Image courtesy of Apple TV+

Alright, the first two episodes of The Dynasty didn’t disappoint with a nostalgic look back at the early days of this magical 25 year run, and even some 90’s love for those of us who grew up with Bledsoe being ‘the guy.’

The next two episodes were a bit puzzling, but still entertaining as hell. Episode 3 was an incredible trip down memory lane and Episode 4 is especially interesting for those of us who were in college at the time of Spygate defending the team until the death in every dorm room party argument there was.

Here’s everything that came to mind watching these next two episodes…

Episode 3

-Bryan Cox was just the best. Immediate open with him talking sh*t to Jerome Bettis saying “I’m gonna get your ass” and other Steelers in the 2001 AFC title game is just awesome.

-Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I distinctively remember being absurdly confident in this team. There was zero doubt in my mind sitting at my grandparents’ house watching with family that they were going to New Orleans.

-Flag all day about five years later on the low hit Brady took.

-Still just an unbelievable story when you think of how the season played out and then the fact Drew had to come in and save the day. Also, I was a Drew guy, so had full belief they’d be fine. Again, I was only 13 and he was the only QB I’d ever known, cut me some slack.

-That hit on the sideline in Pittsburgh and his reaction should be more revered in Patriots history than it is by fan. What a moment (and a huge sigh of relief).

-The TD to Patten was literally the same TD he caught in the Super Bowl just before halftime.

-I’m not sure as fans we appreciated Patten enough (God rest his soul), he was EXTREMELY dependable.

-It’s absolutely wild and borderline criminal that we don’t see any of the major special teams plays that won that game for them or get any sideline/on-field audio from the blocked return lateral at least. Pretty important, no?

-I’ve tweeted this a ton over the years, bur BRING BACK THE OLD CONFERENCE TITLE TROPHIES. These ‘new’ ones look like weak participation trophies. I remember being so proud as a fan they got to hold that distinguished looking trophy.

-This run was truly incredible, back when just following the AFC East standings and hoping you’d see them in the bye conversation was jarring. It became the norm, but at this point they’d only truly competed for a title one other time (1996) since I’d been watching the team. There was also some family stuff going on at this time, so I remember this team being a sign of hope things would get better. Boy, did they.

-Seeing the old season tickets the Krafts had was pretty cool. I still have a bag full of tickets for every event I’ve ever been to, I wish paper ones were still a thing.

-The 1970’s-80’s Rte 1. traffic was laugh out loud funny. Some things never change.

-“No one realized how important that was,” is an interesting quote from Kraft regarding the purchase of the old Foxborough Stadium and the land around it. He really was a visionary for a franchise when most people thought very little of it.

-“We didn’t do this to be a doormat for any other teams. We do like to win, we plan to work very closely with Coach Parcells to have a very special team.” -RKK during his introductory press conference after the purchase. Safe to say he ended up working a little too close…

-“I was rooting for Kraft. Because the way it was, it was a little bit in disaray.” -Parcells. So cool he agreed to do this despite still not being in the team’s Hall of Fame. How the fans don’t grasp the fact that he and Bledsoe are the reason the team was able to succeed as much as it did still blows my mind.

-“Finally we have a coach that’s committed, an owner that’s committed and they’re going to spend the money and get us a winner,” -Fan purchasing season tickets in 1994. 25 years later, do fans still feel the same? Fascinating to compare then and now.

-Terry Glenn (God rest his soul) was so F’n good. It’s a shame he didn’t become a true superstar here. Second Pats jersey I ever owned after a Bledsoe one. Arguably the franchise’s best draft pick ever for that position.

-Wow. I did not remember what the 1997 send off looked like (I was nine) but that’s still my second favorite team all time behind the 01 team. Jam packed City Hall Plaza brings back so many parade memories (even though the started doing just the lame rolling rallies later on).

-“We finally got some success, but I felt like Kraft wasn’t always in line with the things I knew to be in the best interest of building a team.” -Parcells on RKK in 1997. Love this. It’s gotta be the first time we’ve truly gotten Parcells on record about the relationship, at least that I remember.

-“Kraft had no real background in football and his inexperience he took the draft from me and gave it to somebody else. I felt like some people that were incompetent were making decisions for the organization personnel wise and I didn’t like it.” -More from Parcells. The tone and facial expressions he delivers this with make it seem like he still gets pissed about it. This is awesome.

-“I knew I wasn’t going back to the Patriots.” -Parcells again, this time speaking about Super Bowl week. I wish I was old enough at the time to fully grasp how much of an issue this was. Man, this 96 team could have beaten that Green Bay team if all this crap wasn’t swirling around them.

