The Dynasty

The New England Patriots are one of the most loved sports teams ever to exist.

Cue the cheers.

The New England Patriots are also the most hated sports team ever to exist.

Cue louder cheers.

Among those who love the team are the diehards who were fans long before Tom Brady was even playing professional football. The quarterback, the coach, the owner, none of that matters. These fans will always cheer on the Patriots, no matter what. 

There are also the fans who came after each Super Bowl win, who cling to the excitement and success of a true juggernaut in the sporting world. They may end up being diehards, but they will be forced very soon to decide because the former glory that was the New England Patriots has ended, and it has been tarnished by the Apple TV series The Dynasty.

Is The Dynasty a fair look and celebration of everything that happened to manifest a decades-long tale of glory? Or is it a hit job that is purposefully vague and critical to enhance viewership in the same way a “reality” TV show uses drama and extreme acts to keep people tuning in?

Perhaps the series is a mixture of the good and bad that occurred during a reign unseen before. Regardless of which slant the producers chose to use, there is much that can be learned from the men who ruled the Patriots, and how they ruled.

The Good

The story that The Dynasty tells is entertaining. “Binge watch” doesn’t justify how engrossing the tale is. While it was released as separate episodes instead of an entire series all at once, there was sufficient content at any one time to dig into and digest. Now that it has been completely released, anyone with Apple TV can sit down and watch all things Patriots, even if some of it may be hard to swallow if you are a Patriots fan.

Brady came across as a lot more fun-loving and lovable guy than most media had attributed to him in the past. The Dynasty does a great job of making him seem a little less serious, although it was well-documented that he is extremely competitive and can turn it on at any point. Brady even looked more joyful and youthful in his on-camera interviews, perhaps the result of retirement and getting to have his story out in public, even if it is still carefully controlled by his discipline in what he says while on camera.

Perhaps what was most valuable from the good of the show, was that you can see how when people are willing to do their absolute best for the benefit of others, and not themselves, greatness is achievable.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the bad side of the program is how they make one of the main characters of the entire saga appear to be much more selfish than has ever been proven or shared by those who know him best. Bill Belichick is depicted as careless, maniacal, and egotistic.

The Dynasty pulled no punches in making Bill seem like a single-viewed dictator bent on doing everything his way. When Deflategate broke, there wasn’t a sense that Brady was ever thrown under the bus by anyone other than the media and the NFL commissioner. However, the Monday morning quarterbacking of The Dynasty makes it seem as if Bill was the roadrunner and Brady was the coyote, and Bill simply stepped aside for an anvil to crater Brady into nothingness.

That wasn’t the case at all, no matter how hard the producers of The Dynasty would like you to believe as much.

But terse soundbites don’t sell series on a streaming network. I wonder if the same producers were to create a look into the life of Steve Jobs, how unhinged he might appear to have been while creating the most well-loved tech company in the world.

The Lesson

If you view The Dynasty and look for a lesson, you can find several. Mostly, you will see how heavy the head is that wears the crown of any sport, business, or family. While Robert Kraft may wear the crown as the owner of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick was the man pulling the strings. Unfortunately, continued success builds a hesitancy to change, which caused the departure of Bill after Brady himself had moved on.

In today’s world, doing the right thing isn’t always identified as the best thing. On the flip side of that coin, doing the wrong thing is sometimes looked at as what it takes to win.

The Patriots did what they had to do to win. They did it for their fans, their teammates, their owner, and themselves. However, what ultimately made the Patriots the juggernaut that they were was that they did what was right to achieve their goals. Were rules broken or bent to achieve their goals? Maybe. Were they more successful than any other team in the history of the NFL? Maybe.

But The Dynasty would have you believe that power corrupted the team.

In the end, the Patriots were corrupted by time and success.

And The Dynasty did a poor job of putting the true downfall of the Patriots in the correct light, for the opportunity to pander to the masses of football fans tired of losing to the Patriot Way. And in doing so, they tarnished the reputation of the best coach ever, the best owner ever, and the best quarterback ever.

This content originally appeared on The Gents Blog.

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