The noise surrounding Deflategate is so loud, it's easy to forget that the Patriots are a family. Not just a family in the sense of wearing the same uniforms and playing team ball, but the kind of family that's made for TV, that grows closer in the face of adversity.
At any rate, Julian Edelman is here with a throwback to end all throwbacks: A music montage of the Patriots' key players and head coach, designed as a parody of the hit 1980s sitcom "Growing Pains."
In the video, we follow Edelman, Tom Brady and other key Patriots from childhood to their present roles with the New England franchise. It's nothing short of incredible:
This is how you #TBT #GoPats
https://t.co/058RUQtEgs
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 22, 2015
Anyone familiar with "Growing Pains" can see just how easily the Patriots can slide into some of those role. Brady is the obvious Mike Seaver, a hunky, fun-loving protagonist that's maybe a little too much of a trouble-maker (see: deflated balls, sideline potty mouth). Rob Gronkowski is the perfect stand-in for Ben Seaver, a happy kid whose perpetual smirk suggests that there is mischief to be had.
Bill Belichick, of course, is Alan Thicke, the family patriarch who runs a psychiatry practice out of his home. Only a true psychopath would bring mentally ill clients into the home of four children, plus a once-homeless youth portrayed by a very young Leonardo DiCaprio (played by late-season addition LeGarrette Blount). Between that and the cut-off sweatshirts, Thicke and Belichick are a perfect pair.
Come on, Bill. Show us that smile again.
The original, for context: