There must be something wrong with me. I feel like I should be celebrating the likely end of the Brady-Belichick in New England, the best dynasty in NFL history, yes, a dynasty that tops the Packers, Steelers and 49ers dynasties from earlier times. There even has been speculation Tom Brady will retire or play for another team next season. I should be screaming with joy, right?
So why am I so sad?
I know why.
Just because all good things must end doesn't make it easier to take when a rare and spectacular brand of greatness is finished. I have loved every minute of watching Brady play the past 20 years, even when he was torturing the Steelers. I'm guessing sports people felt the same way when they watched Babe Ruth.
Logan Ryan of the Tennessee Titans celebrates his touchdown against the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Foxborough, Mass.
The greatest of all time comes around just one time.
We are damn lucky to have been able to see Brady play at his best. I'm disappointed those days are gone after the Patriots' 20-13 playoff loss Saturday night to the Tennessee Titans in Foxborough, Mass., even if he comes back for another season.
I'm trying hard to remember the old adage:
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
Excuses are being made for Brady, especially in New England. He didn't have his center, David Andrews, all season. He didn't have capable wide receivers other Julian Edelman and was openly saddened when Antonio Brown lasted just one game with the Patriots. He didn't have Rob Gronkowski, the greatest tight end the NFL game has known.
All of that is true.
But it's just as true that Brady isn't what he once was. Not at 42. Not with Father Time, which is and always will be undefeated, a more dogged opponent than any he faces on the football field. His game has slipped, the same thing happening to him that happened to Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and so many others before him. There were other reasons the Patriots lost to the Titans _ the 182 rushing yards by Titans back Derrick Henry come to mind _ but Brady has to take his share of the blame. He couldn't lead his team to any second-half points, just the third time in 41 playoff games that the Patriots were shut out in the second half. It was just his fourth loss in 24 postseason games at home.
Bills fan Stephanie Baxter dances with Steelers fan Alicia McKenzie at the tailgate party before the Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills in the last home game of the season for the Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, outside of Heinz Field on the North Shore.
Still, it doesn't seem fair that Brady's final pass for the Patriots _ maybe his final pass, period _ could go down as a pick-six by the Titans. I took no pleasure in seeing that. But, of course, as we all know, life isn't always fair. And it's not as if life hasn't treated Brady pretty darn well. He and Bill Belichick have won six Super Bowls and gone to three others. Their staggering streak of making it to the AFC championship game has ended at eight. They have won 219 games together and 17 AFC East titles.
"I love the Patriots. It's the greatest organization," Brady said. "Playing for Mr. (Robert) Kraft all these years and for coach Belichick, there's nobody who's had a better career, I would say, than me just being with them. So I'm very blessed ...
"I don't know what the future looks like so I'm not going to predict it."
I get that many people never will give Brady, Belichick and the Patriots their just due because of SpyGate. Steelers fans, especially, are convinced the Patriots cheated the Steelers out of two trips to the Super Bowl. I am not in that crowd. I've always sided with Bill Cowher, who has said repeatedly the Patriots were the better team and won fair and square. The Patriots didn't beat the Steelers by cheating. They won because they had Brady.
Now, it might be over.
Brady said after the game Saturday night that it's "pretty unlikely" that he will retire, then called it "hopefully unlikely" a few moments later. It's hard to imagine him playing for another team _ he's a free agent and the Patriots can't put the franchise tag on him _ but it was just as hard to imagine Unitas and Namath playing elsewhere. I just hope Brady doesn't crawl to the finish line the way they did.
"It's been the experience of a lifetime," Patriots longtime captain Matthew Slater said of playing with Brady.
The same is true for those of us who have been lucky enough to watch the greatest of all time.
