The New England Patriots have long since been exiled from the land of fairy tales and Cinderella stories.
Tom Brady is no longer a gangly sixth-round draft pick staring off with incredulous wonder at the confetti falling all around him. The same squad that chose to be introduced as a team at Super Bowl 36 now features plenty of stand-alone stars and household names, both past and present. And what once was one of the more embarrassingly pathetic franchises in the old AFL and new AFC is now the cream of the NFL and AFC crop, a perennial Goliath in a division filled with Davids.