The Most Satisfying Boston Championship

The New England Patriots’ 25-point comeback to stun the Falcons was surely one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. But is it the most satisfying win ever for the city of Boston? Bill and his dad discussed that possibility on this emergency edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast.

Listen to the full podcast here. This transcript has been edited and condensed.

What Other Boston Titles Compare?

Bill Simmons: Is that the greatest Boston win? For you? Of all of them?

Bill’s Dad: Yes. I think so. I think so because when, in the [Larry] Bird championship, those three [Celtics] championship years—

Simmons: We never had the hammer [like we did with this overtime win].

Dad: I mean, the ’86 team, we played Houston and we never felt like Houston was going to beat us.

Simmons: Yeah, it was anti-climatic.

’84 Game 7 was great, but that wasn’t a very well-played game. It was super exciting and, incredibly, we were both there. The passion and everything was just off the charts. [But] it wasn’t like a magical game, you wouldn’t watch it a hundred times.

Dad: The only thing I could compare it to, for me in my lifetime, were the Yankee games in 2004.

Simmons: That’s what I was thinking. Because we were there.

Dad: Yeah, we were there. We went to the games. We’re down three to nothing, nobody has ever come back from 3–0 in the playoffs. I think it’s comparable. For me, they’re two of my best memories ever.

Simmons: Yeah, I would say it’s comparable because of how insane the game was and also, the last two years of Deflategate and the end of Brady’s career and this possibly being the last Brady-Belichick thing.

It’s Hard Not to Feel Bad for Falcons Fans

Simmons: Have you ever felt worse for another team that we beat to win a championship? I feel awful for the Falcons fans. I mean, that was an absolute car crash of a loss.

Dad: It was.

Simmons: That was the one thing that made me feel bad. I know somebody has got to win.

Dad: But, I remember, you and I in 2008 at Glendale, Arizona, walking out of that stadium [after the Giants’ 17–14 win]. We felt pretty bad. It’s hard to compare.

Simmons: We’d already won.

Dad: We had. But we were going for the perfect season.

Simmons: Yeah, but we had already won a couple of Super Bowls.

Dad: Yeah, you’re right. This is not quite the same.

Simmons: This is more, like, I mean, this is honestly more like the [Bill] Buckner game, for them.

Dad: For them, yeah.

Simmons: You blow a 25-point lead. You’re on the [22]-yard line with the ball, up [eight]. First down, four and a half minutes left. And you haven’t won a Super Bowl ever and you have one title ever, that’s pretty bad.

An Unbelievable Run

Simmons: This has been an unbelievable run. I don’t really know what happened this century, but five Super Bowls, three World Series, a Celtics title, and you got a Stanley Cup. That’s [10].

And [Roger] Goodell revenge!

Dad: It’s pretty unbelievable. The other thing, I’m flying home to Boston tomorrow and I’ll be at the parade either Tuesday or Wednesday when they hold it. And what a parade that will be.

Simmons: I will say, out of all the parades that have ever happened in Boston, I think the ovation for Brady will be the biggest ever. Right?

Dad: Yep. Most definitely. Brady and Belichick, obviously.

Simmons: Just everything that [Brady] went through the last two [seasons] and the character assassination and all that stuff, I think. It’s really hard to explain. Obviously all the Pats fans lost their mind over this Deflategate thing. I include myself, but to watch him get him revenge and have Goodell have to come over and shake his hand was just a little extra bonus.

Dad: Well, it was our dream scenario.

Simmons: It really was.