Yo…
The Dynasty is Apple TV’s real Lessons in Chemistry!
The Dynasty: New England Patriots premiered on Friday, February 16th on Apple TV+.
(Following the February 16th premiere, two new episodes debut each week through to March 15. So #SetTheVCR accordingly.)
Behold, the trailer…
The New England Patriots are a storied franchise; unfortunately their past is (currently) brighter than their future.
Still, for a time they were The Gold Standard. They were a good team at all levels.
Dynasties are strange entities: they don’t all start the same way…nor do they end the same way.
They’re unique because the players/coaches involved…are unique. This Apple TV+ docuseries centered on the New England Patriots features interviews with over 60 players, executives, coaches, fans, and sports writers.
Watching The Dynasty, that’s a defined element that stands out: personalities drive magic.
This ten-part docuseries is an adaptation of Jeff Benedict’s Patriots biography, The Dynasty, a fantastic business breakdown on success: the actual financial cost as much as the emotional cost(s).
I highly recommend you read the book for more in-depth knowledge.
Jeff had scouting reports in the book that breaks down how the Patriots draft players. For all the sports books I’ve consumed I rarely see that type of organizational detail. That’s of the reasons why I concluded the Patriots were a good team at all levels. (Winning was another logical reason.)
And beyond Jeff’s Patriots book I’ve watch Tom Brady’s Man in the Arena 3 times now…it’s so good. More pop culture homework if you want extra credit. Released in 2021 on ESPN+ (it eventually surfaced on Hulu and Disney+ Canada) it’s also ten-parts with each episode breaking down each of Brady’s Super Bowls.
I like Brady’s Man in the Arena better but Dynasty works because it’s everybody...from coaches to owner to the other players. Dynasty is a broader perspective (football is a team game, duh!) compared to the personal POV of Arena.
However, I must concede the timing is strange. Tom Brady has barely retired yet he’s already cranked out Man in the Arena and Dynasty.
Like Michael Jordan retired in January 1999 (fine...he returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 playing on the Wizards but that don’t count). So he had just under 20 years of retirement before publicly reflecting on his spectacular legacy in The Last Dance.
Brady’s barely had 20 minutes. I appreciate the lengthy Jordan pause...he chilled, smoked cigars and thought about all of it. (Sadly, Kobe will never get that chance.)
But it’d be interesting to hear Brady reflect on his legacy 20 or even 30 years from now. I suspect some of this introspection is too soon...chill, son. Have some cigars.
(I say all this as Quentin Tarantino’s currently in pre-production on The Movie Critic, which he swears will be his 10th and final film. Is it really the end for Tarantino? And before his (final?) movie comes out in 2025 we’re getting Woody Allen’s 50th movie Coup de Chance which opens on April 5th.
I go back and forth with Quentin Tarantino’s film-retirement. You can do this incredible job until you die. Yet there’s value for knowing when to shut it all down. 50 is an impressive run for Woody; obviously way more than 10. If Quentin Tarantino really truly honestly for real pinky swear retires and never ever makes another movie that’s an impressive and tight body of work.)
So making a seriously, serious tea for this Apple TV+ documentary.
I heart so much this docuseries is called The Dynasty.
One Championship Is Not Good Enough.
It’s imperative to build.
It’s crucial to dominate.
There’s a profound elegance to sports…generally there’s a clear winner and a clear loser. Granted there are asterisk wins and debatable calls from the refs at the end of games but generally…there are clear winners and clear losers.
Life is not that clean or even clear.
It sounds cruel and yet it’s not: Success is denying others glory…that’s what Michael Jordan did, that’s what Tom Brady did. Tom Brady has won the most Super Bowls of any player in NFL history with seven. Famously 6 of em with the New England Patriots. Brady won the 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017 and 2019 Super Bowls quarterbacking the New England Patriots.
That’s truly impressive.
Before Apple TV’s The Dynasty there was The Last Dance on Netflix. And watching that viewers and sports fans recognized that ending dynasties is just as hard as building em.
Coach Belichick witnessed Tom Brady the quarterback he basically released go on to win a Super Bowl. The middle of a dynasty is just the consistent winning with occasional contract drama and contentious trades.
But how do dynasties end? And how do they start?
From Jeff’s Dynasty book:
“At that moment, Kraft owned a franchise that had never won a championship. Belichick’s overall record with the Patriots was 5–13. Brady had never started an NFL game. It was unimaginable to think that Bledsoe was staring up at the nucleus of the greatest sports dynasty of the modern era.”
