Before the season started, I studied the schedule and circled Week 11. For some reason, I had a gut feeling it was going to be a rough game. An emotional one, certainly. Going up against Matt Cassel is difficult for a Pats fan to deal with because Cassel holds a special place in our history.
There isn’t a single Patriots fan who isn’t still despondent about the 2007 season. There’s pain there, even to this day. 2008 was supposed to be the bucket of soap and water on the graffiti that defaced 2007. 2008 was supposed to be “the year.” But in the first game of the season, Brady went down with a season-ending injury. He didn’t even get any points on the board. Patriots Nation was completely devastated. It was the arsenic-laced icing on the cake.
And then Matt Cassel headed out on the field. He won the game for us, and then he won ten more over the course of a pretty damn exciting season -- including an emotional Week 15 win over the Raiders, less than a week after his father’s death, throwing 4 massive touchdowns and eventually leading the Patriots to an impressive 11-5 tally on the season. It was the first time since the expansion that a team won 11 games and didn’t make the playoffs. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. The kid did right by us, and he’s a champion in his own right.
You never want to see a quarterback go down, but even more so in this case. His surgery may prevent him from getting back on the field this season, but I think I speak for all Patriots fans when I say I hope that doesn’t happen. We won’t see him slinging for Kansas City on Monday night, but I have no doubt he’ll be back soon, and he’ll be back in style. It doesn’t matter what jersey he wears, he’ll always be a Patriot.
