Josh McDaniels Puts on an Absolute CLINIC of How to Say Goodbye With a Full Page Ad Thanking New England
Source - Former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels bid farewell to New England in a full-page ad in Wednesday’s Boston Globe, thanking coach Bill Belichick, team owner Robert Kraft, and former quarterback Tom Brady while looking back on his 21 years with the Patriots. ...
“I will miss you, all of you Patriots fans, more than you know. You are the epitome of resilience and the definition of support,” he wrote.
“Our lengthy and rich time here, along with the quality and depth of relationships we’ve built here, mean that New England will always be a very special place to the McDaniels family,” he wrote. “From a Patriots’ standpoint, there can be little doubt that collectively you helped us win an incredible 6 World Championships. You fueled a dynasty and you were always there for us. ...
"Two decades here have given me a magnificent wife, 4 magnificent kids and 6 Super Bowl rings. Through school carpools, club sports, my kids’ friendships, Nor’easters, the pandemic and my crazy schedule, you’ve always been there for us. You drew a perfect picture of what ‘HOME’ for an NFL football coach should be. ...
"I had a front-row seat to watch [Brady] play the most important position in all of team sports better than anyone has ever played it,” he wrote. “Far more personally significant, almost [two] decades of sharing a game day trench with Tommy forged a close relationship of trust and gave rise to a priceless friendship. Tom is as great as it gets on and off the field, and I appreciate how he’s made me better in so many ways.”
McDaniels was equally lavish in his praise in what Belichick and Kraft meant to his development as a coach and individual.
“Bill taught me how to teach others how to play this game I love, and sculpted me into the coach I am today,” he wrote. “Bill’s brilliance has been matched in my life only by his generosity, his willingness to share with the invaluable coaching axioms that have shaped and will continue to shape my career and my life life immeasurably.
“Robert is relentless in his pursuit of excellence, and his results in business and with his football team speak to his unwillingness to lose,” he added. “But RKK is a GOAT to me because of the life lessons he’s taught me and because of how warm and caring he has always been to me and my family. He treated me like a son, and I always felt his genuine support and love.”
McDaniels’ final salute was for the New England fans.
“Finally, I will miss you, all of you Patriots fans, more than you know,” he wrote. “You are the epitome of resilience and the definition of support. I will never forget snowballs flying around after the ‘tuck’ game, the way you embraced Matt Cassel after TB’s 2008 knee injury, the LOUD way you expressed a ‘never say die’ attitude in the second half of our Super Bowl against Atlanta and, most of all, you enthusiastically lining the streets for our half dozen duck boat parades. There is a reason they call Boston the best sports city in the world.
“So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for giving the Patriots and my family a distinct home field advantage. You took a naive kid from the Midwest and made him a wicked savvy New Englanduh. All the very best going forward.”
Holy moly. Josh McDaniels, you honeydripper!
Forgive me for any typos you might find in what I'm about to say. But reading this is giving me the vapors. And I'm going to be fanning myself with one hand and typing with the other. And you can understand why. I use words for a living, and I've never written anything this passionate. Hell, now that I think about it, I never even got the woman in my life a Hallmark Valentine, since it was the day after the Super Bowl and, well, priorities. I can't imagine that the guy who was the architect of the 28-3 comeback, who schemed up a way to drop 28 on the 2014 Legion of Boom, who orchestrated two 14-point comebacks against Baltimore with a double pass and Ineligible Receiver formations, who outdueled Andy Reid on the road despite the Chiefs scoring 24 points in the 4th quarter and who kept Aaron Donald at bay for 60 minutes could be capable of such eloquence. But there it is, in blue and lighter blue.
And while he's no doubt moved on by now, this is all anyone in New England was asking when Tom Brady wrote those Shakespearean soliloquys to the people of Tampa who stopped hating him for all of about 22 months. He didn't have to go on as long as McDaniels does here. He didn't have to be so effusive in his praise or bring up so many great memories. Just an acknowledgement. Just a mention of Mr. Kraft and Belichick and the people who took so many slings and arrows on his behalf.
The thing is, McDaniels has not been without his detractors in his two tours of duty here. Like any coordinator, you're going to have critics. It's the nature of the job. Hell, when I was the Web Zone Guy on the Patriots pre- and postgame from 2013-14, the job entailed checking social media for "what the people out there are saying." And I remember specifically seeing a Tweet from a lady I know from a Patriots message board who was publicly rooting for his death. And she's a grandmother. But all those second guesses and calls for his untimely demise didn't stop McDaniels from remembering the good times and all the success he most definitely played a role in.
So this is a classy move no matter how you look at it. It says volumes about the man's character and his ability to appreciate the many, many good times of this Dynasty. I've always been a fan precisely because of the game plans I mentioned a couple of paragraphs back. As well as his genius for being able to find ways to get the most out of unorthodox athletes like Cordarelle Patterson. I always found him to be a quality guy without an ego. Willing to answer a question, even if he was giving an evasive non-answer. Like the time at a Super Bowl Media Day when I asked him to share his first 15 plays with me, while promising I won't tell anyone, and he went along with the gag instead of being a dick about it. Not to mention the fact he screwed over the Colts, for which we should all be eternally grateful.
So let this be a lesson to anyone who cares about public opinion. At least the opinions of the public who've supported you and your franchise. A little bit of thanks at the end of the line isn't going to kill you. And it goes a long way toward staying in everyone's good graces if things don't work out at your new job and you're looking for a soft landing spot. Contrast McDaniels' style to the way Eric Mangini slinked out of town in the middle of the night and almost immediately started to Fredo the very coach he owed his career to. The difference speaks volumes about both men's character. And McDaniels money should be no good in this region for the rest of his life.
If I have one criticism though, it's the whole "full page ad" thing. First of all, it's so 2000s. In the 2022, get yourself an Instagram account and post it there. It's free, and you can always slap a link to some line of merchandize you're pushing, the way Brady did. But if you must go the full page ad route, how about not buying space in a paper that has been nothing but hostile to the franchise you had all that success with, since the tiny, squeaky-voiced tyrant who owns the paper resents the fact all your winning detracted from his far less popular baseball team? Hell, I would've posted McDaniels' farewell address here, just for the clicks. And as a way of saying thanks for 13 incredible seasons of service. Then again, this is 2022. A full page ad in the Globe probably costs less than getting your profile on Christian Mingle. Regardless, it's a touching and classy move by a good guy.
Thanks to Josh McDaniels. And any time he's not playing New England, best of luck.