Trust is such a fickle thing - but no matter how many times you've been burned, you always end up trusting someone again...
...perhaps not the same person, but experience teaches us that we must, lest we become paranoid, crusty old men - and that's not a good thing for anyone besides football coaches and quarterbacks that outplay their usefulness and contract.
But then, there's Tom Brady.
Here's a dude that doesn't even need to be here, what with the Supermodel wifey, a big litter of kids and a mansion that is so big that it's obscene. Between he and his wife, they make so much money that they could start their own country - apply for membership in the United Nations and become diplomats...
...Yet here he is, with seemingly very little still to accomplish in his NFL Career - which is exactly what makes Brady so dangerous. He has it all, but has nothing to lose. He wants championships and he knows from long experience that even though he's the best quarterback to ever play the game, if he wants more trophies, he's going to have to trust someone again.
Because he couldn't trust Wes Welker any longer, and had to let him go.
No? Think about it. If Brady really wanted Wes Welker in New England, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft would have bent over backwards to make it happen. Hell, Brady restructures his contract and freed up millions of cap dollars, all of which could have gone to sign the best slot receiver in the game, if that's what Brady wanted - but he didn't.
Welker was a reliable target - as reliable as they come - except when it mattered the most, and that will never be good enough.
When Welker dropped the pass from Brady in the Super Bowl two years ago, it was in the most clutch of situations, the exact type of situation in which the Patriots were able to convert on in their string of three titles in four years at the turn of the century. He had been 7 of 7 catching Brady's targets to that point in the game...
...then last January, a wounded Patriots squad somehow up on the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 13-7 in the third quarter of the AFC Title game - at the Ravens' 34 yard line and driving. A Welker drop on 3rd & 8 kills the drive - and when the Ravens took over on the ensuing drive, they had seized the momentum and then also the lead, and the Patriots were doomed once again.
It's a shame that a man that caught nearly 700 passes in the six years he spent in Foxboro will be unfairly remembered for the two clutch drops, but that's the nature of the business - A loss requires a scapegoat. And though there is plenty of blame to spread around those locker rooms, Welker's were the most readily identifiable...
...and after the second drop in as many title games, Welker was done in New England - and say what he will, but all of Brady's talk in public about his confidence in Welker couldn't mask the fact that they planted a seed of distrust in his football mind, and he knew that his friend had to go. So he restructured his contract, giving Belichick a truckload of cash to play with, and sent him out to find him what he needed to win more trophies.
What he wanted - what he needed - and what he got, was a stable of fresh young greyhounds of which he would choose four or five and start the process of learning to trust them to catch his passes. But to just basically unload the man who was on the receiving end of Brady's throws the past six years had a ripple effect throughout the team and the NFL.
The Patriots are in big trouble, was the universal war cry that had millions in New England lamenting the end of a dynasty and millions more throughout the world celebrating it - the lamentations slowly evolving into a full scale wailing and gnashing of teeth as the team would announce the signings of wannabe's and neverhasbeen's to replace Welker and his aloof running mate Brandon Lloyd...
...to the point that once the draft was concluded, the rookie free agents signed and a star tight end labeled a multiple felon and released, the Miami Dolphins were suddenly the front runners and the trendy favorites to unseat the once glorious kings, who would now be lucky to make the playoffs.
And, yes.
If we've learned anything through the ten practices that comprise New England Patriots' training camp to this point, it is that Belichick did a pretty dang good job of getting the biggest bang out of Brady's bucks.
That was on full display at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia on Tuesday, as former St. Louis Rams receiver Danny Amendola absolutely used up the Eagles' slot defenders, quickly gaining foot and easily beating press coverage...
...and also when rookie Aaron Dobson reached behind to make a sick one-handed grab on an back shoulder ball - and if there's one way to gain Brady's confidence, it's to always make catches like that seem routine, which is exactly what Dobson has been doing all camp.
Fellow rookie and world class speedster Josh Boyce hauled in a couple of throws behind the coverage and free agent pickups Kenbrell Thompkins and Kamar Aiken are gaining separation and catching everything - and to top that all off, rookie tight end Zach Sudfeld is showing sticky fingers and unreal athleticism up the seam, while fellow bigs Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells are like vacuums.
The result? In this first joint practice between the Patriots and Eagles, Brady masterfully shredded the Philadelphia first team secondary - and before you launch your verbal castigation, keep in mind that Brady is likely see very little action in Friday's first preseason game against these same Eagles, so these joint practices leading up to the game are where he's going to be finding out where his pass catchers are at in their development...
...and if Tuesday's session is any indication of that, Tom Brady may have plenty of trustworthy help when the games start for real.
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