Thursday, September 11, 2008

Asking who deserves credit misses the point of a team

An article in yesterday's NY Times asks whether losing QB Tom Brady "might answer once and for all the question: Is it Brady or Belichick who deserves credit for the [Patriots'] three Super Bowl championships?"

It's a silly question. It's like asking, "Who at Apple deserves credit for the success of the iPhone?" A lot of people would say it's Apple's Chairman Steve Jobs. But what about the engineers who developed it. What about the designers? The programmers? The marketing folks? The in-store salespeople?

Unless you're playing golf or you're fishing, it's a team effort.

Of course Brady is a big reason for New England's success. But you could also rightly ask whether Brady wins all of those Super Bowls without Belichick.

Speaking of Belichick, here's how he's approaching Brady's injury:

“Tom is a great player for us — don’t get me wrong. He’s responsible for a lot of the success that we’ve had around here, but at the same time, as a coach you take the hand that is dealt to you and you try to play it as best as you can. You don’t sit around and worry about what could have been. That is really what a coach’s job is.”