Farewell To The Ultimate Patriot-Julian Edelman-Who Announced His Retirement This Afternoon

 

    You knew that this day was coming soon but it was still a sobering moment on a chilly Monday in April when I saw the news that Patriots wide receiver 34-year-old Julian Edelman was retiring from football. Selfishly, I hoped that he would play for another season or two with the Pats but with all the injuries that he's suffered over the years from playing such a brutal sport, who could blame him for getting out while he can? When I thought about it for a little while, I came to the conclusion that not only was the three-time Super Bowl champion and one-time Super Bowl MVP (who has the second most catches and receiving yards in NFL postseason history) the best receiver in Patriots history but he's also the most relatable and fun player that they've ever had at least since I became a devoted fan in the 1990s. 

    By now, we all know the familiar story: Edelman was a quarterback at Kent State and then a completely unknown seventh-round draft pick by New England in the 2009 Draft. I'm pretty sure that for awhile he was just insurance for when Wes Welker got hurt but soon after playing special teams and even occasionally cornerback, he got his chance to make a big splash in 2013 when he recorded his first of three 1000-yard receiving seasons. With the greatest quarterback of all-time Tom Brady at the helm, slot receiver for the Patriots had become a coveted position over the years: starting with Troy Brown, then Welker and finally Edelman. They each had their own immense skills but give me Jules any day (and for the record I own a Brown jersey) for his combination of toughness, smarts, skills and propensity to make his biggest plays in the biggest games. 

     Anyone who was lucky enough to be a Pats fan when Brady was employed in New England (that still hurts to say) and winning six Super Bowls will always love him but TB12 for all his brilliance on the field is not exactly the first person you'd want to spend a few hours with at a bar or in a social situation. Not so with Edelman who famously dabbled in the night life himself and eventually had a child with a supermodel as well just like his best friend Tom. His performances at the Patriots Super Bowl parades were legendary and his occasional troubles off the field proved that he was mortal like us and not the superhumans that we think the NFL is filled with every week.

    He was super versatile too which made him a favorite of New England head coach Bill Belichick from day one. He could still throw the football once in a blue moon on a trick play and he was a huge part of three championships here: in 2015 vs. Seattle, in 2017 vs. Atlanta (when he made one of the greatest catches in NFL history) when he was fittingly named MVP and in 2019 against the Rams. When you consider that he's listed at 5-foot-10 and 198 pounds, his career numbers are remarkable: 620 catches for 6822 yards, 36 TDs and 413 yards rushing in the regular season; 118 catches for 1442 yards (only trailing Jerry Rice in both categories), five touchdown catches along with 81 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown in the playoffs. If that's not enough, he had four punt return touchdowns in the regular season; two forced fumbles and 21 tackles (16 solo tackles and five assists) in the regular season; a forced fumble and three solo tackles in the playoffs; 128 passing yards (6-for-6!) and one touchdown in the regular season; a 51-yard touchdown pass in the playoffs. 

    He's a lock to be in the Patriots Hall of Fame in four years and who knows what the next chapter holds for Edelman but whatever he ends up doing, it'll be fun to watch. He has personality for days and seems like a genuinely decent guy that loves watching many other sports plus has tons of interests outside of football and self-promoting on his top-notch social media accounts. Julian is the rare pro athlete that you can truly look at and say that hard work, dedication and effort turned him from a fringe NFL player to one of the best receivers of his era. I think it's fitting too that unlike Brady or Rob Gronkowski for instance, he never played for any other NFL team besides the Patriots. Talk about a perfect match between a player and a crazy fan base-that he both understood and respected better than most, particularly for a guy from California. For those and many other reasons, there will never be another Julian Edelman in Foxborough.

Troy Brown Elected To Patriots Hall Of Fame, Bill Parcells Still Missing Out

When I visualize the prototypical New England Patriots from the past decade, namely the three Super Bowl winners, Troy Brown is always one of the first players that comes to my mind. No ego, tough, hard working, would do whatever it takes to help the team win, that's what he was all about. It was impossible not to root for him and I didn't even mention how he was undersized and an eighth-round draft pick.

Today, it was announced that Brown will be the 2012 inductee into the New England Patriots' Hall of Fame. He'll be honored at a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 15 outside Gillette Stadium which I assume will be free and open to the public. If that's the case, I might have to dig out my old blue No. 80 jersey (assuming the weather is nice) and head on down to Foxborough. That happens to be a big weekend too since the Pats host the Arizona Cardinals the next day in their 2012 regular season home opener.

