Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 6/1/17- Cyrus Jones Punt Return Follies, Tom Brady's Retirement Plans, Malcolm Butler's Contract, and the Story of My First Bill Belichick Press Conference

Episode Date: June 2, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, discusses an array of topics from Cyrus Jones punt-fielding issues to avoiding being on Bill Belichick's media hate list. #patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Good evening. I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Inside of a Scout.com, and also host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Thursday, June 1, 2017. Things are starting to pick back up over at Foxborough. After, it was a quiet couple weeks as it always is, but as we know, OTAs were over the last few days. We're here to get you updated on some of the latest transactions and other related Patriots news.

Again, currently the Patriots, well, they were in OTAs. The team gets together for the first time in 2017. So we're going to get you updated on some of the developments that came out of that too. There are some things that were good and some things that were actually kind of alarming. So we'll get into that in a minute. Before we do get started, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Simono. That's C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. If you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or if you're looking

to advertise here on Patriots, Lockdown Patriots, email me directly at simono.christopher5 at gmail.com. That's S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U dot C-H-R-S-T-O-P-H-E-R number 5 at gmail.com. If you are a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com, and if you're not, and I don't know why you're not, you should be, you can contact me directly on this site via message. So, let's get right to it. It's been a while since we've talked.

You know, we took a few weeks off there. Been doing some big things over at Scout.com, rebuilding our team and really getting it going. You guys are going to be locked on. Patriots is going to reap the benefits of some of the different things that we've been doing over at Scout.com. So I'm excited to let you guys know and fill you guys in on some of the things we've been doing. As you know, we used to do questions with Kurt, Curtis Barrett, who used to, for any of you people

who may listen to this show that are up in the northern Massachusetts area, north central Massachusetts, actually, Pittsburgh, Lemmings, around there, used to be a show called Boggs and Barrett. It was an excellent show that was on public access TV, and Kurt was actually part of that show. And again, Kurt's going to be joining us, doing pre- and post-game shows for Scout.com, and he's also going to be joining us on a regular basis here on Locked On Patriots,

which we're going to be recording on location from Fox Pro every Sunday or every Monday, depending on when they're playing during the season, too. So that's exciting for the scout.com and also for here at Lockdown Patriots. Also, over at Scout, and also he joined us here, Doug Moore, writes for Patriots Pulpit and also writes for us here at Scout.com and also has joined us here on Locked on Patriots. He will be coming on more

during the season too. And we also added writer Hal Bent who used to write for Musket Fire which is part of the Sports Illustrated umbrella on the fan side of it. I wrote with Hal personally for a long time. He's

really good. He's terrific. And he'll be coming on too as a guest on Locked On Patriots also. So it's exciting times. We've got a lot of things going on. One of the reasons why I actually have not been recording as many shows is because, you know, Patriots got to build their roster in the offseason. And to be perfectly honest with you guys, I do too. And it was time for me to rebuild some things over at Scout in order to be able to take

advantage of that and be able to actually bring that to you guys here on Lockdown Patriots because it's all linked when it comes down to it. So let's get down to business. I'm just going to put this out there because I'm a little bit concerned. Cyrus Jones, he's continuing to struggle on punt returns during OTAs. So, you know, he's a kid. And the thing with Jones, and I know people say he's 22, 23 years old. He's not a kid kid, but he really is.

Mentally, he still is. Physically, he's a man, but mentally, he's a kid. And, you know kid you go through something what he went through last season you develop the yips happens to baseball players a lot happens to people in every sport but you see it in football

when you have a specific skill that you're trying to do a specific thing you have to do shoot a free throw in basketball throw a baseball things like that catch a punt it's not the easiest have to do. Shoot a free-throwing basketball, throw a baseball, things like that, catch a punt. It's not the easiest thing to do. You've got guys bearing down on you. You've got a ball that's coming from a high trajectory. It's not easy to do. Actually, I personally believe

that punt return, I'm a special teams coach in high school too, so I've been on the wrong side of this and on the good side of it too. But it is probably the hardest thing to do on special teams, I believe, in football. Besides kicking a field goal, which is also difficult to do too, but catching a punt. Catching a kickoff isn't all that bad because you've got blockers in front of you at different levels and they're able to help you out. But, you know, as a punt returner, that ball's up in the air, and all the blocking goes down to the line of scrimmage mostly. The corners help you out a little bit if they're good,

but if they're not, these guys are going to be bearing down on you with speed. They have the gunner coming from up the middle, or whatever you want to call it, bullet, long snapper, and these guys get down in the field. So when you get the hips, it's really hard to lose that, especially when you develop it in your first year in the NFL as a rookie. So the fact that he still has that going in training camp, it's not a huge surprise to me.

