Bad Brady, Good Brady

Frank Mariani

Frank Mariani is seasoned (but young-at-heart) artist with over 40 years of experience in the visual arts. Like many of his colleagues, his roots go wayyyy back to childhood where his creativity revealed itself not just in art class, but in the margins and odd free spaces of notebooks, much to the chagrin (and sometimes scolding) of his teachers. When the muse strikes, the hand draws!

Frank Mariani

The most famous/loved/hated Brady for the last 20 years or so has been the age defiant Tom Brady. If I have to mention his fame as the quarterback of the New England Patriots, the G.O.A.T. in many eyes, then I’d like to know how you achieved total isolation from pro sports and pop culture because even the aliens on Triton, the largest of Neptune’s moons, know who Tom Brady is.

But to me and 99% of the Buffalo Bills fan base, Tom Brady is Evil Tom Brady. Meat good. Brady Bad. It’s the kind of primordial loathing that resides in the brain stem. You cannot hold that against us. Just look at the 32-3 winning record his Pats had against my guys. Make it 33-3 if you count his time as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Enough about Tom Brady.

This drawing needs no caption

I’m here to tip my hat to Erik Brady. Who dat? Buffalo born and raised, he was a three decade plus veteran writer for USA Today before retiring in 2019. “Erik the Read” might be an appropriate moniker for him.

I love it when one of our guys who are not football, hockey or basketball players make a name for themselves on a big stage. Much like Buffalo natives the late Tim Russert and recently departed Mark Russell—all three settled in the metro Washington, D.C. area—Erik is a guy who remained true to his Western New York upbringing. He is now a regular contributor to the Buffalo News and is a big reason why I still subscribe to the paper.

So why this blog entry? I got a phone call yesterday from Erik. I didn’t say it out loud, but in my mind I was screaming, “It’s Erik Freaking Brady!” His timing was perfect because I have been trying to push myself from local yokel cartoonist to a bigger audience with only minor gains for my efforts. I had been asking Erik for some networking help and after not hearing back from him for a while I figured I had become an annoyance. But he assured me that I was not in the mosquito and black fly class of irritating pests. He’s a truthful journalist so I had to believe him.

I conclude with a Paul Harvey “The Rest of the Story” moment.

Moments before getting the phone call, my Facebook feed showed me Erik’s latest post. I’m thinking the Facebook Algorithmic Alchemists in the Zuckerburg dungeon are far more mysterious and powerful than I imagine. That, or my Alexa puck has eyes. I’ll have to turn her around.