A few Super Bowl-related thoughts

Arg! New England again!

OK, so now you know. I am not a Patriots fan. Never have been. See, I am from Baltimore. Ravens fans don’t care as much about any other team. Certainly, the Patriots. The only worst thing that could have happened was if the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the game and won.

I don’t dislike the Patriots only because they are a conference rival, but also because in my opinion, quarterback Tom Brady can be a crybaby at times and because of “deflategate,” where balls were apparently underinflated for a playoff game to give Brady an advantage. I also don’t like the head coach Bill Belichick because of his “spygate” nonsense where he illegally videotaped opposing teams’ signals. And more mishigas under the Patriots has occurred.

I thought it was nice to see a young team like the Atlanta Falcons make it to the big game, but although I was hopeful, I really didn’t think they would win. The oddsmakers gave the Patriots a three-point advantage, but one expert to whom I listened felt it should have been more. He was right.

Now let’s face it, probably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game as well as the greatest coach, notwithstanding the cheating, along with the greatest football team owner, Robert Kraft, won the greatest game ever played in Super Bowl history (arguably) with the greatest comeback ever, in the first Super Bowl overtime ever.

The overtime rules are a bit, well, weird where time isn’t really a factor, just who scores a touchdown first after a coin toss. But honestly, I think the Falcons knew by that time they were toast, and the Patriots drove through them like a hot knife through butter.

The game itself had become politicized – what isn’t these days  – because it was well known President Donald Trump was good friends with Brady, Belichick and Kraft. So of course a ton of Trump haters wanted the Patriots to lose for that reason alone. And after the first half, they had their social media pens ready. I figured I would see, “Ha! Serves you right, you Trump lovers!” with a few expletives added for good measure. Oops. Also, Trump predicted an eight point Patriot win. They won by six. Not bad.

By the way, I heard an interview with Kraft where he was asked to defend his friendship with Trump. Kraft’s words: “In the toughest time of my life, he was there for me when my beloved wife died. I was really depressed and he invited me to things and he looked out after me. Only four or five people did that to that extent.” Kraft never forgot, and remains loyal.

Both Robert Kraft and Falcons owner Arthur Blank are Jewish and great philanthropists, but Kraft showed what kind of mentsch he was in the 2015 season after lifelong Patriots fan Ezra Schwartz was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during his gap year at a seminary in Israel. The owner paid tribute to Ezra and all terror victims by having a moment of silence at the Patriots’ Gillette stadium before a game, with a picture of Ezra on the big screen along with the words, “In memory of Ezra Schwartz.”

More Jewish kudos to Patriots wide receiver, Julian Edelman, who made an unbelievable catch in the game that helped spearhead the Super Bowl comeback. Edelman, unabashedly pro-Israel, visited the Jewish state in the summer of 2015 as part of a philanthropy group trip. He went to the Western Wall, and did a lot more. He even made a great three minute video about it, worth watching. Click here.

Hmm, you know what? Now that I think about it, I guess it wasn’t so bad the Patriots won.