Super Bowl XLVI: Buffalo Slammed by New England Quarterback Tom Brady

This just in from Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis: Hotels in Buffalo "are not the nicest places in the world." This assessment comes from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, only the most overrated “dynasty” quarterback ever to play in the National Football League.

Assuming that Brady has ever actually stayed anywhere in Buffalo that wasn’t booked by his employer, is that really a necessary—or even accurate?

Understand that the city of Buffalo has had plenty of hurt over the last 20 years or so.

At one time O.J. Simpson was the biggest individual performance in football. Just look at the numbers because they adequately speak for themselves. Up until 1994, Simpson had to be the biggest act to ever represent Buffalo. Simpson did movies that were huge hits.

We all know how things went awry for Simpson during the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Yeah, Simpson was found not guilty of the murders in criminal court, but then found guilty in a civil suit for robbery charges.

So much for being the first guy to pass 2,000 yards rushing in the NFL, right?

To make matters even worse, the highly publicized police chase immediately following the murders came less than six months following the last of four straight losses in the Super Bowl by the Bills.

Are you kidding me?

And how about how Buffalo wrapped up a fantastic yet demoralizing decade of football in the “Music City Miracle” playoff loss at Tennessee? That has to be seen to be believed—and it was actually a lateral, by the way.

So, if Simpson, the NFC East and a crazy lateral on a kickoff return were not enough to keep Bills fans rather testy, in walks Brady with a little salt to pour on the wounds.

On Wednesday Brady got himself into some trouble when spouting off during the infamous media day festivities at Lucas Oil Stadium. In discussing the profound support he had as a child he made a comment about how his parents apparently don’t enjoy staying at Buffalo hotels when they go see Junior play ball.

Where is Brady putting his folks up, anyway?

Even I will admit Brady probably meant no harm as he was simply reflecting on personal perspective, but boy did he ever ignite a firestorm.

But I’ll offer this to both residents of Buffalo and its proud and loyal Bills fans: Let’s keep in mind that all previous Super Bowl era dynasties carried that title not just for the number of wins they earned in the championship game but also for the degree in which they performed.  Look at the final scores of the teams that won Super Bowls in previous decades and you’ll find numerous blowouts.

In fact, who has Brady or the Patriots ever dominated in the Super Bowl?

Let’s see—oh, nobody.

The Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys generally flexed lots of muscle while the Patriots struggled for nothing but three-point victories in any Super Bowl they’ve ever won.

Sure, a win is a win and there’s no shame in winning a championship game by three points, unless, of course, you had to cheat because you have nothing at the offensive skill positions that scare anybody.

Further, it’s interesting to note that those dynasty franchises from the 20th century all defeated the same team twice within the same decade.

Pittsburgh beat Dallas twice in the 1970s.

San Francisco beat Cincinnati twice in the 1980s.

Dallas beat—well, I’ll skip that part, but you see what I mean?

The Patriots are about to become the first “dynasty” to lose to the same team twice.

I’d argue that Adam Vinatieri was every bit as valuable as Brady because if not for his performances there isn’t even a discussion regarding Brady as the best quarterback to ever play in the NFL.

And then when the Patriots finally did bring in some offensive players that were beyond decent in 2007, Brady had his finest season before losing Super Bowl XLII to the same team who will beat him again this weekend—and for the exact same reasons.

Since we know Spygate didn’t exactly begin and end on opening weekend of 2007, we can safely speculate—without firm knowledge, mind you—that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was pulling this stunt for years prior and yet nothing even close to that has ever been connected to true dynasty head coaches like Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson.

City of Buffalo: When a fabulously overrated quarterback with very, very loving parents makes a slip of the tongue about your smaller-market NFL team, rest assured that all four Super Bowls reached by the Bills were earned with zero controversy. They also came with rosters loaded with talent that was comparable or better than any other NFC contender during those years.

Since Spygate was finally busted, Belichick and Brady have been to one Super Bowl and that ended up an upset that ranks right up there with Broadway Joe in 1969. New England’s first Super Bowl loss to New York will be remembered every bit as long as Buffalo’s marathon to four straight losses in the early 1990s.

And don’t get me started on the “Tuck Rule Game.”