Patriots: The Enduring Legacy

It’s been an unusual occurrence, or should I say, it’s been an unusual series of occurrences to witness the continuing success of the New England Patriots over the last two decades. Not only have they succeeded in winning their Division, but also the American Football Championship multiple times (which amounts to being in the Super Bowl every other year for the last 18 years), as well as winning the Super Bowl five times.

They are at it again this year, despite all odds with reports of aging players, discord within the team, and rising levels of skilled players on other teams.

I’ve always found following the Patriots to be a self-rewarding adventure simply because, I believe, they are reality-based and sincere, meaning they do not engage in the hype of today’s media advertising, but are concerned with the basics of football, i.e., understanding and preparing for the other teams strengths and weakness, and then having players who will work to establish teamwork.

All of the above is simply a prelude to this: I often attend the Patriots Summer Training Camp. It’s a wonderful opportunity to engage the players because they are so close to the fans on the practice field and because one gets to experience the raw force of talent and skill (i.e., anyone can succeed at this time, an un-drafted rookie or a third round draft player, or whatever).

This last year has been a most trying year for Patriots fans, since at many points during the season, it had appeared the team was in decline and not with the potential force of other years. However, they have managed to reach the Super Bowl once again. Quite Unbelievably!

The posted photo is from Training Camp in the Summer of 2018, with Bill Belichick, Ernie Adams (Director of Football Research), Dante Scarnecchia (Offensive Line Coach),  Tom Brady, and Josh McDaniels (Offensive Coordinator). The shot was taken with a Canon 5Ds, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 160mm, f/10, 1/250″, ISO 320, post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, using a Gradient Map, and Nik Color Efex Pro/