How exactly can someone not be entertained with the play of their favorite team in a year where they won a world title. I don't get that.
I guess maybe it's too far to say I wasn't entertained by the 2018 season, culminating in a title.
You can be entertained and be biting your nails, feeling sick, convinced the team doesn't have what it takes to get over the finish line, all the way to the very end.
That's a kind of entertainment. And you can't argue with the result.
Was it fun? I don't remember having very much fun. It was creaky and grindy as all get out right to the end and they won a Super Bowl that was bizarrely, painfully low scoring.
And again, if it results in a title, you can't argue with it. But I don't think it was going to result in another title. I had no interest in watching another season of Tom trying to squeeze just enough points out of the offense so that the defense could win the game.
So my thinking after the way last season ended was "If we're not contending anymore let's just starting building toward a version of this team that is fun to watch again."
I like defense just fine, but I envy the teams with athletic receivers, quarterbacks who can make plays out of the pocket, running backs who are fast enough to elude defenders. I miss the days when the Pats were giving opponents fits because they had too many weapons and too many creative ways to gain yards and score touchdowns. I miss the days of Gronk being way too big and strong to be stopped by fewer than three defenders draped all over him.
I'm not a person who enjoys watching a lesser version of the same thing just for nostalgia.
I'm not hating on anybody who feels that way. I can appreciate people who say that would prefer waiting another year or two to allow the best player in the history of the franchise to have his farewell tour, shower him with love, etc, never let him play in another jersey, and so on.
Chances are the next phase -- rebuilding, identifying the next "guy" -- is going to take a while and starting that process sooner might not ultimately get us where we want to be any quicker. I recognize that.
Even so, I'd rather Brady have his "I'm finally too old to do this, huh?" season in another uniform. But that's just me.