Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Kicking another page off the sports calendar while also wondering which song best represents the ninth month of the year: Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" or Neil Diamond's "September Morn":
-Not sure whether a sad or celebratory song is called for with news of Tedy Bruschi's retirement.
Celebratory, because Bruschi's is the classic tale of a great guy making good. The longtime heart of the Patriots defense squeezed every last bit out of his ability. Along with Troy Brown, nobody better exemplified what the Pats were all about during their magical run atop the NFL.
Other than his father's death, I've never seen Bill Belichick more emotional, with New England's coach repeating over and over again how number-54 always "did the right thing." That right there should tell you all you need to know about Bruschi the player and the man.
Sad, because yet another link to the Patriots dynasty is gone. It's no coincidence that the defense's playoff performance has steadily declined as proven winners like Roman Phifer, Ted Johnson, Willie McGinest and Ty Law moved on. Now, an already questionable unit enters 2009 without a trio of veterans who may have played an even bigger role in New England's success: Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel and Bruschi.
No doubt all three were a shell of their former selves. But there's also very little doubt their presence will be missed as a young defense seeks to forge its own identity while carrying Super Bowl aspirations on its shoulders.
-Speaking of shoulders, I'm not overly concerned about the health of Tom Brady's. Brady will likely play opening day, though how much of an injury he sustained and how much it hampers him throughout the year remains to be seen.
No, I'm more concerned with how healthy Brady's relationship with the karma gods is. Let's face it. The guy led a pretty charmed life for a while. I mean, when things are going so well you can upgrade from a beautiful Hollywood starlet to a world famous supermodel, you have to figure some kind of Faustian bargain is at play. And as happens in any deal with the devil, the chips get called in at some point.
A subpar Super Bowl performance against the Giants, a season ending knee injury in his very next appearance on a football field and an unlucky landing on his right throwing wing just three exhibition games into the comeback seem to indicate a balancing of the luck scale is in progress.
Perhaps I'm a superstitious fool, or simply the latter, but I vividly remember when after 30-years, Lucky the Leprechaun deserted the Celtics for nearly three decades. One has to wonder if the same strange forces are at play with Tom Brady.
-Lastly, as the Patriots search for a legitimate backup to Brady, here's hoping their efforts land A.J. Feeley, the longtime Eagles backup who doesn't appear to have a home now that Michael Vick has landed in the City of Brotherly Love.
That's the view from here...how do you see things?
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Feeley dealt to the Pats by the Birds but 2 things to remember. 1- No way they deal him until Vick is reinstated which may not happen until week 6. 2 - I think the Birds are going to see if someone thinks Kevin Kolb has some sort of "pedigree" (sort of like Aaron Rodgers or Matt Schaub) which would cause some foolish team to give up a lot (maybe a 2nd round pick) for Kolb and keep Feeley as the backup. Feeley has moved the team much better in the preseason than Kolb.
I think Vick is going to be a 1-year experiment. Should he play well and fit in with the team (and Reid start making a "real" QB out of him) it wouldn't surprise me to see #5 traded away and Vick as the starter in 2010. In this scenario there is no place for a "QBOTF" like Kolb who's already been in the league a couple of years. I was very surprised to see the Pats ditch O'Connell so quickly without really another QB on the roster. I would have thought they'd keep Brady/Walter/O'Connell.