought from Ty Law during his rookie season.
Law claims that he cut Brady a good deal on the place.
“Put it this way, I left $150,000 on the table,” Law said. “That’s why I’m going to call him now when we’re done. Tom owes me $150,000.”
“He’s full of [expletive]. Ty fleeced me,” Brady said. “And then Ty thinks, ‘oh, I gave you some big gift.’ I’m like ‘Ty, I overpaid.’ I love Ty to death, but no, you didn’t give me a [expletive] deal Ty. Get that [expletive] out of here.”
Brady’s temper
David Nugent, a former Patriots defensive lineman who was Brady’s roommate at the time, said he saw glimpses of Brady’s legendary competitiveness during games of Tecmo Bowl on the weekends.
“If he was losing that game, he would go from zero to 100 very quickly,” Nugent said. “He became a different person. He did not want to lose and he found out that if you stomp on the floor hard enough, it would restart the system.
“So, if he knew he knew he was about to lose he wouldn’t accept that and he would just stomp on the floor and start the game over,” Nugent said. “This happened over and over again. We had dents in our wall from him just taking the controller and just launching it as hard as he could into the wall. He was just like a crazy man.”
Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr., recalled a similar story from Brady’s childhood.
“One time he took the remote and threw it as hard as he could at the wall,” the elder Brady said. “I asked my wife about the hole in the wall, and I said ‘what is that?’ She said ‘Tommy’s temper.'”
Snow Bowl recollections
The Patriots’ win over the Raiders in the 2001 Divisional Round ended up being the last game ever played at Foxboro Stadium.
Former Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams said the snow that was falling on the field made it feel like something special was about to happen.
“It was like the weather Gods just dialed it up for us all over the field,” Adams said. “For us it was a kind of a magical night. It felt like fate. I remember walking out on the field for pregame and I thought: ‘Man, we are going to shock the world today.'”
It took a controversial call to extend the Patriots’ final drive. Brady appeared to fumble the ball, but the call was overturned.
“I mean, it felt like a fumble to me and it looked like a fumble to basically everyone else,” Brady said. “Except that’s not the way the rule was written. So, we didn’t write the [expletive] rule.”
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