FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — At 4:01 p.m. Saturday, Tom Brady arrived at Gillette Stadium. The orange-jacketed stadium security officials prepared for his incoming as they always do, clearing loiterers from the corridor that he would pass through. He wore a tan trench coat and a navy blue beanie, he carried a big leather duffel in his left hand and he grinned. Was this an arrival like any other? Was anything different? Ah, who was to know.
The Patriots had not played in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs in a decade, so there was not much frame of reference for a game here on this particular weekend.