Patriots Fans Should Stop Defending Themselves

I don't know why I still get surprised when someone feels the need to take a shot at Tom Brady, but I do.

On Sunday night, I posted an inspiring story that outlined the perseverance of Tom Brady from bench warmer on his high school football team, to bench warmer on his college football team, to fourth-string quarterback on the Patriots, to the greatest football player of all time.

It was one of those stories that go beyond football. It was a story of the strength of human will. It was such a feel-good story about never letting anyone shatter your dreams that I read it to my son as a bedtime story Sunday night, then shared it on my Facebook page.

This morning, I woke up to someone who somehow read the same story and felt the need to post a negative comment about Brady on my wall. It was incredible to me that this was their takeaway. Talk about missing the point. I's just a mindset that I don't comprehend.

I actually feel sorry for someone that is so closed-minded that they can't see (and enjoy) the greatness of TB12. Each Brady Super Bowl – even the ones he lost – were historical events. Watching Brady play football is like having the chance to see Babe Ruth hit a home run, Michael Jordan dunk a ball, or Bobby Orr leap across the ice after scoring a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals. You don't want to miss out on this stuff even if you aren't a Patriots fan.

For many Patriot and Brady haters, though, they just can't do it.

For most of the civilized world, the GOAT debate ended after the 28-3 comeback against the Falcons. Brady gave New England an extra Super Bowl win after that just for good measure. Did the haters not see this stuff on TV? Because it was pretty big.

Brady has an asterisk next to his name, they say, but there’s no asterisk next to the pure joy Tom Brady has given me watching him win six Super Bowls. That was quite a ride. My family and I will never forget that fun for as long as I live. I feel bad for people that missed it.

I realized this morning that debating Patriots haters is like talking politics in 2020. It’s just a waste of time. I’ll never convince them – and they’ll never convince me. No one is going to change anyone's mind in a Facebook post. So why try?

The most liberating part of it, though, is that it simply doesn’t matter. Patriots fans don’t need anyone else to be convinced to enjoy the six championships. The fact remains that those Super Bowl wins all really happened. As much as the haters will cry about soft footballs and the Russians colluding with Belichick to spy on other teams, there’s simply nothing they can say or do to take away the Lombardi Trophies that have piled up in the Patriots Hall of Fame over the past two decades.

I don't need everyone in the world to be a Patriots fan. I don't need everyone in the world to believe Brady is the GOAT. To deny it is like denying that the sky is blue.

Patriot blue.