Brown was the winner of the fan vote, who interestingly enough beat out his first professional head coach Bill Parcells and safety Fred Marion (they were all selected by a 17-person nomination committee in April). This was Brown's first year of eligibility while Parcells missed out for the second straight year (he lost to Drew Bledsoe last season). The Marshall University product has never really left the spotlight in New England since he retired following the 2007 season because he's featured regularly on CSNE during Patriots season with his former teammate Ty Law.

Patriots owner Bob Kraft should make a special exception for Parcells, otherwise he will probably lose out to more popular players from the Patriots' glory days year after year. Old school Pats footie pajama fans will probably never give Parcells enough credit since he bolted to the Jets right after the Super Bowl loss to the Packers in 1997 but let's be real: who did more than Parcells? Especially in such a short time frame. He was the main component that began to turn one of the NFL's laughingstocks into what can now objectively be called its model franchise.

Brown's credentials speak for themselves: he is the franchise's all-time leader in receptions (557) and second in receiving yards (6366). Numbers don't even do him justice though since he was about so much more than that. He was the most clutch Patriots wide receiver that I've ever seen, he always made key catches and first downs. Plus, late in his career he started playing cornerback as well when New England had a rash of injuries in the secondary. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that every NFL team would dream of having a guy like Troy Brown play for them at some point.

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3 New Patriots Hall Of Fame Nominees: Troy Brown, Bill Parcells & Fred Marion

Today, the New England Patriots unveiled their three nominees for the Patriots Hall of Fame class of 2012: former wide receiver Troy Brown (1993-2007), former head coach Bill Parcells (1993-1996) and former safety Fred Marion (1982-1991).

From ESPNBoston.com
It is Brown's first year of eligibility, while it is the first time Marion was nominated and the second year in a row that Parcells has been selected as a finalist.

Earlier this month, the three candidates were chosen by a 17-member nomination committee. Since 2007, the three nominations by this committee have been put to a fan vote to decide the inductee into the team's hall of fame. Fans can vote for who they think is the most deserving candidate on the team's website through May 31, 2012. The winner and inductee will be announced in June.

Last year, fans chose quarterback Drew Bledsoe as the 17th inductee into the Patriots' hall of fame.

First things first, he played before my time but I've honestly never heard of Marion so thanks for everything Fred but you're not getting in this year. I think Brown will run away with it since maybe some old-timers will have hard feelings about Parcells leaving Foxborough after only a few seasons. More importantly, Brown was here for his entire career-a much longer span of time.

Regardless, make sure you vote on patriots.com and stay tuned to see who will be the latest inductee. You really can't go wrong with either Brown or Parcells. Eventually they will both be in there, it's only a matter of time. Although, now that most of the players from the dynasty years are retired, there will be a real bumper crop of deserving candidates. Maybe to ease up the process, they'll allow more than one induction per season. We shall see.

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Troy Brown The 1st Of 4 Honorary Captains Named For The Patriots At Sunday's Game

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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bidding farewell to Mr. Patriot, Troy Brown

By now it's almost cliche to lament the retirement of a player from one of your favorite teams by saying, "he was my favorite player!" Still, with the news that Troy Brown officially retired from the NFL yesterday, I can't help but think that they'll never be another like him.

A 15-year veteran wide receiver, that was drafted 198th overall (in the now obsolete 8th round) out of Marshall University was a classic overachiever. Brown played his entire career for the New England Patriots which is something pretty much unheard of these days. He'll go down in Patriots history as the franchise leader in receptions (557), second in yards (6366), the single-game catch leader (15) and a three-time Super Bowl champion among countless weighty accomplishments.

What makes Brown's departure so sad (even though it was completely expected) was that he was the rare star athlete with seemingly little to no ego. With the ridiculous amount of self-centered behavior and attention-seeking by numerous current NFL stars (particularly at wideout), Brown was the ultimate teammate and leader.

He even stepped in to play cornerback (along with receiver) in 2004-2006 when the Pats' defensive backfield resembled a morgue.