It's just frustrating to see because the hope would be that he'd be past that by now, and he would have maybe talked to the sports psychologist or, I don't know, whatever he had to do to get over this issue. But it's quite clear that he hasn't. He's still having the issues that he had before. Jeff Howe actually noted, Jeff Howe, who used to be the host of this show, excellent guy, got to meet him back in the second and third round of the draft. Jeff had talked about the fact that you wonder now, what do you do?

Do you say, okay, forget it. We need a third corner, a fourth corner, you know, guy in dime coverage, nickel coverage. So we just scrap this and say, you know, that's it. He's a corner, we've got to see if we can try to get something out of him, or do you continue forward with it? Do you try to say, you know what, let's get through this, you know, it's only OTAs, we can get through it.

So, I don't know, personally I think, since it is so early in the OTAs and things like that, I think you've got to keep pushing for it to see if he can do it because he was special. He was a special punt returner coming out of Alabama. That's the reason his cornerback skills did not solely get him drafted in the second round. His cornerback and returning skills is what got him bumped up.

As a corner, he was a third or fourth round guy. So to think that he's been this bad in the return game, I mean, he's been awful. And I feel bad saying it because I like the kid, but he's been just awful, and he just can't get out of his own way. That's a big hit to the Patriots for a team that hasn't really had any high draft picks over the last two years. One of their highest has been a big bust.

So I think you've got to continue to let him work on it, obviously, through any other mini camps and any training camp. Obviously in training camp he's going to have to try. But if this continues into the preseason, you're going to have to scrap it and just work on him as a nickel in a dime corner, or maybe even a second corner because he didn't really play nickel a dime corner in college too. That's the other thing that people aren't really talking about and don't really realize.

Cyrus Jones was a first and second corner, left and right corner, number one guy at Alabama. He doesn't look like he's got that ability in the NFL. So there's a lot more going down than just the issues with the punt returns. The question is, can this kid actually be an NFL football player? I really hope he can. I hope he gets it figured out because I'm rooting for him. I think everybody is at this point because you can see that it's mental and that just sucks for him.

Sarish Jones, buddy, good luck to you. We're rooting for you. Patriots fans are rooting for you. Just don't think so much. I know you're probably not going to listen to this show, but seriously, just don't think so much. Go back there, see it, catch it, go. So let's keep you up.

Everybody keep Cyrus Jones in your thoughts here as far as his mental stability. I feel bad for him. I really do feel bad for the kid. Hopefully he can get through this before his career is over, before he even gets a chance to start. Second up, we're going to get away from the OTAs a little bit. This is something that I saw the other day, and it caught my eye, and it makes sense.

I didn't even read into the article too much. I just saw the headline, and one of those guys today, I see the headline, and I just made my own thing based off of it, kind of what a lot of readers do these days when they read an article. So you guys think Tom Brady of planning a surprising retirement after 2017. Again, I saw the headline. I apologize.

I'm not even sure who wrote the article. I'm not going to lie to you. So if you listened to this and you wrote it, I'm sorry. But it's a good question. I don't think he is, but I think he's putting himself in the position where he could retire after any season in the next five years, six years, however long he wants to play. Because that's the reason why you're seeing the advertising campaigns

really pick up. It's the reason why you're seeing the advertising campaigns really pick up. It's the reason why you're going to start seeing him all over the place. It makes sense because he's going to be 40. I love Tom Brady. He's a great player. As a person who grew up in the New England area, I'm 41 years old. I was a Patriots fan back in 1981 all the way through now. It's a little different now since I cover and I have a little bit more of an inside view. Obviously, I still want them to win. I still root for them to win, but

I'm a little bit more, it's hard to explain, but I'm still a fan, but I'm not fanboy. Let's put it that way. I get how it works. I've basically seen how the sausage is made. Let's just put it like that. But to see Brady retire after this year wouldn't make any sense, but it would make sense if he dropped off. What if Tom Brady's passing percentage drops down?