And it begins…that’s why the attached My Summer Lair conversation with The Dynasty’s director Matthew Hamachek starts at the beginning. I wanna know how it all starts.
A part of me struggles to understand the media’s undying passion for underdogs. Like…why?
It’s always better being a Top Dog.
To advocate for anything but A Dynasty is to support mediocrity.
I find mediocrity terrifying. A Dynasty is incredibly difficult to achieve in the NFL…do it anyways.
Simple satisfaction is how you end up with good enough. Good enough is a compromise. Good enough is not good enough.
Be hungry.
Build boldly.
Build A Dynasty.
It doesn’t matter if it’s hard.
It’s hard is a fact but it’s also an excuse.
This is what you’re supposed to do…it’s like a doctor healing a sick person. The personal and professional obligation is to architect a dynasty. And that sacred responsibility is permanent. The imperative transcends generations.
Build A Dynasty.
Dynasties are naturally significant plus they effortlessly dispense clarity.
A Dynasty clearly defines The Greatest. A Dynasty establishes an unnegotiable and daunting benchmark. Tom Brady won 6 Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. 7 total. Michael Jordan won 6 Championships playing for the Chicago Bulls. There’s no rebuttal for unvarnished greatness like that. That’s the modern standard.
(Shout outs to Robert Horry, though not a superstar he impressively won 7 NBA titles. And to Steve Kerr, another role player who pulled off something Michael Jordan never could: a 4-Peat. Those two role players are impressive ballers though their positions are dictated by far less pressures. A role player just gets a stomach ache; superstars gets ulcers.)
Times can change, the game can evolve yet (thankfully) high standards are concrete. Standards of success do not bend to the temperamental whims of fans or obtuse sports commentators. These standard remain fixed like a North Star.
From Episode 8 of The Dynasty: New England Patriots:
Tom Brady: “It was an F.E.A. year.”
Director Matthew Hamachek (off-camera): “F.E.A?”
Tom Brady (smiling): “Fuck Em All, baby. Said that for a long time. They’re not pulling for us anyways.”
Haters are inevitable.
A Dynasty is a beautiful success that breeds haters. You can’t achieve anything in this life without somebody telling you; you suck.
A Dynasty silences critics. Their open mouths will continue talking but they’ll say nothing of value. That’s why winning once is good but it’s not good enough. In music we have one hit wonders. Are you lucky or are you good? How good are you?
Do you want to be lucky or do you want to be The Best?
A Dynasty denies doubts. Every single human being goes through life doubted. You’re picked last in gym or selected 199th in the NFL draft. You’re doubted at school, rejected from all kinds of applications. You’re doubted at work, sometimes overlooked for an earned promotion.
Sometimes, you even doubt yourself.
A Dynasty and dominance is beneficial: it forces everyone else in the league to get better; to battle harder. That’s wonderfully uplifting. That’s a personal opportunity for elevation.
It is not time for somebody else to get a chance. If you’re tired of “them” (whoever they are…) always winning then stop talking. Do The Work.
The hunger it takes to build A Dynasty is infectious because there will always be a hungry opposition to prevent winning.
Tom Brady lost 3 in Super Bowls in his career.
Get back up, Get better, Get going and Get after it.
A Dynasty is a game clock. Teams get such a small window of time where health, skills, and the coaches all come together. Winning is hard, hard work and requires luck. But it also requires so much sacrifice. You only get this window of time. Maximize it. A Dynasty teaches you to value time.
A Dynasty forces you as a sports fan or even as a hater to be present. Take nothing for granted. Tom Brady and Michael Jordan are retired, Kobe Bryant is dead. One day Steph Curry will retire.
It all goes faster than you expect. And you don’t truly understand how special it all is until it’s officially over. Be in the moment. Be present.
Witness the glory when there’s glory to witness.
A Dynasty transforms a city and impacts its communities…common good is evaporating and A Dynasty is one of the crucial ways we infuse a collective and civic pride back into our cities.
Winning covers a multitude of sins.
I find Dynasties potent and powerful. Losing can have value but it’ll never be convey the same currency as much as winning.
Build A Dynasty.
See for yourself just how much this all took when you enjoy The Dynasty: New England Patriots on Apple TV+.
I truly hope A Dynasty is something Patrick Mahomes and friends can truly set out to do. It’s hard but so worth it.
Appreciates the Nasty in Dynasty…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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