Patriots will struggle post-Brady

[Fishy]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/42588/patriots-will-struggle-in-post-tom-brady-era

I want to work for ESPN. I want to think of the most obvious stories and then present them as if I were reinventing the wheel.

I like #1....

No. 1: Patriots won't immediately find Brady's replacement

 

[Capt Tuttle]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/42588/patriots-will-struggle-in-post-tom-brady-era

I want to work for ESPN. I want to think of the most obvious stories and then present them as if I were reinventing the wheel.

I like #1....

No. 1: Patriots won't immediately find Brady's replacement

Think they figured that out after the Colts year last year?

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk 2

 

[NHUConnfan]

Lol, this article is obvious, but with the "offense is old" part, that assumes Brady is done in a couple of years. Pats are stocking up on young defensive players now because that's their immediate need. Eventually, they'll start drafting young offensive talent again. Half of the offense won't be playing football after 3 more years...so I'm not really sure how that factors into their calculations.

All I do know is that Robert Craft is a fantastic owner, and as long as he's at the helm, the Pats will do their best to put up a competitive team, something a lot of NFL franchises can't say about their owners.

 

[Waquoit]

All I do know is that Robert Craft is a fantastic owner, and as long as he's at the helm, the Pats will do their best to put up a competitive team, something a lot of NFL franchises can't say about their owners.

Ah you bought the hype, NH. Kraft has nothing to do with it. It's all Belichick. Once he's gone it will be back to the Pete Carroll days.

 

[dsturdy5]

Ah you bought the hype, NH. Kraft has nothing to do with it. It's all Belichick. Once he's gone it will be back to the Pete Carroll days.

Doubtful. They won't have the same level of consistent success they have had since 2001 but Kraft has admitted that he messed up the Carroll years by being way too involved in the football operations side of things. After the Parcells debacle, Kraft wanted so badly to stick it to the Tuna that he got himself too wrapped up in the football side of things. Something, Kraft said, Belichick brought to his attention during the interview process. Once he got Kraft to realize that he was a businessman, not a football man, BB knew the relationship would go well. Kraft has since said that he now knows his role in the operation of a football team. It took him three coaches to figure it out but he gets it.

 

[Waquoit]

It took him three coaches to figure it out but he gets it.

What does he get? Hire a football genius and stay out of the way? Brilliant. Reminds me of Steve Martin's advice on how to make a million dollars and not pay taxes. "First make a million dollars."

Kraft gets credit for hiring Belechick. And he gets credit for maximizing revenues. That's it. The only credit he should get for the product on the field is from the BB hire. The Krafts get credit for stuff they didn't do. The team was selling out and had a waiting list for season tickets before he bought it. Something the Krafts don't go out of their way to correct when someone gives them credit for tuning around the franchise. It was the Tuna that turned the Pats around and no one else. There aren't many Belechick's out there. I wouldn't be surprised if they sell at the top of the market when BB leaves. Their casino play fell through and that Partriot's Place thing seems like a money pit to me.

 

[dsturdy5]

He bought the team in January of 1994. They had NOT been selling out regularly prior to that. Want proof? Their final home game of 1993, an OT win knocking the Dolphins out of the playoffs was not on the air in the Boston market due to it not being sold out.

You don't read too well. He know understands that he was too involved in the day-to-day football operations of the team under both Parcells, which helped drive Parcells out, and Carroll. That ultimately led to Carroll's downfall. The team was going behind Pete's back to Kraft and Bobby Grier with complaints about everything from locker placement to playing time. Read the book "The Blueprint" by Christopher Price. This is discussed in detail.

Bob Kraft was interviewed after the 1998 draft and talked about how he personally worked out Tebucky Jones, there is a picture of him with a stopwatch around his neck timing Jones at the combine, and he was calling him "possibly the best press corner he had ever scouted." He sounded a lot like Jerry Jones, his idol. Now when he is asked about draft picks he defers all questions to the "football people".

Edit: I suppose he shouldn't receive credit for paying for a stadium himself either. He also split the cost of infrastructure improvements along route 1 in Foxboro, something originally left for the state to pay for.

 

[Waquoit]

Now when he is asked about draft picks he defers all questions to the "football people".

So you agree, post-BB Pat success will depend not on Kraft but on whoever he brings in.

 

[dsturdy5]

So you agree, post-BB Pat success will depend not on Kraft but on whoever he brings in.

In large part it is on the next coach. NFL is a coach and players league, unlike, say, the NBA or MLB which are largely players league. It will also be on whomever the decision makers are. I would also assume he would give BB control over his replacement as a coach if he so desires. This is why it won't go back to the "Pete Carroll days" as you said in a prior post, which is what I was taking exception to.

Also, you nicely avoided that you made up the "fact" that the Krafts had nothing to do with the sell out streak.

 

[Rondogg]

Being a Patriots fan, it has been an incredible decade with 3 mind numbing bad bad bad losses that stand out and still hurt. They have been incredibly lucky in the QB department since Drew Bledsoe in 1993. Only Green Bay has had as much success.

 

[upstater]

Offense: Hernandez, Gronkowski, Vereen, Ridley, Solder, Cannon, Connolly. They have 7 guys that are young and who will likely be around on offense in 3 or 4 years. They obviously need to get quite a few more.

 

[Waquoit]

Also, you nicely avoided that you made up the "fact" that the Krafts had nothing to do with the sell out streak.

I'm working off memory, but the sellouts when the Tuna started winning. Ticket sales were in the 20K's before Tuna. I still say the ship had turned around before the Krafts took over. I didn't spend a ton of time, but it's funny that it's easier to find attendance data for UConn hoop than the NFL.

 

[upstater]

I'm working off memory, but the sellouts when the Tuna started winning. Ticket sales were in the 20K's before Tuna. I still say the ship had turned around before the Krafts took over. I didn't spend a ton of time, but it's funny that it's easier to find attendance data for UConn hoop than the NFL.

The only reason attendance was down in the first place was the Kiam/Orthwein debacle. That last for 3 years. I used to go to Patriots games often in the late 1980s when I lived in Boston. The place was sold out and jam-packed. Then they went through hell in the early 90s. That was the only down period that I can remember.

 

[Waquoit]

The only reason attendance was down in the first place was the Kiam/Orthwein debacle. That last for 3 years. I used to go to Patriots games often in the late 1980s when I lived in Boston. The place was sold out and jam-packed. Then they went through hell in the early 90s. That was the only down period that I can remember.

So the thing turned around when Tuna started winning?

 

[upstater]

So the thing turned around when Tuna started winning?

No, it turned around with Bledsoe. Tuna started winning almost immediately, but actually, the first year they went 5-11. But that season they filled the stadium.

 

[dsturdy5]

According to the team media guide, the 1993 home attendance figures:

54,151; 50,392; 51,037; 54,326; 42,810; 29,794; 26,571; 53,883

That was Tuna and Bledsoe's first year.