Say the Patriots win the Super Bowl, Tom Brady throws for 3,400 yards, 22 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and he's 60%. That is a very, very real possibility. And I hope Patriots fans realize that because even if his passing touchdowns are down or anything like that, they're going to still have a running game and they've got to find ways to win with this team. Brady would make plays in big moments, and that's something that's still going to happen next season and I think beyond. But if he is to drop off and have a drop off,

like even say 25 touchdowns and 15 picks and he throws for 3,200 yards and his 85 rating or something like that, that's a huge drop-off from where he's been. And I'm willing to bet that if that happens and they win the Super Bowl again next year, why wouldn't he? Why not retire? If you know you're dropping off and you know, Father Time, undefeated, I don't care how much of that stupid ice cream he's eaten. The Devil's Throw up there.

That ice cream, ugh, that stuff's gross. Avocado ice cream makes me want to get sick. That's gross. Well, that's what he's eaten. I don't care, Tom. I'm sorry. That stuff's not going to make you last until you're 50 years old in the NFL. This is going to make you eat gross ice cream.

So I think that there's a very good chance that Brady is, what he's doing is setting himself up for any season to be prepared to retire because as soon as he sees himself have a drop-off in his game, he's out. He's out. There's no way. Why would a guy like that stick around and pull a Michael Jordan, win six titles, and then be a wizard and just be terrible? Obviously, Brady's won five, been to seven.

He's won five. So it's a little bit different than Jordan, but not much. Not much at all, actually, especially if he wins it this season. But if he does have a drop-off and it's noticeable, I think he's going to walk away. So, again, I don't think he's planning a surprise retirement for 2017. I think everything you're seeing and everything people are a little bit concerned about, people are going, oh, my God, Tom Brady commercials. Why is he making so many commercials?

Well, because he's 40 and because he has to set himself up for the future. And what he's going to be is a pitch man for high-priced items, obviously. I think it's Aston Martin or I don't know who it is. Some car company. I think it is Aston Martin. He's going to be doing advertising for their cars, a $250,000 vehicle. That's no joke. So Brady, he's no fool.

He's making money. This guy is either going to go into modeling or he's going to go into something. You know, he's married to Gisele Bundchen. Gisele is a money, she is a corporation in herself. She is a very smart business lady who has a very smart business team around her. Tom Brady is also a very smart man with his also his very smart business team around her. Tom Brady is also a very smart man with also his very smart business people around him. So they're looking at him and saying,

listen, you've already done everything you've ever needed to do in football. You've done it all. You've won most Super Bowls of all time. They've done a video game called the Goat Edition of you. So even if you are, where do you get jinxed by it, it doesn't matter. They have it called the Goat edition with you on the cover. You are the GOAT. You're the greatest player of all time.

Why stay? Why keep playing if there's a drop-off? Especially if it's substantial. Because of the love of the game? Yeah, I love the game too. But when you get any head knocked in, and guys are going faster than you remember them going two years prior, when the game was slower for you.

And you can't hit those deep routes or deep out routes anymore. And, you know, instead of hitting 8 out of 10 guys and the old guys going over the middle in those little slot dump-offs, you're hitting 6 out of 10. That's when it's time to walk away. And that's what Brady's doing. So, again, I don't see a surprising retirement after 2017. I see Tom Brady at the end of his career looking at it and saying, okay, guys, we're going to ramp up the advertising,

and we're going to be ready. Because at any moment I have a drop-off, when that season's over, I'm going to walk away because I've done everything I need to do. And I think the Patriots realize that, too. And then they'll realize that he's probably told them them as soon as I have a drop off in my game I'm done because there's no reason for me to keep playing because my wife doesn't want me to play my family doesn't want me to play and you know I don't want to say it to be crude

but I mean look at his mom the poor woman is as sick as can be and she's a perfect example of how many years do you have on this earth you know how many years do you have on this earth you know how many years do you get if tom's in his 40s and he's already his wife saying he's having he's had concussions and things like that and i 100 believe that he has you know i'm not going to sit here and try to pretend and be naive and think that he hasn't gotten concussions i'm sure he has why why keep

going what are you trying to prove at this point? You've proven everything. You're the greatest. So again, that's what this is. The Patriots know it. Brady knows it. Jimmy Garoppolo knows it. I think Adam Schefter knows it. That's why he's so adamant in what he's been saying. And again, that's what this advertising campaign is all about.

