This was the greatest
- |
What if they had won? Suppose for a second that Asante Samuel had made that interception. Or imagine that Jarvis Green had wrapped up Eli Manning in the backfield. Think about a world in which the Patriots are coming off a perfect 19-0 season . . .
The world champion, greatest-ever Patriots would be playing at home tonight against the San Diego Chargers at Gillette. Traffic would already be backing up on Route 1 and you'd be icing your cooler and slapping some mayo on cold-cut sandwiches for a late-afternoon, four-hour tailgate.
The Madden Cruiser would be parked next to Davio's on the upper level of Patriot Place.
Tom Brady would be taking bows at the Republican Convention.
Jonathan Kraft would be using the new Vince Lombardi Trophy as a hood ornament for his Benz.
Copies of the Globe's "The Perfect Season'' (12 printings by now) would be on every coffee table in New England.
A fourth championship banner would be unveiled in the South end zone at the end of a lengthy pregame ceremony.
Mercury Morris would be harder to find than Whitey Bulger.
Eli Manning would still be Peyton's goofy younger brother and Ernie Accorsi would still be defending the deal that brought Eli to the Giants.
Humble Pie would be on the menu with the Kobe Sliders at the new CBS Scene at Patriots Place.
Red hoodie sweatshirts -- just like the one Bill Belichick wore in Glendale, Ariz. -- would be all the rage.
Content with his ring, Junior Seau would have announced his retirement.
There would be no television commercial featuring the Manning brothers eating Oreos opposite the Williams sisters.
David Tyree would not be making appearances at Barnes & Noble.
There would have been one of those epic springtime garden parties at Bob Kraft's house in Brookline to award the rings.
Senator Arlen Specter would be at a podium somewhere, shaking his fist and screaming about cheating.
Tom Coughlin would be an out-of-touch, oldschooler with a big hole in his resume.
Patriot fans would still read the Herald.
The Duck Boats would be in the repair shop for a 30,000-mile tuneup.
Patriot player media access would be reduced to five minutes per week.
Michael Strahan would still be playing football.
Seventeen Greater Boston television and radio stations would have paid for the rights to be the "official station of the World Champion Patriots.''
ESPN, HBO, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, the History Channel, and Lifetime would have produced documentaries about the greatest team of all time.
New England sports fans would be scorned nationwide as a legion of arrogant, entitled snobs who don't know what it's like to lose.
The Bruins would be very, very lonely.
Brady would not be asked any questions about his leg injury. He'd be in a club with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only QBs with four Super Bowl wins.
Scott Pioli would have his own show on Channel 38 entitled "Don't Ask the GM''.
Belichick would join Chuck Noll as the only two coaches to win four Super Bowls.
We'd be laughing at Plaxico Burress for his dopey prediction of victory.
WEEI would unveil Patriots Tuesday, Patriots Wednesday, and Patriots Thursday. The station's payroll would include the entire 53-man Patriot roster, and the eight-man practice squad.
Every bar in New England would have a photo of Brady, Kevin Garnett, and David Ortiz under the headline "Triple Crowns.''
There would be no questions about seven of the last nine Super Bowl runners-up failing to make the playoffs. There would only be talk of Perfectus Redux and Greatest Ever.
Alas, we live in an imperfect world. The Patriots lost Super Bowl XLII and they won't play in tonight's NFL national showcase opener. The Pats open Sunday at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. We get Dan Dierdorf and Greg Gumbel instead of Al Michaels and Madden. No shot at Perfect II.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, American football fans will watch Jets-Dolphins rather than the Super Bowl losers against the lowly Chiefs.
The Super Bowl shocker will always sting. It's doubtful the Pats, or any team, will ever get that close again.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. 