-The fact that even if they had won Super Bowl XXXI Parcells would still be gone is still crazy. Like, they couldn’t work it out if it had gone differently? The relationship was that bad? Sounds familiar, but I still can’t believe he dragged the team through this that week of all weeks. I’ll always be a Parcells guy, but it really was a terrible look and the players deserved better.

-BRING BACK THE 90’s ROYAL BLUES AND ROAD WHITES FOR THROWBACKS

-Not showing the Howard kick off return or how dominant Reggie White was is a disservice to everyone on the field that day and everyone who watched.

-Still remember getting Papa Ginos with my cousins and watching it in their basement in Saugus while the “grown ups” were partying upstairs. My first taste of true devastation, but was too busy building forts to be that upset just yet.

-“He was making decisions that were best for Bill Parcells as opposed to the New England Patriots.” -RKK. Damn. But, maybe the Krafts gave him no option? Parcells had just built a multi-Super Bowl winner in New York, why meddle in the personnel to the point where he felt like he had no control? Even as a young owner, that’s still puzzling that Kraft couldn’t stay out of the way while progress was clearly being made.

-“I promised myself int he future that I would find a coach that would put team first.” -RKK. Well, he did until BB’s ego got in the way during some of the biggest moments.

-Good to hear our own Alan Segel asking Bill Belichick a question in New Orleans during Super Bowl week. One of the best to do it and he covered all the ups and downs through Parcells and Carroll.

-I sort of remembered the Lawyer Milloy not liking his hotel room story during SB week, but the nugget about BB giving him the head coach’s suite then busting his balls about it all week is outstanding stuff.

-U2 claiming to be Team Bledsoe Super Bowl week is definitely not something I remember but pretty funny. I also don’t remember it being that much of a question, like as long as the ankle was ok it was always going to be Brady, right?

-Can’t imagine how hard that conversation was for Bledsoe when BB told him Brady was starting, especially being back in New Orleans five years later. Stand up guy, but then again, what could he really do at that point? Defense ran the team. $100 million guy or not, he couldn’t pull a Parcells and sabotage the week.

-Bruschi saying Bledsoe was the one who really started ‘The Patriot Way’ made 14-year old me so happy. The footage of him walking around in a sweatsuit with a play sheet pregame was pure Pats Porn too.

-Holy sh*t. The conversation between Willie McGinest, Antwan Smith and Lawyer Milloy int he tunnel still deciding how they’re going to be introduced then deciding to do it as a team is incredible. Obviously, a goosebump-inducing moment that we all remember, but hearing and seeing that after all these years just makes it that much cooler.

-The Patriotic backdrop and Pat Summerall’s voice made it that much more memorable. What a god damn moment that was.

-I miss the giant inflatable players, the giant helmets and Super Bowl trophies pregame. Bring all of it back.

-Mike Martz is such a dink. Him being pissed by Pats fans taking over New Orleans makes the win even better now.

-“We were the guys you didn’t want to see in a dark alley.” -Richard Seymour on the defense. Man, I don’t know if we all appreciated this unit during this run enough. They truly were dominant and this game is their greatest achievement.

-Once again, I can’t explain it, but the confidence I had throughout this entire day and night is so vivid for me. 14-point dogs or not, I knew this was going to happen, as wild as it may seem now. The Ty Law pick is still my favorite play in this game and the image of me and my dad going nuts during the return will last forever.

-“I ain’t gonna lie to you. That was probably one of the easiest interceptions that I ever had in my life. Those are the kinds of interceptions we typically drop because it’s like…you bullshitting…He ain’t…I know you…watchu talking bout’ Kurt? I know you ain’t about to throw that.” -Ty Law on how easy of a throw it was to pick and normally DB’s drop them because it’s so wide open. Guy’s an f’n character. Love No. 24.

-Martz crying about the physicality makes me lose more respect for that already soft Rams team. Clown.

-Pretty neat little story about Jonathan Kraft writing down a few things for an RKK victory speech at halftime and then RKK says “You open your mouth to the devil and bad things happen,” right before the Rams comeback, acknowledging he was superstitious. Wasn’t around for the 1986 Sox but assume many felt the same way at the time.

-Ridiculous they don’t show or talk about the fumble return negated by McGinest’s penalty. Game would’ve been over at 24-10.

-Friggin Ricky Prohel. Guy somehow made himself relevant in 2 different Pats Super Bowls.