So you can listen to Felger and Maz and come up with all their theories and this and that, but the theory is it is what it is. Brady is going to hang it up. As soon as he has a substantial drop-off in his game, at the end of that season, he will be done. So if it happens to be in 2017, he'll retire in 2017. After then, it's 2018, he'll retire after then.

But I do think it's going to happen within the next three years. I've been saying that for a while. Some people don't like that. I've actually had commenters on the show saying he said he's going to play until he's 45. No, I get it. I get what he said, and I understand that his ambition is great, but ambition and father time wins at all times. So, again, that's my two cents. So, there was a thing that happened recently. Obviously, we just talked about the Brady-Giselle situation. Giselle talking about how Tom had concussions last year

that went undiagnosed and things of that nature. That's exactly what it was, not things of that nature. That's what it was. So the Patriots media, the first time they had a chance to meet with Belichick, nobody asked them a question about it. So I guess there were four guys, four rugby questions that were asked,

and just nobody asked the question. So I got a good story for you guys, and you guys can join my path into the national media as I've gone on over the last three years, and it's been fun. The Friday night of round two and three is the most fun so far. So I am now able to, I'm officially in with scout.com. We go to the games, and obviously we're part of the press,

and so we're in there. And Bill Belichick came out for his first press conference for me since I had ever been there. So I'm the rookie in the room, and you get all these guys. You know, Bill Burp Rears in there, and, you know, Mike Giotti's in there, and everybody. Every big name, Boston and some national guys, and me, Chris Simino, Scout.com, Patriots Insider. New guy on the block, kind of, but definitely new guy on the block, kind of, but definitely new guy on the block for Bill Belichick and those guys.

And Belichick, you could tell, was his typical ornery self, so I'm a little starstruck, to be perfectly honest. I was a little bit, oh, God, here we go. I'm in my first press with Bill, and I'm sitting in the third row center, and he's looked at me like five times because I know he's looking at me saying, who the hell is this guy? And I hope he doesn't ask me a stupid question. So to make a long story short,

Burt Breer, Bill Belichick, oil, water. That's what it comes down to. Mike Reese and Chris Gasper, they tend not to piss him off as much, but Breer does. He hates Breer. I've seen it. I can see the hatred in his eyes. He hates him.

And that's okay. As long as he doesn't hate me, eventually I'm going to ask him questions so he doesn't hate me when I do. So Breer asks him a question, and Belichick shot him a death stare. This is during the draft that Friday night, second and third round. Reese asks him a question, and Belichick shot him a death stare. This was during the draft that Friday night, the second and third round. Reese asks him a question. He answers it nicely. Breer asks him another question that he didn't like and stares him down again.

Belichick turns his head and looks directly at me and says, Any more questions? And I choked and said, No, no, no, I'm all set. So you guys are probably saying, well, why is he telling us this story? So it leads into the Gisele Brady thing that we've been talking about. So the other day when during that press conference, I wasn't there. I, you know, just, I wasn't at that one. But the reporters that were in there asked him about rugby

instead of asking him about the Giselle thing. I can't knock them because I was in the room and I choked. I didn't ask a question. One of the reasons I didn't ask a question is because I was going to ask him about Dante Foreman, the running back from Texas. And as I was about to ask, he got drafted. So that wasn't going to work, but so be it. So Bert Breer, of all people, on Twitter, says, you know, sometimes you just got to ask the question.

