![\"tom](\"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/awful-brady-1.jpg\")
Scene: Patriots training camp, 2001: A young Tom Brady sits on the bench admiring the starter, Drew Bledsoe practicing. A shadowy, menacing figure sits next to him.<\/em><\/p>\nShadowy, Menacing Figure:<\/strong> That could be you<\/em> someday.<\/p>\n Tom Brady:<\/strong> Gosh, I don\u2019t know. He\u2019s pretty good.<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> I could perhaps help you to become the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> That would be\u2026 hey, who are you?<\/em><\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Let\u2019s just say I can make anything happen for a small price. You want to be the starting QB for the Patriots?<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Sure, that’d be neat.<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Great, I can arrange for a little \u201caccident\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Whoa, you can\u2019t kill Mr. Bledsoe!<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> No, no, no\u2026. I would never<\/em> do that. Well, actually, I could<\/em> do that sort of thing, but maybe he could get a little injury, just enough to put you in the game. Just to give you a chance to shine. Then you do the rest. Fair enough?<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> I dunno\u2026<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Look, he can\u2019t play forever! He\u2019s had a great career! Time for him to let you have a crack at it!<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> I guess so\u2026 Wait, if he can’t play forever, then I can\u2019t play forever, either. I want to play forever! Can we make that part of the deal?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Hmmm… How \u2019bout you play into your 40s, as one of the all time \u201celite\u201d quarterbacks? And then you gracefully retire when you\u2019re ready, at the top of your game! Bunch of titles, lots of records, Hall of Fame\u2026<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Okay, but I want to make lots of money, too!<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Ouch. That\u2019s tricky\u2026 You can get paid pretty well, but there\u2019s a salary cap. Hard to circumvent that sort of thing. Unless…<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Unless what?<\/p>\n SMF: <\/strong>How \u2018bout\u00a0 your supermodel wife gets to make as much money as possible?<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Wait, I get to marry a supermodel?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Sure, why not? And she\u2019ll be really cool with a great personality.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Wait, is she attractive?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> She\u2019s a supermodel<\/em>!<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> It\u2019s just that you said she has a “great personality.” Anytime someone first says, \u201cshe has a great personality,\u201d they’re usually suggesting she might not be that attractive. I don’t mean to be shallow…<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> She. Is. A. Super. Model. Amazingly good looks kind of goes with the territory. You have my word. Anyway, she<\/em> can be the breadwinner, to skirt around your salary cap issue. And you can make commercials and stuff, too.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Okay. But I want us to be happily married<\/em> the whole time.<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Dang, that\u2019s where I usually get everyone! That\u2019s where I got Tiger Woods!<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> The golfer?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Yep! He forgot to ask me about getting along with his supermodel wife forever<\/em>. Just wait, that is gonna be a doozy!<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> There\u2019s always a catch, right?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Well, that\u2019s how it works. Anyway, what do you think? Long, fantastic career as a football player, more money than you can ever spend, supermodel wife with a good personality, what could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Do I get to win all the time?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Not all<\/em> the time. First, that would look highly suspicious. Second, it would get boring. Third… other people have wishes that need to be fulfilled too. But you get to win a lot.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Makes sense. Mister, you have a deal! Where do I sign?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> HA! Gotcha! Here’s the catch… you never get to eat pizza again! Or Mexican food! Or beer! You will subsist on a diet of quinoa, simple grains, boring vegetables and lean meat! Bwahahahahaha!<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> But I love<\/em> quinoa!<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Aw, crud. Oh well, a deal’s a deal.<\/p>\n TB:<\/strong> Cool, what\u2019s your name?<\/p>\n SMF:<\/strong> Just call me \u201cCoach.\u201d As for my Super Bowl Preview… Patriots 38, Falcons 31. Enjoy the game!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been reported that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady eats a super strict diet of very boring food every day, which is perhaps the key to him playing at the peak of his talent as he nears the age of 40. I have a different theory… Scene: Patriots training camp, 2001: A young Tom … Continue reading “Super Bowl Preview: The Devil and Tom Brady”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[33,10],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sportsball","tag-football","tag-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ronruelle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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