-So we find out it was Ernie Adams that called for the code red and sent the Pats downfield for that final drive against John Madden’s advice. Of course it was.

-Drew kinda gets credit for his “f**k it, just go,” line to Tom, but ultimately it was mostly Ernie.

-“I didn’t know what I was capable of.” -TB before that last drive. Crazy to hear someone with so much success say that all these years later. Guy didn’t know he was going to be the GOAT until he just went out and did it.

-I can’t believe the Rams let Troy get so open over the middle. I knew right after that play it was over.

-Both the FOX call with Madden and Summerall and the WBCN call with Gil and Gino are two of my favorite all time. I’ll never forget Gil’s voice in the 90’s and 2000’s. Made everything that much more significant.

-“We are all Patriots and tonight, the Patriots are world champions,” will forever be the greatest line ever uttered by an owner during a championship acceptance speech because of the timing. There’s zero debate.

-Seeing all the blackout drunk Pats fans celebrating makes me SO disappointed I wasn’t in college at that time, but watching it at my dad’s house in Billerica wasn’t too bad either. I remember him telling me on the ride back to my grandparents’ house where I was living at the time “cherish it because you never know when you’ll see another championship.” He had last seen the C’s win in 1986. Funny how things work out. I would see two more Super Bowls and two World Series in the next six years.

-“He was still F’d up from the night before.” -Brady on BB during a meeting the next day after the Super Bowl. No more needed. Just funny as hell seeing and hearing Brady say it.

-Now we all know BB saying “Tom you had a pretty good year,” after that first title was just setting the stage for the lack of appreciation BB would show the next 20.

-Mom made me go to school instead of the parade. I got to go to the first Sox one though, so it all evened out.

-Brady’s sudden realization that he’s wealthy and then jamming out to Black Betty is now my new life goal.

-Bring back the screen at Fenway. Also, this was and still is the coolest Opening Day first pitch in Boston history.

-“That’s where you realize, this can’t stop now.” -Bruschi on the thought of becoming a dynasty winning three of four. KC is thinking and saying the same thing right now. How quickly things can change.

-So, I get being short on time for a documentary, but glossing over ‘The Homeland Defense’ that was utterly dominant, Rodney Harrison’s free agency recruitment (including The Ground Round visit) and his impact on the franchise, Lawyer Milroy’s release and trading Bledsoe is all a HUGE miss. Those were massive stories and pieces of the puzzle at that time. 03 and 04 deserve their own episodes or at least one for both.

-If you’re going to show the Champ Bailey pick in the 05 divisional at least show the damn chase down. One of the best plays in NFL playoff history. 

Episode 4

-Opening up the episode with a New Jersey State Police Officer who was an undercover agent literally gave this a crime documentary feel. Nice touch.

-Me and my college roommate used to watch PTI RELIGIOUSLY on ESPN. I remember this season more vividly than any other in my life and while I’ve tried to forget a lot of it, hearing Woody Paige on Around the Horn and then the PTI guys is traumatizing. The national hate was so over the top.

-Before the 18-1 loss to the Giants the loss in the 06 AFCCG to Indy was the worst I’d ever suffered through. They murder the Bears if they don’t piss this game away. Still annoying 18 years later.

-“Whoever won that game was probably going to win the Super Bowl.”- Brady. Yah. No kidding…

-McDaniels saying “we didn’t get out in front enough,” feels wild to me since it was 20 (21?)-6 at halftime. But maybe there were missed opportunities I don’t remember?

-Randy Moss’ BB impression is phenomenal and the story of him walking into a club when Bill called him makes 18-year old me grin from ear-to-ear.

-It just keeps getting better, Randy ordering a 12-pack of Corona at the club and going nuts that he’s going to be a Patriot is my new favorite story from that magical and then disastrous season.

-I will never forget driving back to Henniker, NH from a Sox-Yankees Friday night, Saturday afternoon doubleheader at the old Yankee Stadium with a new friend from college my freshman year and hearing about the trade during draft weekend. Top 10 fandom moment still to this day.

-Bought the 81 jersey at a Bobs in Concord, NH and had it hanging in the same place throughout the week in my dorm before putting it on first thing Sunday morning in the dorm. One of the coolest things was every one else from other cities rocking their jerseys too around campus.

-Randy Moss compares himself catching the opening deep ball TD against the Jets in Week 1 (also an image I’ll never forget. It just meant more when you’re away from home, I can’t explain it) to Forrest Gump breaking out of his braces running. This man is a national treasure.

