5 takeaways from episodes 7 and 8 of ‘The Dynasty: New England Patriots’
The latest two episodes focused on the 2014-2016 Patriots, including Deflategate, Jimmy Garoppolo, and the greatest Super Bowl comeback ever.
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For the New England Patriots and their fanbase, the two-year stretch from 2014-2016 was tumultuous and jam-packed.
There was the Malcom Butler interception, Deflategate, the drafting of Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, and of course, the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Such a successful three-season timeframe in New England was certainly not without its drama, and episodes 7 and 8 of “The Dynasty: New England Patriots” captured the highs and lows of those years.
Here are five takeaways from the latest two installments in the series.
Tom Brady’s reaction to Deflategate
The Patriots were embroiled in controversy once again back in 2014, after the Baltimore Ravens tipped off the Indianapolis Colts that New England was using under-inflated footballs in the playoffs.
Fans who were hoping for Brady to come out in the documentary and call out that scandal didn’t get that level of closure. In fact, Brady declined to comment on Deflategate entirely, explaining that he reached a point where he had to let that whole thing go.
That being said, Darrelle Revis gave viewers a taste of how Brady felt throughout the turmoil, recalling the quarterback’s passionate speech to the locker room about it.
“You could tell he was distraught,” Revis said. “He said, ‘This is something I would not do. I would not ruin the season for us. The allegations are false’ … he was actually bawling his eyes out in front of us.”
The documentary seemed to take a neutral stance on the matter, addressing the evidence of wrongdoing while also pointing out how minuscule the issue would have been in the grand scheme of things.
Robert Kraft thinks Roger Goodell’s punishment was purposefully harsh
Handing Tom Brady a four-game suspension and hefty fines to the Patriots based on the term “more probable than not” seemed to be an overreaction by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Robert Kraft spoke candidly about why he thought that punishment was handed down.
“Once the NFL came out with their very harsh ruling, I realized that the league was not our ally,” Kraft said. “Because of the solid relationship I had with commissioner Goodell, he probably had to go overboard to make sure no one could accuse him of equivocating or being soft.”
Kraft had developed such a good relationship with Goodell and the NFL that when Spygate happened, the punishment seemed too light. In Kraft’s mind, and possibly others, Deflategate was his way of making up for that.
Drafting Jimmy Garoppolo was a turning point in the Brady-Belichick relationship
If there was one moment that signified the beginning of the end for Brady and Belichick, it was the 2014 NFL draft.
New England was coming off its fourth Super Bowl victory with Brady, yet Belichick still used a second-round pick to select his future quarterback, rather than addressing other team needs.
Brady had already publicly stated he wanted to play into his mid-40s, so drafting his successor so early on did not go over well. Brady didn’t plan on losing his job any time soon.
Despite being in the same QB room for over a year by 2016, Jimmy Garopolo struggled when a reporter asked him what the best advice Brady ever gave him was. As a young QB who was about to step in for four games while Brady faced a suspension, it feels like Garoppolo should have been getting loads of advice from the greatest to ever play his position.
Brady wasn’t just treated the same, at times he was treated worse
One of the things that helped establish the Patriots’ culture was Belichick treating every player the same, not giving special treatment to any one player, even Brady.
However, it seems at times Belichick took that an extra step in the opposite direction, treating Brady worse at times.
“Coach Belichick, being Coach Belichick, held Tom to even a higher standard than everyone else. Do I think Tom felt disrespected? Yeah, I think so,” Matthew Slater said.
“I don’t think I would want to be treated differently, but I would want a certain level of respect … It just felt like at times with Belichick, we lost the game even though we won. It was brutal. I mean, not only was he critical of every player in there, but he was extremely critical of Tom.”
It’s a double-edged sword, because being critical and expecting perfection from Brady likely played a role in his incredible success as a quarterback. But, it seems there were times Belichick could have held back more.
“[Tom Brady] is Freddy (expletive) Krueger”
Scott Pioli told a story from Super Bowl 51 that even further immortalizes Brady’s greatness.
Pioli, the Falcons assistant general manager in 2016, who previously worked for the Patriots, was the only person in the Falcons’ personnel department suite that was nervous while up 28-3 in what became the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
“As I’m sitting there, somebody comes up, slaps me on the back and says, ‘Come on Scott, lighten up, you have to enjoy this moment,’ and I just erupted,” Pioli said. “And I whipped around and said, ‘You (expletive) people don’t get it. That guy No. 12 across the field is Freddy (expletive) Krueger.
“‘He’s coming back, and he’s going to get a bunch of us. I just hope he doesn’t get us all.'”
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