And I'm saying to myself, you know what? There was probably somebody else in that room that realized this guy is not in the best mood right now. And I think I'm going to ask a different question and I hope that's what happened because the national media was not happy with the local media for not asking anything about it whatsoever but all I can say is somebody who's in that room for the first time um it was it was my first time in there a few weeks back um finally you know it was great I know I really appreciated it it was really good time I really liked it um you know it was great. I really appreciated it. It was a really good time. I really liked it. It was something that we've been trying to do with Scout.com for the last couple seasons and it

takes time. It takes time and it takes a lot of work and we were able to pull it off and we look forward to being in there a lot this season as I talked about in the beginning of the show but it was a bit of an intimidating presence especially when Coach got angry at Mr. Breer. So I just find it ironic that Breer is telling young reporters to don't be afraid to ask the question. But the reason why we don't ask the question is because sometimes somebody else in the room drives the guy so crazy that you don't want to be the last person that he remembers when he walks out and he's angry. So that's the reason why nobody said anything.

So people in the national media, pro football talk specifically, you go sit in that room and you go ask a question and you go get the death stare and get that treatment and then come talk to the people that have actually been there and then you tell me how easy it is to get anything, and I say anything, out of Bill Belichick. Next time I'm there, I'm going to get something. I'm going to ask him a good question because as a coach and as a scout, I know that there's some things that I can ask him that he's going to answer

without getting too pissed at me, but he's not going to give me as much as I want. As long as I don't get the death stare, I win. We're going to cross that bridge in July and August. It's going to be fun. I'll make sure that I record that podcast and we'll have fun with that and we'll refer back to this day. So, Bert Breer, stop calling out young reporters for

not asking the question. Pro Football Talk, get your butts down there and try it yourself. Go sit down in front of that guy, you know, 10 feet from him and stare him in the eye when you can tell he's as ornery as can be when he's gone through 8 hours of a draft and he's got a million guys calling him

to do all these things and you ask him a stupid question. That's why guys are asking him about rugby because they probably looked at him and said, this guy looks pissed. So, there's your answer, Breer. It's because either you piss him off, or you can tell that he's pissed when he walks in. So national media, slowly roll on picking on the local media around here, because it's not as easy as it looks. In fact, it's downright difficult to deal with. So people are doing the best they can, and maybe we just got to do a better job with the questions that we ask.

I'll see if I can do better. In Patriots news, Patriots signed wide receiver Andrew Hawkins. I like the pickup. Adds more depth to the loaded wide receiver group. He's the type of guy, you know, he can step in, help out playing the slot a little bit, play outside if need he can do a little bit of everything or he could get cut Seriously you get cut tomorrow. That's just the way it works with the Patriots, but I personally like Hawkins. I think he's a good player So another wide receiver to add to a group that looks like they got their bases covered into that going into 2017

Malcolm Butler looks very focused on 2017. He talked to the reporters down at the OTAs. He's moving on from this past offseason. He's just focused on having his best season. I said this from the beginning. That's what he should have been doing all along. You go into your restricted contract year, sign your tender, play your butt off, get paid.

Get paid. Patriots probably aren't going to resign him. I think that ship has sailed. I just don't see it happening. And they'll probably replace him in a very good corner, and they'll draft somebody, or they'll do something. But I think the relationship is pretty much not good at this point. Talking to some sources, I know it's not good.

Butler's not happy with the team as far as the contract situation is concerned, but he's happy to go out there and play his butt off and try to win and get rich, and that's what he has to do. And the fact that Butler, and I've talked about this before, and I'll be open with it, I'll say this to his face, he's going to be 28 when he's going into his contract year. So teams are not going to sign him to as big a deal is what he's looking for. He's going to get less on the open market than what typical first-time free agent corner is going to get.

So he would be smart to sit down and listen to the Patriots when they offer him $10 million to $11 million a year because he's going to get a contract on the open market that's going to look like one of those agent bloated contracts. He's not going to get as much money as he thinks he's going to get. And who knows? You go to another team, you play in another system, different coaching. The NFL, if you wax just a little tiny bit, you just, you know, maybe I won lax just a little tiny bit, you just, you know,

maybe I won't play just a little, not just quite as hard as I did when I played for Bill because, you know, Bill's going to ride my ass if I really, you know, if I don't play my hardest at all times. But if you go to another team, you don't really have that. So you do have those lax moments. And those lax moments are things that, you know, cause you to not be as good of a player anymore. And that's what happens to guys when they leave the Patriots.

