The headline of the issue reads: “Serious Fun: Tom Brady and the Pats Take Care of Business (As Usual).”
The cover story, written by Tim Layden, compares the different cultures among NFL teams. It begins with a look at the understated demeanors of Wes Welker, Bill Belichick and Brady on Sunday, as compared to the loudmouth nature of Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco — the Patriots’ competition in Week 1.
“Here, then, was Week 1 in the New NFL, where franchises can be separated by all the customary means,” Layden wrote. “No game better exemplified this last paradigm than Patriots-Bengals, a culture clash pitting a team that almost never talks … against one that almost never shuts up. In the New NFL you are either a Welker or an Ocho.”
Some of Brady’s other appearances on Sports Illustrated’s cover came after the Patriots won their Super Bowls, during their 16-0 run, when he was named the Sportsman of the Year in 2005 and for last year’s NFL Season Preview.
