Last season doctors in the New England area were probably flooded with calls from Patriots fans complaining of a broken heart. Tom Brady had torn his ACL in the Pats’ first game of the season and the Patriots would have to turn Matt Cassel, who hadn’t started a game since high school.

New England was a team that had lost its star player and a team that no longer had a chance to win the Super Bowl, as almost every expert predicted. Still, the season survived without the Golden Boy and the Patriots finished 11-5, without who most considered the best quarterback in the league.

Brady is now on the road to recovery and to once again being the NFL’s biggest star after a year off the field and out of the spotlight. No one really knows how far along Brady’s recovery is, but the Patriots are notorious for keeping things close to the chest. So far, every indication is that Brady is doing just fine and will be able to return for the 2009 season.

By trading away back-up quarterback Matt Cassel to the Kansas City Chiefs, (the same team that injured the QB), New England sent a strong message that they believe Brady’s comeback is not possible, it’s imminent. This is a message that sports fans should really pay attention to.

Tom Brady finished the 2007 season with 50 touchdowns and fans heard nothing but “New England, New England, New England, ” from the media leading up to the Super Bowl. With Brady back on the field, that hype will pick up where it left off and so will New England.

Having a perfect season is not easy in the NFL, but the Pats made it look that way as they flew through teams on their way to the Super Bowl before ultimately losing to the New York Giants. It’s not a big stretch to expect the same out of New England now that Brady’s cleats will once again hit the grass of Gillette Stadium.

The star quarterback’s comeback will put the Patriots at the top of the list of World Championship contenders in the minds of most NFL fans and for good reason.

Brady has thrown for 26,446 yards and 197 touchdowns in nine years, and two of those nine years account for an amazing 82 yards and zero touchdowns. The Patriots were better than we all thought they were going to be after he went down last season, so how good will they be with Brady back tossing the pigskin?

There is still a long way to go before the Pats’ opening game on Sept. 14, so the answer is not definite, but we can safely assume they will be better. Randy Moss and Wes Welker are still going to be catching the ball, Brady will still have brick wall of an offensive line to stand behind, and a defense controlled by maybe the craftiest coach in the NFL supporting him.

There are only two things standing in the path of Tom Brady’s Comeback Player of the Year award this season. The first is, of course, if he re-injures himself or the rumors are false and his knee won‘t be able to hold up. Being the dedicated gym rat that he is, neither looks too likely. Plus, before having his knee bent backwards, Brady started 111 consecutive regular season games, so he must be able to play through pain, and play well.

The second is: Brady could come out flat without his whiz kid offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who left to be the head coach of the Denver Broncos. New England doesn’t plan to shake things up too much on the offensive side of the ball, so Brady won’t have a large learning curve.

As you can see, these are some pretty flimsy reasons as to why he won’t be able to return to his former glory.

So, expect a healthy Tom Brady to show up in 2009, throw some touchdowns, get an outrageous amount of media coverage and win many, many games on his way to his former throne as the NFL’s Golden Boy once again.