Patriot Reign

I didn't realise just quite how long it has been since I last posted - time flies when you're having fun (or when you're just incredibly busy). Anyway, I have been continuing to learn by reading interesting books about NFL. The Draft was really good as I had no real idea of what is involved in the draft process. My other half suggested that I read Patriot Reign by Michael Holley next, as it's a fairly easy but interesting read.

Full disclosure before we go any further: I would consider myself a Patriots fan. This is mostly due to the influence of my other half, and having read Patriot Reign, I can totally understand the reasons for choosing to support this team. I'm sure there's a chance the author is a little biased - he is from Boston, so is probably likely to show more favour towards the Patriots than other teams. However, Holley goes into a lot of detail about Bill Belichick and his staff, their way of thinking and doing, and how that is different from what a lot of teams do, and it is clear that Belichick is extremely intelligent and has the ability to see things in non-conventional ways. It is very interesting to understand how players that might not fit into another NFL team would fit into the Patriots team, and vice versa. I get the impression that the Patriots' management is ruthless but fair, giving players a chance even if they don't fit the traditional or conventional criteria used to determine whether they would be good players. Shorter than they 'should' be? Maybe it doesn't even matter - the player might be stronger, or faster.

What I also find amazing is the time and effort put into studying and learning about other teams and how they play, and how to play to beat them. It shouldn't really be surprising, but the fact is that they work incredibly hard. I also love how he seems to find management/coaching teams that gel, how nice Belichick just seems to be, and how much they all really love the game.

It's interesting to learn about how they had to change tactics in order to bounce back from a terrible season and then won a Super Bowl. One of those things that could bring a tear to your eye!

I am trying to keep up with some current NFL affairs as well, reading news on NFL.com. However, with it being off season and me not really knowing a lot about the current college football players, I'm spending most of my NFL learning time reading material such as Patriot Reign in order to better understand the sport, some teams and their processes as a whole. Next up is War Room, also by Michael Holley and mostly focussing on Bill Belichick again. Onwards!