Hungover, hopeful, and suddenly very excited about Boston’s next generation.
On New Year’s Day, it’s best to keep it light.
It’s a day meant for everybody to sit around and nurse hangovers while they lose money betting on college football.
It’s a time honored tradition as Americans, and that should be important to all of us. Traditions matter!
With that said, I wanted to keep it light for my write-ups on Roundtable. We can start worrying again about whatever it is the Red Sox didn’t do this hot stove season starting January 2nd.
So when I saw this clip of Red Sox star outfielder Roman Anthony on MLB’s Office Hours YouTube series, I thought it would be perfect to share here on this national holiday of hope for all:
“Yeah, I'm a Drake Maye fan, for sure. We've talked a little bit, he's reached out. He reached out to me during the season. We have some mutual friends - you know, guys who work in the restaurant business in Boston who have connected us. And obviously getting to see them get drafted - you know him, and Will [Campbell] in particular, and to see [the] impact that they've made already, it's exciting. I think the city has a lot to look forward to, and I don't even think, for them especially, it's not really the future anymore. It's kind of the present because of what they're doing right now. So it's exciting to watch. And obviously, now I'm a Patriots fan, too … Don't let my dad [a Bills fan] hear that. But no, it's awesome to just see what he's doing. And those are great guys.”
First of all, you’re welcome for alerting you to this content.
Second of all, how cool is it that the city has two guys like this going at the same time?
It makes me think back to my formative years of the early 2000s into the 2010s, when this city had, at the same time, the likes of Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Zdeno Chara and Kevin Garnett. There are others you can throw in that mix, too - Rob Gronkowski, Pedro Martinez, Paul Pierce and Patrice Bergeron, just to name a few. But in those first four I named, those are the four truly iconic faces of this millennium for each of the four franchises in town.
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Brady requires no explanation. Ortiz should not require one, either. Chara changed the Bruins culture from the moment he arrived. And while Garnett was joining Pierce’s team, he was the truly transcendent talent that shifted the franchise from a lottery team to NBA champion in one calendar year.
And as we sit here on January 1, 2026, Boston is on the precipice of yet another run of dominance led by players who will one day be looked back on like the aforementioned legends above.
Drake Maye is, as of publishing, the heavy favorite to win 2025 NFL MVP. Roman Anthony was a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year after taking the big leagues by storm in 71 games last summer. Jayson Tatum is already a bonafide superstar with a title to his name at age 27. And while the Bruins are likely a ways away from winning another Stanley Cup, their No. 7 overall pick from last summer’s draft in James Hagens is taking the World Juniors by storm for Team USA at just 19 years old. Whenever the Bruins are ready to compete again, they have their superstar-in-waiting.
Does it matter if any of these guys are actually friends? Not really. But is it cool to see them interacting in any capacity? Absolutely.
Here’s a video I took from earlier this year of Maye chatting it up with Tatum at Patriots Training Camp:
The City of Champions is back like it never left!
There’s young superstars aplenty in The Hub, and it’s a beautiful thing.
While we wait for Red Sox baseball to return this spring, the Patriots (13-3) will attempt to go on a deep playoff run for the first time since the departure of Tom Brady. They're in a position to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC this Sunday with a win over the Dolphins (7-9) along with a loss by the Broncos (13-3) to the playoff-bound Chargers (11-5).
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.