There was a time when Boston sports fans expected every season to end with a championship parade. Since the turn of the century, the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins have combined for 13 of those, nearly half of them coming from New England's Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty.
Those happy times have turned sour in recent years, as the 2023-24 Celtics have raised Boston's lone championship banner since Brady left New England for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season.
But thanks to Drake Maye and this new band of Patriots, hope is springing eternal for fans throughout the region, and Maye, Mike Vrabel, and company may be giving New England its best chance at optimism.
Are the Patriots in the best shape of Boston's big four? It's looking like it
The Red Sox have been mired in .500 mediocrity for five years. The Bruins are miles away from being a contender. The Celtics are shedding payroll and players thanks to the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement. You figure that all three of those teams probably aren't going to win championships anytime soon.
That leaves the Patriots. While they're coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the combination of Vrabel's arrival and a talented, young quarterback in Maye has fans believing in this young team.
It doesn't hurt that the organization revitalized the roster last offseason, bringing in big-name free agents like Stefon Diggs and Milton Williams while drafting potential superstars in Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson, and Kyle Williams.
There is belief that the Patriots can win 10 games - or more - and possibly make the playoffs, a place the team has not been since 2021. That has fans excited. Diggs and Williams have looked great in training camp thus far. The Patriots have a potential top-10 defense. Josh McDaniels is back to lead the offense.
To the naked eye, it can be difficult to fathom fans' enthusiasm for a team that has won eight games over the last two seasons combined and that has had trouble scoring points in an era where offenses tend to fly up and down the field. But it's hard not to love - and be excited about - this band of Patriots.
Even if they come up short of the postseason, the future is arriving and is bright in Foxborough.