FOXBORO — It never gets old being a New England Patriots fan.
It never gets old seeing another Lombardi Trophy banner find its place above the south end zone at Gillette Stadium.
It never gets old seeing Tom Brady sprint out to a Jay Z song as a sudden roar rolls through the stands.
It never gets old watching Bill Belichick laugh at the rest of the NFL as he manages the salary cap with aplomb and seemingly always has the flexibility to fill a hole in his [...]
FOXBORO — It never gets old being a New England Patriots fan.
It never gets old seeing another Lombardi Trophy banner find its place above the south end zone at Gillette Stadium.
It never gets old seeing Tom Brady sprint out to a Jay Z song as a sudden roar rolls through the stands.
It never gets old watching Bill Belichick laugh at the rest of the NFL as he manages the salary cap with aplomb and seemingly always has the flexibility to fill a hole in his roster. This year’s addition tops them all: the ridiculously gifted but narcissistic Antonio Brown.
Of course, it’s winning that, most importantly, never gets old for Patriots fans. Facing a seemingly dangerous foe in the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on opening night, the Pats faced minimal push-back in rolling to a 33-3 victory. If Ben Roethlisberger and his pals are really supposed to be a top three or four team in the AFC, this is going to be an easy ride to 12 or 13 wins and another AFC Championship Game.
The pilgrims found their seats early so they could explode with glee when owner Robert Kraft gave the signal and the retired (for now) Rob Gronkowski threw down a celebratory spike as the final cue to unveil the franchise’s sixth championship banner.
After a hiccup or two on the first possession, Brady settled in nicely, mixing and matching receivers and keeping the confused Steelers completely off stride. He tossed two first-half touchdown passes, the first a short dump off to Josh Gordon, who turned upfield and impersonated Randy Moss on an eye-opening, tackle-breaking 20-yard gallop into the end zone. The second came when Brady found Phillip Dorsett knifing up the seam in Pittsburgh’s defense for a 25-yard catch. That score put the Pats in complete control, 17-0. When the Steelers couldn’t pick up a first down on fourth-and-1, the Pats took over with 1:57 left in the half and tacked on another field goal to enter intermission in complete command, 20-0.
The painful vigil to see if the Steeler offense could get anything done finally ended at the start of the second half. Roethlisberger hit running back James Washington on a 45-yard pass play but the drive stalled at the Patriots 1-yard line. Instead of showing confidence in his team, Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin weakly chose to get on the scoreboard and kick a field goal.
As if on cue, the Patriots shoved the Steelers back in their place on the next possession when Brady went deep to Dorsett for a 58-yard TD pass and a 27-3 lead. The Steelers never recovered.
The predictions of a stout, multiple front defense being a team strength for the Pats certainly came true in Week 1. Roethlisberger threw for a pedestrian 277 yards after feeling pressure from all corners and dealing with the Super Bowl champs’ deep collection of defensive backs.
In between New England highlights, it was impossible not to scan the sidelines in search of a glimpse of Brown, the mercurial receiver who will officially join the Pats on Monday. At mid-day Brown’s private plane landed at T.F. Green Airport but he apparently never made it to the stadium. He was no doubt settling into his new digs, wherever they may be. Interestingly, NBC's Al Michaels reported that agent Drew Rosenhaus told him that Brady insisted Brown should “come move in with me until you get settled in New England.”
Wonder what Gisele would think of AB moving into the guest house in Brookline?
How the Patriots welcome and integrate Brown into the mix will define not only the next week or two but the eventual success of the entire season. If all goes smoothly, the promise of a combination of Brown, Julian Edelman and Gordon is downright scary. It almost doesn’t seem fair.
Of course, the chances of everything unfolding smoothly with someone like Brown are close to impossible. Consider that in the last month alone he didn’t practice after spending too long frying in a cryogenic chamber and then insisting on wearing a helmet banned by the NFL. He nearly punched Raiders general manager Mike Mayock and hit YouTube with a video featuring some secretly recorded audio from Raiders coach Jon Gruden.
After daring the Raiders to release him, the team did so on Saturday and Brown lost $29 million in guaranteed money. His response? A full sprint celebration out of his house while screaming “I’m free!” all captured on social media, of course.
Within an hour or two, news broke that Brown was snatched up by the Patriots. Now we’ll watch the biggest-ever test of the so-called Patriot Way. Brown has shown he’s self-centered and ego-driven. He frequently kept the Steelers waiting for him at meetings and refused to play in the 2018 season finale even with a playoff berth on the line.
That act won’t play with Belichick and Brady, but just watch. Belichick will no doubt structure Brown’s contract where he’ll get his $10 million but the other $5 mill will come with appearance clauses. If Brown doesn’t toe the line, he’ll get shown the door.
The Patriots will have plenty of time to let the drama surrounding Brown settle. Over the next six weeks, they don’t face a single team considered anywhere near playoff worthy. That stretch begins next Sunday against a Dolphins team that opened the Brian Flores era with a 59-10 loss.
Some things never change. This never gets old. We’re on to Miami.
kmcnamar@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @KevinMcNamara33