The most storied NFL team of the 21st century gets the “Last Dance” treatment in the 10-part Apple TV+ sports documentary “The Dynasty: The New England Patriots,” and when you take a beat to think about it, there are a number of broad similarities between the Pats and the 1990s Chicago Bulls:
- Both teams won six world championships, clustered in groups of three (or three out of four).
- Each team featured the GOAT of their respective sports in Michael Jordan and Tom Brady.
- Both Jordan and Brady were often at odds with management, i.e., Jordan’s clashes with Bulls GM Jerry Krause and Brady’s power struggles with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
- With the Patriots as well as the Bulls, you’re left with the feeling that the core group perhaps could have squeezed in one more championship — but there were too many egos in the locker room and on the management side for that to happen.
Adapting the critically acclaimed, best-selling book of the same name by Jeff Benedict, the Emmy-winning director Matthew Hamachek (HBO’s “Tiger”) and the Brian Grazer/Ron Howard-led Imagine Documentaries (“The Super Models”) have crafted a fascinating and revealing work of video journalism that chronicles the rollercoaster journey of the Patriots’ franchise from the late 1990s through the present day.
The filmmakers skillfully weave in sit-down interviews with more than 60 participants, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Belichick, Brady, Drew Bledsoe, Ty Law and a host of other former players, as well as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, various Brady family members and stellar Boston-based journalists such as Jackie MacMullan and Michael Holley.
We’re treated to a wealth of game highlights, locker-room footage and archival news footage as the series goes in-depth on every Super Bowl victory and a number of crushing on-field setbacks. Most admirable of all, “The Dynasty” shines an unforgiving spotlight on the Spygate and Deflategate scandals — and devotes an entire episode to the horrific and tragic case of Aaron Hernandez, the enormously talented but deeply troubled and volatile star tight end who was convicted of killing Odin Lloyd in 2015 and killed himself in prison two years later.
Speaking of the 2010 draft in which New England selected Hernandez, the legendary Ernie Adams, former director of football research for the Patriots, says: “In the fourth round, we found this guy that we liked. There were some off-the-field issues. … Looking in hindsight of course, we did not understand the full dimension of what the problem was …”
Your heart breaks for former Pats receiver Deion Branch when Branch laments that he wishes he could have recognized the depths of Hernandez’ troubles: “I have some moments where I’m just like … ‘You should have seen that. Deion, you should have seen that. …’ ”
On a much lighter side, we’re reminded that the Patriots selected Rob Gronkowski in that same draft — and when Gronk and his crew whooped it up in front of the cameras, he got a phone call from the organization, telling him in essence to sit down. “I’m sitting there like, ‘Wow, I’m already in trouble,’ ” recalls Gronkowski. “It’s been five minutes since I’ve been on the Patriots and I’m already in trouble.’ ”
While Gronk, Brady, Kraft, Drew Bledsoe, Randy Moss and a number of other key figures in the Patriots’ story are refreshingly candid in offering recollections and insights, Belichick is his usual Thief of Joy self, only reluctantly praising Brady and mumbling his typical aphorisms about how it takes a total team effort to win championships. If you’re looking for Belichick to speak openly about Hernandez or Spygate or Deflategate or even why he benched star cornerback Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII against the Eagles, have you seen Bill Belichick all these years? That was never going to happen.
Not there aren’t a myriad of triumphant sequences in “The Dynasty.” Even for those of us who aren’t Patriots fans and even might have been slightly irritated by their dominance, one can’t help but enjoy Butler’s exuberance as he recalls his interception in Super Bowl XLIX, which according to the analytics is the single most significant play in post-season history. Randy Moss, Tedy Bruschi, Julian Edelman, Lawyer Milloy and a host of other players are all too happy to share their treasured memories as well.
Even Tom’s sister Nancy Brady delivers some interesting tidbits about her brother’s experiences, including his decision to part ways with the Patriots and take his talents to Tampa Bay, where he won one last Super Bowl — which I’m sure delighted Bill Belichick to no end.
