Eggs Benedict

To be sure, this is a surprise.

No, it's not surprising that Adam Vinatieri is no longer a Patriot. Sad? Sure. But not surprising.

What's surprising, to put it mildly, is that he decided to join the Colts.

When Johnny Damon crossed over to the Dark Side and joined the Yankees I thought that had been the low point of Boston athletes leaving for not only their teams but their teams biggest rival. Adam Vinatieri took it another down another notch today.

By the way, there was always something about Johnny Damon that rubbed me the wrong way. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it is, but his joining the Yankees eventually became one of those man-I-can't-believe-I-didn't-see-that-coming-a-mile-away things as opposed to something that still stings. Sure it will be interesting to see him in a Yankees uniform, and, without fail, he'll play some huge games against the Sox this summer, but can you imagine the look on Steinbrenner's face the first time someone stretches a gapper to left-field into triple? And his "gee shucks" act wore thin when he became Daddy Yankee the day he signed the contract.

Vinatieri though seemed different. Look, I don't fault him for taking the money. At the end of the day, the Pats, as they always do, had their ceiling (see: Woody, Damien; McGinest, Willie; Law, Ty for recent examples). They simply weren't budging for more than $2.5, $2.6 million max. So Vinatieri took a $3.5 million signing bonus and $2.5 million a year from Indy. Good for him; he got his.

But did it have to be with the Colts? I mean, the COLTS!?!?!?

The Colts and Pats, fueled by the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning rivalry, has developed into one of the best recent rivalries in sports. Sure it's been one-sided -- 3 Super Bowls for Brady and the Pats, none for Manning and the Colts -- but there's enough bad blood between the two teams, that, as a Pats fan, you'd have to at least consider them a rival.

What happens when Vinatieri, some January soon, comes into Foxboro and kicks a winning field goal FOR THE COLTS? Huh, what happens then?

Vinatieri is a legend in Boston. Without him, the Patriots don't win 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. Doesn't happen. I'll still consider him one of my favorite athletes in Boston's long sports history. But something about this just feels wrong. Not in a Wade-Boggs-to-the-Yankees way, or, or a Ty-Law-to-the-Jets way, or hell, even a Roger Clemens I'm-going-to-eat-myself-out-of-this-city way (although my feelings about Clemens were, and still are, strong. I wrote an article in my high school newspaper about the atrocities he committed against me as a 15-year-old. Strangely therapeutic). More in a "Wow, you know, he just didn't seem like the type" kind of way.

Make no mistake about it. This is Brady's team now. Most of the familiar faces from the 3 Super Bowls in 4 years run are gone. Guys like Tedy Bruschi and Deion Branch will still share the limelight from time to time, but the face of The New England Patriots is Tom Brady.

Am I worried about the Pats? No, of course not. Remember, we've got the best coach in the league. Richard Seymour anchors one the best, and youngest, defensive lines in the league. Bruschi should be back at full strength, and I've got to believe that a healthy Corey Dillon has one more solid season in him. Throw in Branch -- a bona-fide number one receiver -- and a dynamic pair of tight ends, and we've got more than enough to take another run at the title.

What worries me more though is cheering for players that don't consider what it meant to put an entire city on your back and have the city respond with such unadulterated idolatry. Because as Vinatieri has shown, unyielding support doesn't get you much these days but a decade worth of memories and a plane ticket to Indy.