I'm not normally a huge fan of cheesy honorary captains, special guests for a coin flip and all that type of useless crap but I must say that what Patriots owner Robert Kraft is doing for this Sunday's AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium sounds great.
Since it is the 15-year anniversary of the 1996-97 Patriots, who went to the team's second Super Bowl and lost to the Packers 35-21, Kraft is honoring that memorable team by bringing back four of their top players.
Yesterday, it was announced that wide receiver Troy Brown, one of the greatest players in franchise history, was the first of four honorary captains that will appear. Kraft will prolong the drama by unveiling one name each tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
Off the top of my head after a quick Wikipedia search, I'd guess the most likely candidates to appear on Sunday with Brown are offensive lineman Bruce Armstrong, quarterback Drew Bledsoe, tight end Ben Coates and linebacker Chris Slade.
Defensive end Willie McGinest, safety Lawyer Milloy and cornerback Ty Law were also starters on that team but they were just beginning their careers in the NFL and they weren't the franchise icons that they would later become over the next decade.
Hopefully, CBS steps up their game and gives these guys some camera time since God knows, there will be plenty of downtime during the broadcast. It's also a good thing to know about this since I assume they'll be doing something at halftime of the Patriots-Ravens game. Keep that in mind when you try your luck at the mile-long beer, food and bathroom lines at Gillette during the break.
UPDATE 1/18: Law is the second honorary captain, named today. Haha the two CSNE commentators get to spend more time together.
UPDATE 1/19: Tedy Bruschi is the third honorary captain, announced this afternoon. I guess Kraft is going for the later years guys that are still hanging around in the media and on TV (ESPN, CSNE).
UPDATE 1/20: Bledsoe was the final choice today, named by Kraft. In other AFC Championship news, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will sing the national anthem. So wherever you're watching the game, get ready for an unlimited amount of bad jokes about Tyler.
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