Super Bowl XXXIX Recap
When the final seconds ticked off the clock of Super Bowl XXXVIII, I had one goal in mind for the New England Patriots - Win XXXIX. A victory in that game would give the Patriots three Super Bowl victories in four years. It would match a feat accomplished only by the legendary 90's Dallas Cowboys. I explained in my playoff preview, how difficult it was for me growing up, to watch my sister's Cowboys rack up the Lombardi trophies while my team sat in the cellar. So needless to say, these three titles have combined into something that holds special meaning for me outside of the way that they have firmly cemented my team in NFL history as a dyna...
Yeah, about the "D" word. I have to admit that I was as wrapped up in all the dynasty talk as anyone. I couldn't wait to have my team named among the legendary Packers, Steelers, Niners, and Cowboys. You can barely go a paragraph in the entire 2004 section of "The Bunker" without reading over that word. Our game versus the Eagles in Jacksonville was more about validating our previous two trophies than it was about capturing a third. For me, that's what the season was all about, becoming a dynasty. And who could blame me? It's every fan's dream to have his team become the dominant franchise of an era. After what this team's accomplished, people will forever be talking about these title runs. And every time I hear it mentioned, I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I was a small part of it all. So yes, becoming a dynasty was extremely important to me. But I was wrong to think that it was what the season was all about. Because as the confetti flew in the night air, the Patriots were anything but one.
For two weeks Bill Belichick had been tip-toeing around the topic of "dynasty" with reporters. Jimmy Johnson got the most out of him, quoting Belichick as saying that he considered the 90's Cowboys to be a dynasty. By using some simple logic, it's not hard to figure out that by winning Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots would have matched that Cowboys team by earning three titles in four years, and therefore would solidify them as a dynasty in their coach's mind. So when Terry Bradshaw made his way up to the champion's podium and asked Bill if his team was now considered a dynasty, I was ready for the coach to officially cement this team in the annals of NFL history. "Say it Bill! Say it! We've waited too long!" But Belichick still wouldn't say the "D" word. None of his players would either. All night, the Patriots frustrated reporters by answering the dynasty question with, "If that's what you want to call us, fine. But I'm not saying it." I'll admit, it initially frustrated me too. I'd been waiting all year for this, hoping for it to come, following this team every step of the way. We were a dynasty! This was what we'd been playing for all year! They've earned this! Why wouldn't they say it?
I really didn't get it until I was driving home that night. I finally realized what the term "dynasty" implied. It's a word that's really used to describe a reign of dominance by an empire. But it's a word used to describe that reign after the fact. I'm sure that the leader of the Ming Dynasty didn't call his reign "The Ming Dynasty." He probably didn't call it anything. It's the historical scholars that coined the term after the fact. Hundreds of years from now, if America is no longer the world super power, historical scholars will come up with a name for this era in our history. But we don't say that we're a part of the "American Empire". And that's exactly why the Patriots wouldn't say the "D" word. They aren't finished.
By calling these past four years a dynasty, the Patriots are saying that they're done. They're saying they've accomplished everything that they set out to do, and they're satisfied. Believe me, they aren't. Not the fans, not the players, and certainly not the coach. Three out of four titles is amazing. Four out of five, and three in a row is even better. There are still records to be broken, there's still a 19-0 record to be had. This team isn't ready, and it certainly isn't willing to go come back down and take its place among the mediocre.
In the aftermath of Super Bowl XXXIX, I heard many reporters give their predictions for Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Every one of them picked the Eagles. Not one picked the Patriots. Not one. And they have the audacity to think that the cries of "No Respect" from the Patriots nation are unjustified. Suddenly the Patriots are going to be crippled by losing Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel. Yeah, just like we were crippled when we lost Drew Bledsoe, Lawyer Milloy, and Ty Law. What they still haven't realized is that this team is the best. Not of this season, or the last, but in history. They can't comprehend that the whole is so much greater than the sum of their parts. That things like integrity, hard work, and determination will win out time and time again over hollow talent. And until they do, they'll continue to fuel the fire that resides within the belly of this organization. There is only one thing on our mind - XL. Forget XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. They're history. They might be labled a dynasty, but the Patriots are 0-0 just like everybody else. They know it, and they won't be stopped until they once again rise above every competitor and raise that trophy into the air once more.
This isn't a dynasty. This isn't over.
