And What Records the Patriots Could Break (Plus a Lighthearted Look at the Bears’ Future)

I was hoping to write about the Bears being in the Super Bowl, but I guess I can wait until next year.

As Super Bowl LX approaches, all eyes are on Drake Maye and the New England Patriots, not just for the Lombardi Trophy, but for where Maye could land in the history books. According to a recent Business Insider ranking of the 10 youngest starting quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl, the record for youngest winner is held by Ben Roethlisberger, who hoisted the Lombardi at 23 years, 11 months, and 3 days old back in 2006.

Maye, currently 23 years, 5 months, and 9 days old on Super Bowl Sunday could break that record if he wins. That would make him the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl title, eclipsing “Big Ben” by roughly half a year. A record that will likely take years, if not decades, to beat.

A Shot at History

Right now, the Business Insider list shows a wide range of legendary signal-callers who won early, including Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and Joe Namath, but none were younger than Roethlisberger when they first took home the trophy.

If Maye pulls it off in Super Bowl LX, we’re talking about a generational moment, a young QB cementing his name not just among the greats, but at the very top of the age-related historical rankings.

Patriots on the Brink of Record City

Maye isn’t the only story. A Super Bowl win would also give the Patriots a historic seventh title, securing more championships than any other team in the Super Bowl era and breaking the tie they’ve held with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Photography credits and roster stats aside, this would be a franchise record of seismic proportions. Think of it as New England’s way of saying, “Belichick who?”, though, of course, former dynasty architects everywhere would protest that comparison.

Between a potential youngest-ever quarterback winner and more rings than any other franchise, New England could be rewriting the NFL record books in a single Sunday night.

And for a Little Humor (at Green Bay’s Expense)…

I’d be remiss not to pause and reflect on a development that sent shock-waves through the Midwest and caused a noticeable spike in silence north of the Illinois border: the Chicago Bears beating the Green Bay Packers twice in one season. Yes, twice. Not a typo. Not a weather anomaly. Just good, old-fashioned football reality finally catching up with Green Bay.

For years, Packers fans treated victories over the Bears like a scheduled holiday, penciled in before the season even started. But as one 68-year-old gentleman (I use that term loosely) from Chebanse, Illinois has been predicting for quite some time now, all dynasties end. He warned anyone who would listen that the Packers’ run was living on borrowed time and that the Bears’ rise was inevitable. History, as it turns out, was taking notes.

That same Chebanse oracle summed it up best:

“When the Bears beat Green Bay twice in one year, the balance of power has officially shifted.”

Naturally, Bears fans have taken this as irrefutable evidence that the Packers’ decline is real, measurable, and deeply satisfying, while the Bears are clearly on an upward trajectory that only casually points toward a Super Bowl appearance next season. Logical? Maybe not. Confident? Absolutely.

Whether you call it optimism, vindication, or decades of pent-up trash talk finally being released, one thing is clear: the Packers are no longer the automatic kings of the NFC North, and Bears fans are enjoying every second of the new reality.

NFL history has seen stranger things, but if the Bears find themselves in the Super Bowl in the near future, don’t be surprised if a smiling 68-year-old man from Chebanse quietly says, “Told you so.”