A NIGHT OF CATHARSIS: CAN NEW ENGLAND PLEASE MOVE ON NOW?

Tom Brady’s emotional return to Foxborough ended predictably, but after Bill Belichick reasserted his own G.O.A.T. status and Mac Jones almost stole a victory, what’s past should be prologue

     A rainy night in Massachusetts reminded us of our mortality, didn’t it? No human being, not even the greatest quarterback of all time, is bigger than the parochial institution itself. What began as a trembling tribute to Tom Brady, who served those hearty New Englanders with six titles in a career of unparalleled football magnificence, quickly turned to boos just after kickoff Sunday.

     One minute, they were chanting, “BRADY! BRADY! BRADY!’’ The next, they were trying to rattle him, cheering when he was sacked or missed a target in Tampa Bay pewter. Wait, what about the “GOD FAMILY BRADY’’ banners? And the 3,268 baby boys who were named Brady, in the six states comprising Patriots country, between 2002 and 2019? And the aborted plan to pause the game when Brady became the NFL’s career passing yardage leader?

     “In the end, they were cheering for their team,’’ said Brady, not at all surprised by the allegiance shift and more delighted to survive with a 19-17 victory. “They wanted their Patriots to come through.’’

     As the enemy, he also noticed an element that eluded him during his 20 years in Foxborough. “What do you call that horn? That foghorn?’’ he asked. “When you’re on the field when that thing is going off, it’s just a great home-field advantage.’’

     The home team comes first, always. This fleeting truth is especially so in diehard villages such as Boston, where self-esteem is derived from sports, and loyalties to franchises are handed down through generations. An all-time legend left last year and now belongs to somebody else, the memories more easily compartmentalized after the evening’s positive developments. Bill Belichick issued his own reminder during a sloppy but compelling chess game against his former partner in Super Bowl crime — he was responsible for those Lombardi Trophies, too, as the greatest of all NFL coaches/strategists — while Brady’s heir, rookie Mac Jones, almost won the damned game with a display of poise and precision.

     Chisel him as we will among the four faces on Mt. Sportsmore. But after a potential game-winning kick by Nick Folk clanked off the left goalpost and created an eerie silence, the dejected faithful filed out of Gillette Stadium through the downpour. To them, Brady was just another opponent fortunate to escape with a victory and intact body parts. It will be easier to move on now and start paying attention to the development of Jones — and less on whether Brady will win his eighth ring ahead of his 45th birthday, in a shape-shifting act of age defiance that confounds science and nature.

     After all the championships, all the scandals and all the pain as Brady and Belichick divorced, a drama advertised as The Return funneled into a desperately needed civic catharsis. By keeping the game close and nearly beating Brady, until he completed his 26th career crunch-time comeback at Gillette, the Patriots have allowed a community to finally carry on. All the emotions have been released. Brady has produced his hype video, with a one-word theme — Homecoming — and used a Jay-Z lyric to capture the mood: “Allow me to reintroduce myself.’’ Brady and Belichick have hugged, in a post-game moment that barely lasted three seconds, before Belichick visited Brady in the visitors’ locker room for 23 minutes. Brady and owner Bob Kraft have hugged. Brady and his former teammates have hugged. There even was an attempt by Brady, at night’s end, to smooth over recent criticism of Belichick by Brady’s father and personal trainer and to discredit a new book filled with anti-Belichick material seemingly from pro-Brady sources.

     “We had a personal relationship for 20-plus years. He drafted me here. We’ve had a lot of personal conversations that should remain that way. They’re very private. So much is made of our relationship,’’ Brady said. “Nothing is really accurate that I ever see. It definitely doesn't come from my personal feelings or beliefs."

     Belichick voiced anger toward the media in a mid-week broadcast production meeting, as reported during the NBC telecast by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. But afterward, he only offered typically gruff praise of the winning team and quarterback. “Look, we went against Tom Brady every day in practice defensively,’’ he said. “So it’s not like we’ve never seen Tom Brady before. They’re a good football team. He’s a great quarterback.’’

     Yet, though the Boston Globe led its Monday section with a headline that “Bill Belichick got the better of matchup with Tom Brady,’’ national media attention now will focus on Brady’s latest championship quest. It might not be easy in a loaded NFC, where Arizona’s Kyler Murray is 20 years younger and six inches shorter than Brady but is just the magician who could topple the Bucs after humbling the Los Angeles Rams. After an attitude adjustment, Aaron Rodgers is playing MVP football again in Green Bay. And did Jerry Jones just say, “How ‘bout them Cowboys?’’

     For now, Brady has to stop floating. Seems he beat not only the Patriots but novelist Thomas Wolfe, who wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again’’ long before an icon did just that. “Pretty surreal,’’ Brady said of the experience. “I was just trying to keep my poise.’’

     Then came what should be the ultimate moment of closure for all. “Thank you, everyone,’’ he said, “to all the incredible fans in Boston.

     “And down in Florida. We’re coming home.’’

     With that nudge, he left his stadium of two decades, boarded a bus to the airport with the Buccaneers, and returned to his new home, where he is the new definition of a Florida Man. Brady didn’t want to leave before telling New England what those years meant to him.

     “I had a few emotional moments this week, thinking about the people that have meant so much in my life. I’ll be part of this community for a long time. I’m very grateful for an amazing time here. My football journey took my somewhere else. I’m really enjoying that,’’ he said.

     “I don’t know what the future holds. There could be an opportunity to come back (and play the Patriots). I’ll always feel part of this community. When I retire, I’ll be up here quite a bit. You’ll see me at games. I have a lot of friends here. My kids were born on Beacon Street in the city. It’s been an amazing place for me. It still is.’’

     But not as amazing as Tampa.

     Move on, New England. God and family certainly have.

     Jay Mariotti, called “the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he has gravitated by osmosis to film projects.