Title/Author:
“Drive for Five: The Remarkable
Run by the 2016 Patriots” by Christopher Price
Tags:
Football (American), professional, Patriots,
championship
Publish date:
September 5, 2017
Length:
320 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
The New England Patriots
have been one of the most successful franchises in all of professional sports
in the last fifteen years. They have won five Super Bowls in that time frame
and the latest one, Super Bowl LI, was the biggest comeback win for any team in
Super Bowl history. The story of that championship season for the Patriots is
captured in this well written, well researched book by Christopher Price.
This championship was
probably the most unusual of the five for New England because of the
controversy and turmoil surrounding the team through most of the season. It started when quarterback Tom Brady was
suspended for four games after the investigation into the “Deflategate”
controversy. It continued with the
sudden trade of linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns and even
ventured into the tumultuous 2016 presidential election when Donald Trump
mentioned Brady and coach Bill Belichick during the campaign.
Despite all this, the
Patriots managed to win three of the four games without Brady and maintain a
professional demeanor off the field and a winning performance on it. How they
did it is captured beautifully through Price’s writing. His access to the
players and coaches was a key factor in bringing the reader inside the team’s
locker room (his account of how a player is picked to get “The Locker” was
great writing) and the players’ insights.
Much like the season
on the field, the book builds to a climax as the Patriots earn the top seed
during the regular season, win two playoff games, then pull off the incredible
comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. There is no need to recap all of those
games in this review – the book does a fantastic job of doing that. Even though readers will most likely already
know the results, it felt like reading a dramatic novel when the Patriots were
making their historic run in the fourth quarter and overtime of Super Bowl LI.
Something that makes
this book stand out is all parts of the entire team – offense, defense and
special teams – are featured in the book.
While Brady captures a majority of the text (much like any quarterback
dominates the play and coverage of professional football today), Price does a
very good job of featuring others such as Collins, running back James White
(whom Brady himself said should have been the Most Valuable Player in the Super
Bowl) and kicker Steve Gostkowski.
There are passages in
the book where Price does show a bit of “homerism” toward the Patriots, such as
a passage in which he believes there is a double standard on offensive pass
interference calls on tight end Rob Gronkowski. There are not too many of these
to make the book too much of a “homer” book and as is the case with many books
about teams or players that have long stretches of success, there is a little chest
puffing about the accomplishments. That
is understandable and at times, as it is here, perfectly fine to brag.
This is an outstanding
book on a remarkable football team and is one that every Patriots fan will want
to read to relive the 2016-17 season.
Even more neutral or casual football fans will enjoy reading about this
team and its accomplishments.
I wish to thank St.
Martin’s Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for
an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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