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Denver Broncos: Views from a Bronco Fan Living in Boston

By Jacob Weindling

Jan 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos players Josh Bush (20) , Shiloh Keo (33) and Aqib Talib (21) break up a pass to New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) in the end zone during the fourth quarter in the AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos players Josh Bush (20) , Shiloh Keo (33) and Aqib Talib (21) break up a pass to New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) in the end zone during the fourth quarter in the AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Patriots Fans
Oct 2, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; Fans hold a sign announcing that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) will be returning during the second half of the Buffalo Bills 16-0 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

New England Sports Fans

This is the sports mindset the region largely operates within. Everything is a grievance. The Celtics are a bit of a special case as they epitomize class and success, and the fans usually bring their A game for those contests – but football is by far their weakest sport as a fanbase.

Boston will forever be a baseball town first, and Fenway Park should be designated by the federal government as a national landmark. It’s the baseball Vatican as far as I’m concerned. Hockey is really big too – as this is the lone region other than Minnesota where the majority take it seriously as a sport for their kids.

The Patriots were never a very good team, and mostly bad prior to the birth of the millennials. Their lone appearance in the spotlight outside our collective consciousness was as the final skidmark on the 1985 Bears’ path to all time greatness. This has resulted in very few lifetime Patriot fans the way the other three teams in the city have.

When you’re wondering if the Celtics and Bruins will ever recover the magic while the Red Sox are putting you through the most advanced form of sports torture known to man (their 84 years was not like the Cubs 108 years, as the Cubs were just bad for most of it, while the Red Sox continually got their hearts stomped in at the precipice of greatness – usually by teams from New York), there isn’t much emotional energy left to commit to a bad football team.

The most passionate segment of Pats fans seems to consist of a very young fanbase. The worst of which embody all the swagger of New England with none of the smarts. I argue that the main reason the Pats were a dynasty in the early 2000’s was due to the 5 Hall of Famers (Seymour, Bruschi, McGinest, Law, Harrison) on the most underrated defense of all time – and not Tom Brady in his 1st, 2nd, and 4th year as starter.

As far as I’m concerned, Tom Brady as we know him has two Super Bowl titles (his 3rd and 4th). Charlie Weis even said that in 2001, Damon freaking Huard was really close to him on the depth chart.

There is no reason that Drew Bledsoe couldn’t have won three out of four titles, or even more. He was one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Yet, a staggering amount of Patriot fans have told me that Bledsoe could never win a Super Bowl because he never made one in the first place.

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