This past Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the Eagles and the Chiefs certainly lived up to its hype.
But for those of us who were New England Patriots’ fans for the two decades from 2001-19, the Super Bowl season just isn’t the same.
Yes, on Sunday we marveled at Mahomes the Magician and rooted for Jalen Hurts, whose story has been so inspiring since his days at Alabama.
But the days when Foxboro was the center of the football universe — the Pats were in nine Super Bowls in 18 years — seem like only a distant memory, the likes of which never will be equaled again.
It was a good run, way better than anyone could have imagined when Adam Vinatieri kicked his game-winning field goal as time expired to win the 2002 Super Bowl.
Watching this past Sunday’s Super Bowl served as a bittersweet reminder of our home team’s former glory and the joy it brought to our region when our children wore their favorite Patriot player’s jersey to school and everyone, it seemed, was glued to their TV sets.
But as we all know, all good things must come to an end. And, not to be cynical, but with young quarterbacks like Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow in the AFC, it will be a long, long time before New England gets back to the big game