Broncos Crashes Patriots' Party & Birthday Weekend

By Caprice

NFL Week 5, Denver vs. New England, which just so happens to have coincided with my Birthday...perfect! Well thanks to two amazing people in my life I was able to experience it like I hadn't even imagined. Some would love to hit an Island for their big day, but hitting the 20 degree, sometimes snowy Denver weather couldn't even make me crack a frown. After all, that's real football weather, right? I was ready and beaming from the time I touched down!

So I've been trying to figure out my favorite part of Sunday, and since this is a girls blog, I must lead with Tom Brady. To hell with the technical football talk for a moment. Now people say that Tom is attractive, I mean he makes "most beautiful" lists for goodness sakes, but blame it on his PR people or whatever, this man has turned three steps past fine since I first saw him years ago before he was THE "Tom Brady." He walked over to say hello to an old friend, and old teammate, and my woman side went into heavy battle with my football fan side. I'm not sure how many words I actually got out, as I went into full on star struck mode, so unusual for me as I've had the odd fortune of meeting many a celebrity figure and only one other (Obama) left me just as speechless. The girl in me was able to inspect him from head-to-toe in the matter of only one full glance. Tailored grey pinstripe suit (which looked suspiciously like the one from his GQ cover), light brown dress shoes, the chin dimple and that "I didn't take all day with my hair look" that well, is signature Tom. I managed to suppress the back flips I was doing on the inside. He was the Tom u see on TV; ever handsome, ever cool, ever kind, even his subtle sense of humor was present, despite having just lost.

Which brings me back to the game, oh yeah, the game. Last year we blew Denver out 41-7, but this year I didn't feel as though they were such the underdog as everyone predicted. After all, their record was at 4-0 thus far. That's not easily dismissible for a team with a brand new Coach and brand new Quarterback. Something is obviously working for them. I went in knowing this game would be close. I also felt that the Pats old Offensive Coach, now the new Head Coach of Denver, Josh McDaniel's learned from the best and because of that actually had the upper hand. He knows Bill Belichick probably better than most of us onlookers, but how well does Bill know him? That question came into play after the first timeout was called for the Patriots when Denver managed to move the ball down the field a little too quickly for Bill on the first drive of the game. An adjustment was made and the Pats defense came back harder. It was a battle of the minds from that point on.

McDaniel's was triumphant in this game over his teacher, but this game showed the character of football. After I got over the pain of the cheers surrounding me for Denver, so odd for someone used to people ALWAYS cheering for the home team, I saw clearly how big this game was for football. Watching a torch get passed is a tremendous feeling. Bill, of course, is not going anywhere anytime soon, but he provided his undeniable gift to a younger and talented coach in his own right. While I was sad my team lost, this one had a different feel to it. I felt more of a respect and appreciation for the game of football. When I heard later that evening that Belichick who couldn't find McDaniel's directly after the game as he was in the midst of his own celebration, went to the locker room to congratulate his student, I felt a bit of pride for the game. THAT to me is how football should be played, with a sense of respect and love for the game, not just this team or that. I got to witness an amazing game. There were errors on both sides, but I believe each player fought for their respective Coach on every play, every down.

This goes into my mind vault as one of the best football days of my life. We'll save the talk about inconsistencies on our offense and how they managed to blow a 17 to 7 lead for next week. I literally forgot all about those things the minute Tom extended a warm hand and gave me (and my old Daniel Graham Patriots jersey) a warm smile after the game.