"It's been an awesome year."
no, IT FUCKING HASN'T. It's been ugly, sould-crushing, unfair, and downright atrocious at times. I wish I weren't a football fan. To hear the media licking Manning's ass for the next two weeks is going to be hell. And all my friends, and even random people who just know me as that die-hard Pats fan, who are going to smile and joke about PAT records and the Greatest of All Time, which I'll inevitably end up responding to with a fake smile on my face, looking away, and shaking my head.
And then Brady, a football player whose competitiveness, drive, leadership, and abilities under pressure I've related to and admired since being a six-year old kid watching Super Bowl XXXVIII, not even really understanding anything except I wanted the guys in blue with that guy throwing the ball to win. I feel SO FUCKING BAD for him. You think he's going to bed tonight being grateful for his wife, family, and wealth? Hell no, and I KNOW. Because I've been there, being insanely lucky for having the life I do, and that one failure just consuming me until I finally pull it back together.
I didn't even want to think, after that game-tying, last-minute, two-point conversion failure that I predicted 5 seconds after Gostkowski missed the PAT. I just slowly went to my room to escape my laughing siblings, desperately packing the things I need to move back into my college dorm in a couple days (which my mom had been begging me to do for days). Call being a football fan stupid, and maybe it is. But I wanted Brady to win a fifth ring a hell of a lot more than I've wanted a great deal of things for myself.
I don't even feel bad for myself, really. My life will go on. But for Brady, for a man that's poured his entire life for one thing, to be utterly and totally let down by his Offensive Line, specifically Marcus Cannon, has to be completely demoralizing. He deserves better. From his teammates, from the coaching staff that maybe should have focused on the O-line more in drafts, and especially from the NFL, media, and fans that have consistently DISRESPECTED a man that has done more meaningful things with his life that some families (ie Mannings) haven't accomplished in several generations.
Life's not fair, I get it. Time to move on. Good luck Brady, let's hope that this time next year, you'll have one more chance, to Beat the Odds.