Page 8 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 Brady or Belichick? The Coach or the QB? Which one? It doesn’t matter! Strive for sanity, folks: Be content with all the joy, excitement and pride the Patriots have delivered through the years By Steve Freker I t started way back on St. Patrick’s Day, 2020, oh, about 1.72 seconds after Tom Brady confirmed the inevitable. TB12’s “other” size 13 cleat finally dropped. He was leaving – for real. Less than two seconds after, the New England Patriots faithful collectively sighed and exclaimed, in unison, “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe he’s leaving!”...It began. “The Question,” we can call it. “The Question,” of course, is “Which came fi rst, the chicken or the egg?” “The Question,” coming in on most charts at 1.72 seconds after Brady’s announcement (an undocumented report had it coming at 1.51 seconds) was, naturally, “Who was more important to the Patriots’ unprecedented two-decade dynasty of NFL dominance, Head Coach Bill Belichick or Quarterback Tom Brady?” For some people, who may have made a full-course meal out of all the ins and outs of The Question for the past, well, nearly a year now, it was an all-consuming, never-ending crusade. “We must know! We must have the answer! For the love of Tony Danza, who’s the boss? In the name of Reggie Jackson, who really stirred the drink?? For all that is sacred in the realm of Foghorn Leghorn, who truly ruled the roost? Who, WHO, WHOOO!!!!” How about this one: neither! ~FLASHBACK~ 29th in a series of It’s a tall order, but if you really have even a modicum of faith, it is possible to imagine that lots of real Patriots fans could care less about “The Question.” In fact, they might find it more than mildly irritating that the line of “questioning” even exists. Take myself for instance. My Patriots roots come from the dirt parking lot (which turned to mud if someone so much as spit on it) days of the original Schaefer Stadium. That is, a dirt parking lot with no marked lines. They basically threw up a cement block, bare bones, no niceties football stadium in the middle of a barren section of land on the Foxboro-Wrentham line and “The Question” arose nearly a year ago when former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (left) announced he was leaving the team. Immediately, in some quarters a question arose: Was it Brady or head coach Bill Belichick (right) who was the main man in the dynasty? (Courtesy Photo) called it an NFL stadium. We were happy for any wins. Forget about Bill Belichick. We thought that Chuck Fairbanks walked on water in the late 1970s. The 1980s were a nightmare, except 1985-1986, of course. The highlight of a least a couple of journeys to the then Sullivan Stadium was not winning or losing, it was watching one of our friends throw half of the Hibachi griddle through some random window in the parking lot. Again, Belichick who? Bill Parcells was soon regarded by many of us as the greatest coach in Boston sports history when he took over in the mid-1990s, bar none! For an entire generation, our life’s regret is that we did not purchase Patriots season tickets when they could still PATRIOTS | SEE Page 16 The Revere Little League hosted their annual telethon back in 2012 to raise funds for their program with some special donors who included school board member Carol Tye, Mayor Dan Rizzo, union, and city councillors Ira Novoselsky and Tony Zambuto. Tom Brady (left) is back in the Super Bowl on Sunday, leading the Tampa Buccaneers against Patrick Mahomes (right) and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Tampa. (Courtesy Photo)
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