Fred Toucher has a bone to pick with a certain segment of Patriots fans. That is, if you can even call them Patriots fans anymore. Have some fans taken their allegiance to Tom Brady too far?
Toucher debated the loyalty of Patriots fans throughout Tuesday’s Toucher and Rich show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. The Super Bowl drew higher ratings in New England than in Tampa and better ratings than most Patriots Super Bowls. Toucher believes that is an indication that a lot of fans who were so closely tied to the Patriots in the Brady era have now abandoned the team and followed Brady to the Bucs. That lack of loyalty to the team is not something you’d expect from fans in the Boston area.
“Your lives have been expressed, certainly cyber-ly, as a Patriot fan,” Toucher said. “You identify as a Patriot fan. If someone was going to ask you what you are – and a lot of you have this when you click on your Twitter page: ‘father, husband, Patriot fan’ – I mean, it’s there. It’s what you list as your identity. And now this identity is easily transferable to the achievements of Tom Brady on another team.”
“It shows an incredible lack of character,” Toucher added. “It really does. Just to be able to go, ‘Sure, now I like this, because this is good.'”
Listen to Toucher’s full thoughts on the matter, as well as callers weighing in, at the beginning of Hour 2 of Tuesday’s show. He also revisited the debate in Hour 3 starting at 13:49, and at the beginning of Hour 4. You can listen to it all in the podcasts below.
Listen to Toucher and Rich weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on 98.5 The Sports Hub.