Matthew Slater

"When you start looking at people as individuals -- not necessarily men/women, not necessarily black/white, not necessarily Democrat/Republican -- who they are, what their story is, what their life journey has been like, just try to connect and meet with them where they are. I think we've kind of moved away from that, with where we are in our society now. I hope that we can kind of move back in that direction. I have a lot of hope and faith that is something we can move toward as we navigate this uncertain time." - Matthew Slater

Patriots fans who have been paying attention know what a special person Matthew Slater is. I would vote for this man for any office he runs for but I think he plans to go into ministry once his playing days are over.

Quote via the excellent Mike Reiss.

AFC Championship Game

The Wikipedia entry to the left only seems like it's true. It has been 8-straight years that New England has been in the AFC Championship.

Fact checking some other myths surrounding the Patriots 18-year reign. Have a little issue with the last one - the "everyone thinks we suck" one. The negativity and hot takes from the local media (with some notable exceptions like Tom E. Curran and Mike Reiss) has been disheartening to the point that many people have simply stopped listening to the naysayers. The negativity from the Boston Globe towards the Patriots has been especially pronounced since Red Sox owner John Henry bought the paper. This negativity is hardly imagined.

The silent majority of Pats fan appreciate the unprecedented success and the greatness of Brady and Belichick.

Tom Brady has completely rewritten the post-season record book and it's not even close. In just Tom Brady's last 16 playoff games the Patriots are 12-4 and he's thrown for 5,284 yards with 32 TD's and 14 INT's. Keep in mind that these 16 games all came after Brady turned 35-years old! Interesting look at how Tom Brady keeps his competitive fire going.

Yesterday was also a pretty big anniversary in Boston sports history.

Patriots vs the NFL

Bill Belichick is all done using the Microsoft tablets and he makes no bones about it.

The NFL and Microsoft were basically impotent in their response. But you know this rebellious act by Belichick rejecting one of the bigger sponsors of the NFL has to stick in the craw of Commissioner Goodell and others at the NFL offices in NYC.

This latest battle of the Patriots vs the NFL is just a preview to another one that is just on the horizon though.

According to ESPN's Mike Reiss - Tom Brady now needs just 5 more wins to become the NFL's all-time leader in wins by a QB (including playoffs). Most likely this will come in week 12 in New York vs the Jets or week 13 in Foxboro vs the Rams. How can the Commissioner not honor that historic accomplishment? How can he not honor that accomplishment in person? But also how can he dare show his face in Foxboro?

In an interesting way Roger Goodell is now in the bizarre position  (given the fractious relationships involved) of hoping the New England Patriots go undefeated in the next 5 games so if he does have to go to a Patriots game at least it will be in New York (where he'll be safe).

As if 2016 couldn't get any stranger. Roger Goodell now rooting for the Patriots.

Top 5 - New England Patriots Trades

Recently Mike Reiss ranked the top trades in New England Patriots history. I've been thinking about his ranking off and on ever since reading the article. Let me first say that I think Reiss is top shelf and I think he did a fine job with his ranking but here's my Top 5 ranking.

1. Trading 2007 1st round pick (28th overall) to 49ers for 2008 1st round pick (which Patriots used to draft LB Jerod Mayo) and a 4th round pick (which Pats later traded to get Randy Moss). 49ers used Patriots 2007 pick to draft tackle Joe Staley.

2. Trading 4th round pick to Raiders in exchange for Randy Moss. Reiss doesn't treat this as a separate transaction but it was. In fact you could easily make this the top trade in Patriots history and I wouldn't argue.

3. Trading 2004 2nd round pick to Cincinnati for Corey Dillion. I rank Dillion's acquisition higher than acquiring Wes Welker for two reasons - Corey Dillion was a major part of a Super Bowl winning team and Dillion also proved a player with baggage elsewhere could play in New England in part paving the way for Randy Moss.

4. Acquiring Wes Welker from the Dolphins for a 2nd and 7th round picks.

5. Getting Aqib Talib and a 7th round pick from Tampa for a 4th round pick. Reiss has this transaction lower on his list than swapping picks with Baltimore which led to the Pats getting Vince Wilfork and the trade that brought in Ted Washington. I think the Talib trade was more of a steal than those deals or maybe Reiss just has a thing for huge nose tackles.

A trade that Reiss doesn't mention and which I'm not sure would be top 10 anyway was trading Randy Moss to the Vikings for a 3rd round pick which the team used to draft backup QB Ryan Mallet in the 2011 draft. Everything about Randy Moss in New England was a steal for the team.

Top 5 - New England Patriots Personnel Decisions

Here are the top 5 players who are free agents for the Patriots and whose situations are the most pressing.

1. Matt Cassel QB - he hit the jackpot. Do the Pats try to sign him long term (as insurance against Tom Brady not making a successful comeback)? Do they franchise him and then trade him?

2. LaMont Jordan RB - he was a very important part of the Pat's depth at RB. He's sure to see offers but I hope the Pats bring him back.

3. Pierre Woods LB - with all of the injuries at LB this season the depth of having a guy like Woods became self-evident.

4. Chris Hanson P - there wasn't much talk about the Pats punting game this season and that's good news. The Pats should bring back Hanson to keep the kicking game a strength of the team.

5. Rodney Harrison S - I don't care if he can play. Harrison is worth it to the team just for his leadership and example he provides. James Sanders is also a free agent at S and I think he comes back.

Mike Reiss has a complete breakdown on the Pats roster. Worth the read.