And Malcolm Butler was an undrafted free agent for a reason. Yeah, he's a good player, but he's not infallible, not by any stretch of the imagination. And I know statistically he's been named one of the top ten cornerbacks in the league by pro football focus over the last couple seasons. And from what I see, I think he's a great player, and I think he makes plays, and I think he does a good job mirroring his receivers, and he's good. But, again, 28 years old, went to Weston, Alabama because he had issues. There's things there that I don't know at all.

I'm not going to sit here and say a guy got in trouble or anything like that, but clearly something had to have happened. He ended up at Weston, Alabama looking how good he was. So there are some things that, you know, aren't perfect. But the fact that he's not getting any younger and he's, you know, going to be basically a football player is halfway into his prime, because football players' prime is from their 25 to their 29, I believe.

30 and over is done in the NFL, unless you're a quarterback. So I think Butler, I think that he needs to accept the fact that he is probably going to get, if you get a three-year $35 million or $34 million offer from the Patriots and say 18 of it's guaranteed, he better sign that thing quick because I just don't think that he's going to get as much money in the open market as he expects. But, again, he's focused on this season. He said he's going to have a huge year, and that will catapult him into a huge contract.

And, you know, after saying all this, yeah, I'll probably end up being right or wrong. He probably will end up getting a huge contract from some stupid team out there. But, again, the grass isn't always greener, even when the money may be more. So Butler's back in the fold for the season. It's going to be fun to watch him and Gilmore team up and lock down receivers. I'm hoping that Darrell Revis joins the fold.

I think he's going to. The reports are that Revis is down to between three teams, the Patriots, the Cowboys, and the Steelers. Three choices that are pretty good choices right there. Three of the best teams in the history of the league. So three of the top four, I would have to say. So that's pretty cool. Hopefully Revis does end up here.

But, again, we'll have to see with Butler. But I think he's going to go out and play his butt off and have a big year in 2017. So ESPN, the ESPN is just not the same. They ranked Tom Brady as the 21st most famous athlete in the world. You know, it seems like a bit low of a number, but popularity contests, they really aren't our thing here at Locked On Patriots. In fact, the only reason I brought this up was to pick on ESPN a little bit. We're going to trust them on this.

ESPN, just a tip here for you, this is the reason why you guys are losing market share. When the only news I have to talk about from your site is this garbage, that's a bad sign. Firing John Clayton, letting these guys go. And then you guys are doing popularity rankings of athletes in the world. Get back to the basics. What the hell are you guys doing over there?

Oh, my God. I just, I'm baffled by it. And you know what? To be honest with you, they're one of our competitors. So, you know what, ESPN? Just keep doing what you're doing. Keep doing what you're doing, and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, and we'll catch up to you guys and eventually go buy you.

Unbelievable. Congratulations, Tom. ESPN thanks you. The 21st most famous athlete in the world. TMZ can do that stuff because they're TMZ, and that's what they do, and that's what they just pretty much advertise at, and I respect it. ESPN is doing, that's a TMZ type thing right there. And just, it's disgusting.

So, good luck. Good luck, Fuller Network. Unbelievable. So, we talked about Bill Belichick a little bit earlier. The fact that he's one of the most intimidating people of all time in a press conference. I learned that the hard way. Belichick said that the Patriots are starting over. 2016 ultimately means nothing to this upcoming season. So this laser focus is the reason why the Patriots are what they are.

He's awesome. I mean, the guy, he's 100% focused, locked in. He knows what he wants to do. They were behind because they won the Super Bowl, which is a good reason to be behind. But they're caught up in a major way. And now they have cap space. There's still free agents out there that they're looking at.

They have a great roster. So all they want to do now is possibly tinker to make it a little bit better. So it's good times over there. And it's good that Belichick already has them in what he calls a starting over phase, and that's kind of what their focus is. Let's do this again. Get rid of last year. Get rid of 2014.

