New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws a pass during the first half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

 

Being the Packers fan that I am, my season’s end came at what seems to be an eternity ago. In Week 6 of the NFL regular season, Aaron Rodgers – who not only is the Packers’ best player, but very well might be the league’s best player – laid hopelessly on the field of U.S. Bank Stadium after being driven to the ground by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr.

Green Bay fans would later find out the horrible truth. Aaron Rodgers likely out for rest of season, a truth that sent the season out the door.

It was bad enough to watch Rodgers go down, but what made it even worse was the success that the Vikings were having. Not necessarily because they are our division rivals, but because they were the team that put an end to our season.

I watched them win the division, I watched them pull off the “Minneapolis Miracle” and I watched them play in the NFC championship game, all while rooting for the opposing team in the process. I did not want to see this team succeed after what they had done to my team.

Luckily for me, the Vikings’ season did eventually come to an end. And though it might be a horrible truth, Vikings fans will have to to sit and watch Super Bowl LII with the rest of us, unable to root for their own team.

Don’t be mad at me for it, be mad at the Eagles

The state of Minnesota saw its team triumph in a 29-24 last-second victory over the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round and witnessed that same team fall to the Eagles in a 38-7 blowout NFC championship game one week later.

In the defeat, the usual stellar Vikings defense gave up a season-high 456 total yards. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles led the way, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Though it was the loss to Philadelphia that brought an end to the Vikings’ season, the loss wasn’t the only thing that fans were talking about at the season’s end. A few days after the game, the Star Tribune published a story in which a Vikings fan shared his experience in being present for the NFC championship game in Philadelphia. The fan wrote: “I witnessed, and experienced, the rudest, most obnoxious and violent behavior I have ever seen at a sporting event,” according to the Star Tribune.

Despite what may have transpired between Vikings and Eagles fans that championship Sunday, nothing was going to change the fact that Philadelphians would be making their way over to the Twin Cities to support their team during this year’s Super Bowl.

It’s a bad feeling when your team’s season comes to an end, I know that first-hand. I’m assuming it’s an even worse feeling when you have to host the team that put an end to your season in the Super Bowl two weeks later. But when those things happen on top of the disrespect Philadelphia fans gave you, that just might be the worst feeling of all.

The New England Patriots did not put an end to your season. The New England Patriots did not treat you with disrespect. You should root for the New England Patriots.

Tom Brady can do for you what Nick Foles did for me

We’ve all heard the story. From sixth-round draft pick to five-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady’s 18-year career has been one of the best the NFL has ever seen.

The stats are impressive. He’s fourth all-time in career passing yards with 66,159 and third all-time in passing touchdowns with 488. But it is the Super Bowl championships that have separated the quarterback, who happens to have family in Minnesota, from the rest.

In last year’s Super Bowl, it looked as though Brady and the Patriots were on the path to defeat after they trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 with a near two minutes remaining in the third quarter. That is until Brady and his team scored 25 unanswered points by the end of regulation and the Patriots went on to win the game 34-28 in overtime.

With the win, Brady tied Charles Haley for the most Super Bowl wins by a player in NFL history. With a win on Sunday, Brady will surpass Haley and become winningest player in Super Bowl history.

Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Tom Brady; if he’s not in the same breath as the greatest athletes of all time yet, he will be with a Super Bowl LII victory.

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots can put an end to the team that put an end to your Vikings’ season. You should root for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Cherish the time we have left with the New England dynasty

Football is a complicated game. In one moment things could be completely perfect, and with the snap of a finger, things could be the complete opposite.

Take Peyton Manning for example. In his seventeenth season, Manning threw for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns, which were some of the best regular season numbers of his career. The next season, Manning’s numbers dropped drastically. He threw for only 2,249 yards and nine touchdown in what wound up being the final season of his career.

Tom Brady is 40 years old. He is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, but the fact of the matter is, at some point, age is going to catch up to him.

Whether that’s next year or another ten years from now, nobody can be certain that the New England dynasty will continue beyond Super Bowl LII. You, I and everyone else who is not an Eagles fan should root for the Patriots out of respect of the New England dynasty.

Gamiel Hall can be reached at hall0211@stthomas.edu.