Was at a hotel bar the other night, trying to right -- sorry, write; had a couple margs -- New England's blurb. Anyway, was trying to think what to write for the Patriots' off week. Then this cheesy-synthesizer Steve Winwood song (that I secretly like) came on: "Valerie," which includes this indelible lyric: "I'm the same boy I used to be." Made me think of Tom Brady. I'm not sure any of us who cover the sport, or the fans at large, realize how much better the NFL is with Brady in it. That's no glorified B.S., either. Brady makes the NFL better, whether you root for or against the Patriots -- the point is, you do one or the other. Secondly, he's played for the same franchise his entire career. You can't say that about almost any "franchise" player anymore. And forget the fact that Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. Does the guy act like it? Hell no. Brady wants to win as badly as that 23-year-old late-round pick in 2000 who just wanted a chance to get in the game, garbage time or not. He's never done a lot of commercials ( Tommy, you're my favorite accountant ... Real comfortable jeans ...), save for a creepyish one in 2016. He's just a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude who refuses to lose. OK, I'm done. But I could write 2,000 words here.