-“Nobody had any F’n idea what to do.” -Patrick Aramini, the cop mentioned at the beginning talking about when the initial tape was first confiscated. Sounds about right.

-“The Patriots were saying ‘that’s my f’n property.” “The Jets were saying ‘you’re f’ing spying on us.” This is absolute gold.

-I obviously remember this being massive at the time, but honestly didn’t remember it being national news on like, major networks. Crazy.

-Very interesting to see Robyn Glaser make an appearance in this given her new role with the team now. Extremely interesting perspective and obviously wild that the investigation started on her first day with the team.

-“Just so you know, on this whole video thing…the Jets game in 2007, I’m not going to re-open it…could I tell you stories? Yes. I’m not going to? No…I’ve got some stuff…it’s going to go to the grave with me a little bit.” -Ernie Adams to the director as he nervously sipped his water. Wow. Well, if that’s not the most damming thing I’ve heard about it in the last 17 years nothing is…

-Felger on what must’ve been ESPN 890 at the time diving head first into this thing. The more things change the more they stay the same even after a decade-plus.

-“It’s all in the past. I’ve made my comments on that. I don’t have anything to add.” -BB on Spygate. Sounds about right.

-“I went right over to Bill and I said ‘let me ask you something Bill. How important to us is something like that on a scale of 1-100? And he said to me, ‘one.’ I said to him ‘then you’re a real schmuck.” -RKK on his conversation with BB during Spygate investigation. Well, damn. Obviously we hadn’t heard that one before.

-“I protected Bill…we tried to protect his reputation.” -RKK again. RKK taking a lot of credit for a lot in this documentary, but I think this one is fair. It’s still stunning BB was never suspended.

-Having Glaser re-make the image of walking down a hallway at Gillette with a hammer to destroy the Spygate tapes is absurd but also friggin hilarious.

-Goodell’s response at the time during a presser when he’s asked why they destroyed the tapes is actually pretty damn good even if it was BS about not wanting other teams to see it. Hell of a lie there for RKK and the team frankly.

-Bill’s ability to truly defuse any situation in the media and have himself, the staff and the team locked into the opponent was remarkable. I remember as a fan how ready I was for the Chargers game on that Sunday night in primetime. The ass kicking was oh, so sweet.

-What a friggin rat Mangini was. I know we all knew that, but damn he just looks and sounds so smarmy here.

-“The unwritten rule is, when you leave the family you leave the family. You honor the opportunity that was given, you don’t make a mess.” -Pioli on Mangini. I mean, they clearly thought way too highly of themselves as an organization at times, but he’s kind of right. Mangini would’ve been nothing without Bill. Why be the rat?

-Pioli acknowledging that Mangini’s actions made Bill start to distance himself from those closest to him is fascinating given what we knew about draft control and all that over the years. As more time went by and the team became more successful, it feels like BB was more and more paranoid about his legacy and keeping things going.

-Holy sh*it. The speech in the locker room about Spygate where BB simply says “shut the F**k up” is more Pats porn for the fan in all of us.

-Moss points out Kraft said ‘thick and thin, we’re family here,” when he came aboard and adds it’s something he was searching for. That week that team truly rallied around Bill. Great stuff.

-“How do we feel about playing for Bill Belichick?…awww yeah” -Bruschi breaking down the team after the Chargers win. More Patriots porn we’ve never seen or heard before. Fantastic.

-“We had a lot of emotions for Bill. Hate, love, everything, but he was ours.”- Bruschi after Spygate win. Damn this is good.

-“He’s telling the offense do it…again.” -Bruschi on BB telling the offense to run up the scores in 07. I can’t get enough of this. It’s everything we’ve always wanted to hear as fans about this particular season.

-“Each week, Bill wanted to take the jugular…I appreciate his killer instinct. I’m a bad mother**er too now.” -Moss. More please.

-“Spygate, we all took it personal. We’re not out here just to win games, we’re out here to f**king make you quit. We wanted to do very bad things to you.” -Donte Stallworth. Not the biggest fan of his given his history, but this is still a sick line and the tone in which he says it makes it even better.

-“What the fk was Dallas thinking? Man, what the fk was the Dallas Cowboys thinking?”- Moss after beating Dallas in 07. I mean, this is just so, so good.

-“Our goal was to blow everybody out the water. F**k them all. That’s our mentality.”-Rodney Harrison. Guy needs to be in the HOF ASAP. True leader for years in this organization and a dominant player.

-That Redskins ass kicking at home followed by the Sox clinching the World Series is a top-10 night of my life. Absolutely hammered up in Henniker my sophomore year. Hell of a time and poor Joe Gibbs couldn’t;t handle it.

-“Congratulations men. That shut them the f**k up.” -BB in the locker room after another win with a sh*t eating grin on his face. More Patriots porn from that wild season.

-“Don’t come in Wednesday like it”s f’n YMCA camp.” -BB locker room speech. No further commentary needed for this one.

-Bruschi playing ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ after every win because they “did that sh*t, again,” is another sneaky awesome little nugget.

-That Ravens game on MNF where Rex Ryan bails them out by calling a late timeout is still vivid in my mind. Sprinted back to my room after a 6-:30 science class. I was never more invested in anything and haven’t been in my life since. I wanted a perfect season so, so badly.

-Me and a buddy watched the entire Giants game downstairs at a party because we couldn’t deal with the people upstairs. Also, pretty surprising there’s not even a mention of EVERY SINGLE CABLE NETWORK carrying that regular season finale. It was the biggest TV show in the world that night.

-Christmas break wrapped up the day the Pats hosted LA in the AFCCG. Watched the second half in New Hampshire unpacking all my stuff while my Giants fan roommate then freaked out as his G-Men stunned the Packers. Little did I know we wouldn’t talk for three weeks pretty soon.

-“If the Patriots win and go 19-0, we’ll be experiencing a Holy moment in the history of the National Football League.” -Steve Sabol, the late great NFL Films star. Again, I’ve never wanted anything so bad as a fan. To this day, it would end every argument about who the greatest team of all time was, There would be no comeback for 19-0, even with Spygate swirling that year.

-“It was the devil at work.” -RKK on 07 Super Bowl. Fact.

-Totally forgot Brady had an injured ankle. “Girls Man Limps Home” headline in the NY Post was f’n hilarious.

-As a journalist I absolutely get why Tomase and the Herald put out the story about the Pats possibly taping the Rams in 02, but as a fan I’m still pissed they chose that week of all weeks.

-The Krafts threatening the Herald with “guns blazing” if they didn’t retract the story is such an interesting little detail I obviously had no clue about. Jonathan also adds he said something to the effect of “we’re going to own your paper soon,” and “if it was worth owning we would’ve owned their newspaper, but it wasn’t something worth owning.” Damn, What a shot at the Herald.

-Didn’t remember that the Herald did run an apology, but obviously too little too late at that point.

-That Giants D-line doesn’t get enough love as an all-time unit. Strahan, Tuck and Umenyora were friggin terrifying and up Brady’s ass all night.

-Hell of a drive by Randy to go up 14-10. Didn’t remember him being such a big part before the TD catch but it was a thing if beauty just chipping away down field.

-2:42. That’s it…still soul crushing.

-BLOW THE WHISTLE. Eli’s clearly in the grasp of both Thomas and Green.

-How the hell was Harrison not strong enough to rip that away from Tyree? Still blows my mind. This is also the full time I’ve fully watched this play since it happened. Sickening.

-“I was like fk man, how the fk did you do that?” -Brady on the catch. Ok that’s funny.

-“I was looking at it the other day. If that ball bounces up, we have like five guys there to intercept the ball.” -Brady. Ugh. It’s so true.

-I will NEVER forget my surroundings or the feeling after that catch. NY still had to score, but I knew the dream was dead. I actually flipped over a TV table full of chicken wings from Western Ave in Henniker when it happened.

-Bruschi compares the Giants sideline after the catch to the Pats’ during the Rams game in 01. “Oh sh*t, I know what they feel,” he says. They knew it too.

-“Out of all the plays I’ve made my whole life, that still haunts me, My finger tips touched it. I nipped it.” -Moss on the final Brady heave that would’ve set up a game-tying field goal. Soul crushing to hear him say that. I actually forgot how close that was to being a completion.

-Junior Seau was such an awesome vet (God rest his soul), such a sad image of him walking through the Giants’ confetti.

-“The Giants were better than us that day. They out-coached us, out-played us and dissevered to win.”-BB. I’m still not over it.

-“That was a history making game. It would have been everything.” -TB. This is just torture now. Why do we re-live these things as fans?

-Who the hell had the idea to show the Giants parade footage? What a prick. This was hard enough for fans as it is!

Simply incredible. If you read this far thank you so much for coming along on this nostalgia journey. If not, well hopefully you scrolled to the end to read this part. I can’t recommend these episodes enough if you’re a diehard Patriots fan. As tough as the Spygate episode was to watch, there’s some incredible stuff in there.

We’ll have another piece for episodes 5 and 6 next week!