It's hard to pick a favorite memory of the Troy Brown era, he made the clutch, game-saving/winning play look routine. The 2001 AFC Championship game against the Steelers had a Brown trifecta: a blocked punt and lateral for a touchdown, a punt return for a score and a huge day receiving. The other foremost impression of Brown is one of his last plays: stripping the ball from the Chargers' Marlon McRee in the AFC playoffs two years ago after McRee intercepted it. New England recovered the ball and went on to defeat the heavily favored Bolts.

Troy Brown is obviously a shoe-in for the new Patriots hall-of-fame but it will be interesting to see if he makes it to Canton for the big Hall of Fame. Most likely not but that doesn't mean anything to Patriots fans. Troy Brown is one of the best players and men that we'll ever cheer on, end of discussion.

Merry Christmas to the first NFL team to start 15-0 in the regular season

Another week, another win for the New England Patriots. This one had some historical significance too as the the Pats are now the first NFL team to start a regular season 15-0. This one was never much of a game as the visiting Dolphins (1-14)-the league's worst team-found themselves down 28-0 at the half.

For the first half at least, Tom Brady (18 of 33, 215 yards, 3 TD's, 2 INT's) and Randy Moss (5 catches, 50 yards, 2 TD's) both looked poised to break some lofty records (touchdown passes for a season and touchdown catches for a season respectively). New England forced a Dolphins three-and-out on its first drive before Brady found Moss for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Then early in the second quarter, after a Laurence Maroney 51-yard rush, Brady hit Moss with a one-yard slant to put the Patriots up 14-0.

Things went from bad to worse for Miami as they couldn't get any first downs and on the next Pats possession, Maroney went untouched for a 59-yard rushing score. It was third-and-1 and Miami gambled that the Pats would run. They guessed right but the Pats jumbo set blew up any Dolphins trying to tackle Maroney, who had nobody within 20 yards of him (besides the ref) as he eased into the end zone.

Maroney had his second straight 100-yard game, third of the season and fourth of his career. He carried the ball 14 times for a career-high 156 yards. He's gaining plenty of momentum as the Pats go into January, when they'll undoubtedly rely on him more than they have so far this season.

Patriots icon Troy Brown saw his first action of the season as he returned six punts for 55 yards including a 28-yard return in the fourth quarter. Brown received a memorable standing ovation before his first punt return but also had a lowlight of having a punt hit him right off the facemask for a fumble which Miami recovered. No worries though as the hapless Dolphins couldn't do anything with the short field.

The final score for the Pats in the game was the craziest. Brady found Jabar Gaffney (5 catches, 82 yards) for a 48-yard touchdown pass after Miami safety Lance Schulters somehow had the sure-pick go right through his hands and into Gaffney's. It's been that type of season for the Dolphins.

Typifying that even more was when Miami quarterback Cleo Lemon went out of bounds right before the goalline on fourth and goal at the end of the first half. All he had to do was dive into the end zone but instead he tip-toed out just before the line.

The second half was basically extended garbage time as the Patriots tried to get Brady and Moss their records before the home crowd but it was not to be. Brady was intercepted twice as he forced the ball downfield a couple times (something that you never see from him). The Dolphins finally scored a touchdown but Lemon was sacked seven times for the game by the relentless Patriots defensive line.

New England had another goalline stand as Tedy Bruschi broke up the fourth down pass.

The Patriots set the record for touchdowns in a season (71) with the win. They also tied their own record from '03-'04, having now won 18 regular-season games in a row. They finished undefeated (6-0) in the AFC East for the first time and set the franchise mark for total net yards in a season (6190). They also set the team record for first downs in a season-366-while Wes Welker (5 catches, 49 yards) tied Brown's single season record for catches (101) and Mike Vrabel's two sacks helped him reach 11.5 for the season, the most for a Patriot since Andre Tippett in 1987.

Their final regular season game is next Saturday night at the Meadowlands against the Giants (10-5). The G-Men clinched their playoff spot so they really won't have much to play for besides trying to keep New England out of the record books even more. The Patriots on the other hand, have three huge records to try and achieve: the first 16-0 season, Brady's touchdown record (he has 47, he needs two to break it) and Moss's touchdown record (he has 21, he needs two to break it).

Getting a perfect 16-0 season would be amazing and that is the focus for the next week but as soon as that game's over, the Patriots will start thinking about the bigger task: going 19-0 and taking home another Super Bowl. Let's face it, 16-0 would be awesome but anything less than a Super Bowl this season will be seen as a disappointment, that's how ridiculous the Patriots have made their own standards.