The Patriots Postgame Celebration was the Very Definition of Players Having No Fun Under the Tyrant Belichick

These poor men. These poor, poor men. It just breaks your heart to see people have to suffer this sort of abuse just to earn a crust in today's world. It's like a Dickensian workhouse in there, everyone toiling for tuppence a day under the stern, watchful eye of their overseer, the evil Mr. Belichick.

 All those former Patriots and guys who never played here and assorted national media experts must have had this very scene in mind when they declared that playing in New England is NO FUN and no free agents would want to come to Foxboro just to be treated this way. When they insisted that anyone who ever signed here in the past came solely to be Tom Brady's teammate. And now that he's gone, they'll all take 50 cents on the dollar to go play in Tampa. And Belichick will left alone and humiliated during the signing period, like a kid with no one showing up to his birthday party because he has social cooties. 

All seriousness aside, this clip is barely 100 seconds long, and there's just so much gooey, caramel goodness in here I don't know where to begin. Look at the respect, and more importantly, the affection, these guys have for Mr. Kraft. From a sophomore like Kyle Dugger to a rookie like Mac Jones to a veteran like Matthew Judon. Drew Bledsoe, Patriots royalty, coming back to call Jones "Youngster" like he's Brett Musberger doing the LLWS. The line of players taking attaboys from Jakob Johnson to Ju'Whaun Bentley to Hunter Henry. I suppose they must be forced to hug assistants by a contractual obligation in order to make their work life look like it's not the soul-sucking drudgery we all know it is. 

But the star of this one is Kendrick Bourne. Obviously Belichick was impressed by the old school stiff arm he gave Javon Brown on his second touchdown, because it comes up twice. First when they turn it into a buddy handshake and again after the coach calls him "My Man":

I can't remember in which post I mentioned it, but during either OTAs or training camp, I wrote about Bourne jawing with people in a punt drill. Good naturedly. Hilariously. Not busting balls, just joking his way through a workout routine in the middle of offseason practices. In a drill where he and whoever he was jibber-jabbering with were just bodies, not part of what was being worked on. And I recall saying he's going to be a team and fan favorite. That he just emits that positive energy you need in some co-workers to make work feel less like work, while still completing the task at hand like professionals. And he could've signed anywhere, but chose to bring those positive vibes with him to New England. Judging by this clip, I was right. 

Also judging by this clip - and the fact the Pats are the hottest team in football - the rest of the world was full of shit with everything they said about this organization and the men who run it. So far, I love the 2021 season. God help me, how I love it so.