Where the Patriots Found Their Edge
How a group of team leaders took the Patriots to new heights.
Each week while Man in the Arena airs on ESPN+, we’ll dedicate these Friday newsletters to examining the latest episode of the series, trying to understand what each of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl seasons can teach us about the nature of competition.
When discussing a team that won three championships in four years and 21 games in a row, it might seem odd to consider that its greatest strength just might have been its ability to suppress success. Suppress success? That’s no typo. The New England Patriots overflowed with success. They helped redefine success. They succeeded and succeeded and succeeded.
They did so by limiting their success as much as possible. At least, that’s what they tried to do in their own heads.
In episode three of our series Man in the Arena, out now on ESPN+, we learn that during that winning streak, the Patriots didn’t study the plethora of plays every game where they achieved something close to perfection. Instead, they dissected the five moments where they struggled. Coach Bill Belichick was never satisfied. Had you walked into a Patriots practice in 2004, you would have seen a team trash talking, competing, and taking each rep with purpose. They carried themselves as if they had something to prove. You never could have guessed that they were the undisputed kings of their sport.
“It’s a hard life to live that,” said linebacker Tedy Bruschi. “You better have thick skin. You better have mental toughness.”
You also better have great teammates. Following his second Super Bowl win, Tom Brady—for just a moment—savored, and didn’t suppress, his success. He moved to a nicer house in the city, he enjoyed the limelight, and the Tom Brady that you know today with his green juice and stretching routine was nowhere to be found. He put on some weight. He was distracted. Linebacker Willie McGinest pulled him aside one day and told him that he needed to be better. He needed to find every possible edge over the competition.
And so began “The Edgers,” the group that made up the core of the Patriots and pushed each other to be the best possible versions of themselves. “You weren’t held accountable by the coach,” said Brady. “You weren’t held accountable by the fans. You were held accountable by the guy that was sitting next to you every day.” If one player showed up at 6:30 in the morning, there was someone else who had gotten there at 6:00, someone who had an edge. If you watched one hour of film, someone else was watching three. “We outworked you,” said Brady. “We out-competed you. And then, when the chance came, we out-willed you.”
There’s a part of the philosophy that might sound corny, like the middle section of a movie that’s a little too perfect to be true, but then you remember that this Patriots team was real, that they actually inspired each other in that way, and you can’t help but look for ways that you can find an edge in your own life—at work, at home, at the gym. You can’t help but wish that you had someone pushing you like that every day, too. And you sure as hell make sure that you don’t relish all your successes.
“It takes guts to do that,” explains Bruschi. One of my favorite moments of the series comes at the end of this episode when Bruschi, remembering the Super Bowl victory, finally feels free to stop suppressing his pride. “I think about how tiring it was, and how tough it was,” says Bruschi, who can’t help but smile. “But it was worth it.”
He continues. “This is the ultimate feeling of being satisfied right here,” he says. “When you look back on your career, and you know that you had nothing else to give, or when you look back on a season or three or four years, and there’s nothing more you could have done—I guess that’s what the Edger mentality did. It gave me that feeling that I have right now. That I can just sit here and just talk to you totally just content about that period in time, because I truly believe—I truly believe—there’s nothing more we could have done.”
Suppress, suppress, suppress. And then one day, you’ll find that you’ve succeeded in a way that’s undeniable. You can let it wash over you, you can savor it, and you’ll know that it wasn’t just thanks to chance. You earned it. You found the edge.
Now Streaming: Man In The Arena Podcast
In addition to the docuseries, we’re also producing a Man in the Arena podcast, in which Gotham Chopra explores two decades of Brady’s career through the eyes of the fans and haters, those inside and outside of the arena. Each episode grapples with the ways in which Brady has altered our understanding of sports. In episode three, Gotham explores a question that’s more complicated than it might first appear: Why do so many people hate Tom Brady?
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Last week, a group of Michigan high schoolers were trying to get themselves organized. The freshman basketball season was just beginning and one player punched everybody’s numbers into a group text. One number texted back: “Did you mean to add me to this group?”
Turns out, they had mistyped one of the numbers, off by a single digit. And then the unknown number introduced himself. It was Sean Murphy-Bunting, wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He sent a selfie to prove it.
Still, the rest of the team thought that it was all some kind of prank. So Bunting hopped on FaceTime to prove it. Pretty soon, the entire freshman basketball team at Notre Dame Prep in Pontiac, MI was getting toured around the Super Bowl champ’s locker room. Rob Gronkowski said hello. So did Richard Sherman. And Leonard Fournette. Finally, a familiar face popped on screen. “What’s up, fellas?” said Tom Brady.
Best. Typo. Ever.
Courtesy SMAC Entertainment
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