I am a lifetime Green Bay Packers fan, and that will never change. With that, I have a bias against the New England Patriots. I find Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and Robert Kraft—the head coach, quarterback, and owner, respectively—utterly detestable. The team seemingly always has the help of the officials, and has repeatedly been under fire for cheating. All this makes the fact that the Patriots have five championships in the last 15 years harder to swallow. These championships are in the history books, and will not be removed. 

However, 

It can be argued that the Patriots shouldn’t even have five Super Bowl championships. In 2017, the Atlanta Falcons had an all-time, historic meltdown after being up 28-3 late in the third quarter. In 2015, the Seattle Seahawks had the most dominant running back in the NFL and decided to throw it at the goal line, ending up in an interception. The Tuck Rule Game in 2002 also led to a championship for the Pats.  

In a sport with so much parity—the last 10 NFC champions have been 9 different teams—a long running dynasty like the Patriots makes them an easy target. Bill Belichick’s press conferences give off this holier-than-thou stench. I don’t care that Tom Brady eats avocado toast and drinks 75 ounces of water a day. Don’t get me started on Robert Kraft.  

That’s what made this Super Bowl so satisfying.  

It was so satisfying to see Tom Brady get sacked and fumble late in the fourth quarter. It was so satisfying to see the Patriots try to come back as time was expiring, but fall short. It was so satisfying to see the reactions of Belichick and Kraft as they realized that their team was going to lose.  

One might ask, “It’s just a game, why do you care so much?” I’ll tell you why.  As a Packer fan, I’ve been spoiled. From 2009-2017 my team made the playoffs every year and always were in the Super Bowl conversation (helps when you have the greatest QB alive). But this year was different. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone, and we weren’t good enough to tread water until he came back. I wasn’t used to this feeling of not being in the playoffs. So instead of rooting for a team, as I didn’t want to betray mine, I rooted against only two teams; The Vikings and the Patriots.  

While the Vikings were not a public villain—I’ll admit the possibility of playing in a Super Bowl in your own stadium was a good story—the Pats were. The Patriots have already cemented their dynasty, fans don’t want to see them continuously winning. It’s just redundant at this point. 

The Patriots are the NFL’s super villians. The good guys have to win at times, otherwise people start to lose faith (look to the NBA to get an example of this). A good story needs to have happy endings at some point, and boy did we get one this year. 

Congratulations to all fans not from New England, we all needed this to happen.  

Also, a preemptive congratulations to the 2019 Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, you’ve earned it.