Rally round new play caller
- |
WHILE IT is heartbreaking to realize that Tom Brady's season is over, we, his fans, have a critical job to do. When Drew Bledsoe fell in the line of duty in 2001, we were asked to embrace a young, untested, unknown quarterback. We did, and the rest is headline-grabbing history.
We must do it again. Matt Cassel might be unknown to us, but he is not unknown to the New England Patriots. He has trained hard and built bonds with his teammates that allowed him to come in off the sidelines and bring the team to victory on Sunday. Brady is not Bledsoe. He never tried to be. He has been a leader who left it all on the field, who kept getting up until he could no longer stand. Cassel will not be Brady. If he's as smart as I think he is, he won't try to be. What he will be is a leader who will give us his best. The Patriots would accept nothing less.
Let's rally around an unknown, untested quarterback once again. It worked out pretty well last time.
MOLLY K. JOHNSON
Winchester
From Feb. 9, 2002
THE NEW England Patriots' improbable storybook finish to a storybook season is tangible proof that dreams do come true.
I was at the first game ever played at Foxboro Stadium (then called Schaefer Stadium) with my dad and brother. Now, three decades later, how appropriate that the three of us were together again for that unforgettable and dramatic moment when Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal from 48 yards as time expired and the Patriots became Super Bowl champions.
There is much to be garnered from this Patriots season: Never give up, never lose sight that teamwork is the cornerstone of success, and know that overcoming adversity is the true test of a champion.
The players, coaches, management, and fans can now celebrate unabashedly for the first time in the team's 42-year history.
LARRY A. KAPLAN
