New England Patriots fans, it is time to move on from Tom Brady

It has been exactly one week since former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady announced he would not be returning home in free agency.

This past week has been extra tough for New England Patriots fans.

As a matter of fact, I think it is the equivalent to — and maybe just a little bit more devastating than — losing the Super Bowl. As terrible as losing that perfect season was back in 2007, this might top it, shockingly.

The fans of New England have had a week to digest the fact that all the rumors going around for several months were true, in that Tom Brady wouldn’t be returning to the Patriots in 2020. He decided not to retire either, which probably would’ve been easier for the fans to accept.

Instead, the soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback is heading to Tampa Bay to play for the Buccaneers. You read that right, he is taking his talents to the Sunshine State.

He was linked to a few other teams, including the Chargers and the Titans, but eventually he chose to play in Tampa as opposed to staying in New England, the only home he’s ever known as a professional and the place where’d played for the past 20 years.

The decision was surely tough for Brady to make, but he chose to move on … and it is time that we do the same.

As difficult as it may be to accept the fact that he will no longer be playing in a Patriots uniform, it is the right thing to do and move on. It is going to be tough once the season approaches with training camp and the preseason, but in this case, you have to just rip the band-aid off quick.

Tom Brady certainly gave everything he had to the organization as well as the fans, so if he thinks that it is time to move on and start again with a new team, then we have to move on, too.

The Patriots are certainly going to look different in 2020, but that does not mean we have to dwell on the past and live in the past. Of course, we can remember the good times — like winning six Super Bowls — but at the same time, there is no future in the past.

Whoever wins the job to be under center in 2020 needs the full support of the fanbase. Brady isn’t coming back unfortunately, so we have to take a page out of Bill Belichick’s playbook and move on to 2020. It is certainly shocking that the fans will see him in a Buccaneers uniform, but that is reality and we have to accept it.

This goes for the fans and especially the local media, because if there is anything I have learned about the Boston media, it’s that they can’t move on for quite some time. It happened with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Pedro Martinez, Tim Thomas, Kyrie Irving … and they will not probably take their sweet time in moving on from Brady now as well.

The media down in Tampa will be covering his every move though — and rightfully so — because the Buccaneers’ chances of having a successful season just skyrocketed to the moon.

As much as we all love TB12 and respect him for the success he contributed to tremendously, we just have to move on. I have, and I am ready for the Jarrett Stidham era to begin in New England.

I have gone as far to compare Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots to going through a bad breakup, but at some point, we all move on. In this case, the time to move on has to be now.

Please, just move on … because Tom Brady did. Simple as that!