With The Kansas City Chiefs' latest Super Bowl win, there's a new dynasty in the NFL for the first time since the dominant run of the New England Patriots. With the Patriots on a downturn and the franchise parting ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick, it would appear their iconic era is officially over. However, debates will rage on for years whether it was Belichick or Tom Brady who led the team to its success, but what does the director of The Dynasty: The New England Patriots think about that?
This unapologetic fan of the "Pats" was blessed enough to speak to director Matt Hamachek, who performed numerous interviews and compiled countless hours of footage provided by the Kraft family, the NFL, and more to create The Dynasty: The New England Patriots. During our interview, he touched on the purpose of the story and how the spotlight is shared throughout the docuseries, now available with an Apple TV+ subscription, between Brady and Belichick:
One of the things that I loved about making this story as a non-Patriot fan growing up is I really didn't know much about the team. And so what I had the opportunity to do in this, which I think is sort of what makes it unique, is that, we got to talk to everybody. This isn't just the story of Bill Belichick. This isn't just the story of Tom Brady. This isn't just the story of Robert Kraft. It's about the players, the coaches, the executives, the league officials, the rivals and it's their telling of the story.
Unlike the previous Tom Brady-centric docuseries Man In The Arena, this docuseries on the 2024 TV schedule is about the dynasty and all the people involved. Sure, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are interviewed, but so are Tedy Bruschi, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, and a wide variety of other Patriots players from eras both past and present. We also hear from assistant coaches, personnel in the organization, and even their fiercest rivals. Even comedian Bill Burr is in the mix at one point, so the amount of interviews is truly staggering.
With all that said, what does Matthew Hamachek think about who is most responsible for the New England Patriots' success as a dynasty? As those who tune in to watch this sports docuseries might guess, his is a bit more diplomatic when it comes to the question of "Brady vs. Belichick":
And I think that's one of the things that kind of gets lost sometimes in the sports media world today is, you know, people ask questions like, oh, was it Bill or was it Tom? And I think the answer is that that's not the right question to be asking. It's actually all of these people coming together right at the beginning of this story where this team is sort of the bad news bearers of football in a lot of ways, and it's about this collective desire on all these people's parts to say, ‘Let's push aside the messiness of being humans, the messiness of human relationships and, and come together and do this, this thing as a whole.’ And I think that that's what really led to the creation of the dynasty.
The Dynasty: The New England Patriots, in the episodes I've screened ahead of release, really excels at showing the sequence of events that ultimately led the team to six Super Bowl championships. It even goes so far as to show the positive direction the team was trending in with star quarterback Drew Bledsoe before the fateful injury that ultimately led to the then-uninspiring Tom Brady's rise to stardom.
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The Apple TV+ docuseries feels like an attempt to recapture the magic of The Last Dance but in the NFL, and it succeeds with the sheer amount of footage it provides. I wouldn't be surprised if its release leads to similar points of tension like the NBA documentary did -- it created a rift between Michael Jordan and former teammate Scottie Pippen. Considering the docuseries touches on taboo subjects, including past allegations of cheating and the crimes and death of Aaron Hernandez, players might have complex feelings about it.
However, when it comes to the Brady vs. Belichick debate, it sounds like this documentary shows how both of them helped lift the franchise up.
The beauty is that whether viewers love or hate the team, The Dynasty: The New England Patriots delivers something for everyone. Cameras were rolling during the team's most pivotal moments as a franchise, and there's ample commentary from critics of the Patriots as much as there are supporters. No stone is left unturned, though I do wish it could've spent more time on Tom Brady's wild haircuts.
The Dynasty: The New England Patriots is available to stream now on Apple TV+. Those who are already missing the NFL season can drown their sorrows, enjoy a great sports docuseries, and get ahead of the game, as I'm sure talk will circulate about this documentary in the sports world as the weeks go on.