Don't think about that. Don't think about 2016. Let's think about 2017, winning the Super Bowl, because, again, and I've said this and he knows this too Brady's nearing the end, he's at the end he may not be at the he's not in his last season I don't think

but he's at the end, we're in the last chapter that's what it is, and he knows this so I have a feeling that this laser focus a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's like, let's maximize what we have with Tom Brady. So, you know, it's good that Belichick already has him thinking like that. And new players, guys that they brought in like Lizley, they

seem to be very impressed with what they see in the competition and how good the roster is now they understand. You know. Brandon Cooks even said it. He goes, it's so competitive here. He's like, it's just a different world. And it is. And that's what happens when you're at the top rate professional franchise in all sports. So Patriots looking good.

Belichick moving on. 2017 is here. That's ahead of us. 2016 is in the rearview mirror. Fans, you keep celebrating that. They want a Super Bowl. That's a beautiful thing. Go is in the rearview mirror. Fans, you keep celebrating that. They want a Super Bowl. That's a beautiful thing. Go rub it in the Patriots' haters' face.

It's awesome. The fact that they came back from 28-3. And the fact the last two Super Bowls can say this. And I hope your Patriots fans can take some therapy for you guys. 19-0. I'll take that back. 18-1 is a PTSD moment for Patriots fans I'm going to say this once

Anybody out there that actually has post-traumatic stress disorder I'm not belittling your disease I'm not But what I'm saying is from a sports perspective Patriots fans are broken from that I'm not making this up It's not, I'm not making this up. It's not something, well, you know, I'm joking around. It legit, legitimately broke Patriots fans for a while. I know people who did not watch television for months on end because they couldn't

bear to see anything. No newspapers, no internet, no nothing. This happened. This was real. Myself, even myself, I didn't watch any of the highlights or any of that stuff for almost a year, you know, until the, actually until the new season started. And even then I did, I just, you know, put it behind me and just moved on. And then when Brady's kneecap exploded, it was like, wow, this isn't good. But that game, it definitely is something that is a PTSD moment for Patriots fans. And 2011 was pretty bad, too, to lose to the Giants. That was a tough way to lose.

So where I'm going with this is the way they won against the Seahawks and the way that they won against the Falcons. I don't want to say it makes up for the way that they lost, but it definitely doesn't hurt. It definitely helps. I think more the 2011 loss is easier to swallow now. 18-1 is never going to be easy to swallow. But the way that they won those games is nice for Patriots fans.

So take solace in that, Patriots fans. You ripped the heart out of two other fan bases after having your heart out ripped out, really ripped out once. Second time, you lost a game to a good team. First time, you lost a game, and that would have been historic. But the two wins have kind of made up for it a little bit. I want to take a look, take a minute here to tell you about one of our sponsors before we let you guys go.

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only pay $50 for for an entire year. So check it out. So I want to thank you guys all for joining us for this Thursday edition of Locked on Patriots. I know we went a little long today, but, hey, it's been a while since I've talked to you guys. And, again, like I told you, we've got a ton of stuff going on over at Scout.com that's going to also bleed in here over to Locked on Patriots, and it's going to make things better for this show too. Be sure to go to iTunes, subscribe to our show today, as in right now,

especially again, now with everything over at scout.com squared away, we're really going to start taking this show to the next level with guests and things of that nature, something we've been trying to do for a while. We finally, we're there now. So make sure you tell your friends about us. I know you guys, we've got a good, um, a lot of you guys listen every show I post and I appreciate that. Um,

so let's get more people to listen to us and make sure you tell your friends about us here at locked on Patriots. We are all about getting Patriots fans, the most info you need to be the most in the no Patriots fans. I want you guys to have a great night. I will catch up with you guys again tomorrow and be sure to come to, um, the website and listen to us again tomorrow night. Cause I guarantee you, we guys again tomorrow. Be sure to come to the website and

listen to us again tomorrow night because I guarantee you we're going to have another episode up. It's time to pick it back up. June is here. And as far as I'm concerned, baseball season for me ended as I coach. Football season is here. So game on, Patriots fans. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow night. Have a good one. Is democracy in danger or decline? Condoleezza Rice, William Galston, and Carlos Gutierrez and others take on this question in the fall edition of The Catalyst, a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute. Surveys show Americans place less trust in institutions like the media and business. Others contend America has faced far more challenging periods and emerged strong. Thank you.