"We are building a big, strong, fast, smart, tough, and dedicated
football team that consistently competes for championships."
–New England Patriots Mission Statement
Voice Over: [Film clip of the
Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXIX] The Patriots are going to be Super
Bowl champions again. Back-to-back world championships. Three out of four.
Yes, it's a dynasty.
ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols: The
Patriot mentality. It is relentless, it is consistent, and when trouble
strikes, it remains the team's biggest weapon.
Patriots WR Troy Brown: It is, it's
all about business.
Patriots LB Junior Seau: Business.
One word, business.
Brown: We check our egos at the door.
You may be asked to do things you may not be happy with, but you have to go
out there and get it done anyway for the betterment of everybody else.
Nichols: When Super Bowl standouts
Adam Vinatieri and Willie McGinest left New England this offseason, others
stepped into their places. When a rash of injuries struck the secondary,
wideout Troy Brown stepped back into an old role, switching positions to
play defensive back.
Brown: Most of the guys on this team
realize that this is what they're asking me to do and this is what I have to
do. Whatever it takes to win, that's it.
Patriots LB Rosevelt Colvin: The
ultimate goal around here is winning football games. Guys know that when you
come in you have to understand this is how we do things around here, and
it's not always going to be your time to shine each and every week.
Seau: Very unselfish. It's not about
'me,' 'I,' or 'you,' it's about 'we.'
Nichols: New players are introduced
to the Patriot mentality as soon as they join the team. The message spreads
quickly, from Coach Bill Belichick on down. The team-first, team-only
approach does not include outsiders.
Colvin: A lot of times the media, the
fans, can become a distraction. I think the coaching staff and the players
understand for us to continually be successful, always letting everybody
know everything that's going on is not the best thing.
Nichols: [to Seau] Can you give me a
quick impression of Bill Belichick at a press conference?
Seau: At a press conference? Ready?
[Assumes a calm and stoic pose.] There it is. [Laughter]
Brown: We don't air out our dirty
laundry in public. We all know when you start putting stuff out in the media
and in public it gets uglier and uglier and harder to control.
Nichols: Only once this season did
the wall show a crack when Tom Brady spoke to reporters about the trade of
receiver Deion Branch.
Boston Globe reporter Mike Reiss: Tom
Brady, after the season opener, basically acknowledging that he let Deion
Branch's departure really get to him. The fact that he wasn't in camp
affected his play.
Nichols: [to Reiss] How unusual was
that for a New England Patriot?
Reiss: You know, I think they all
feel that way. What was unusual about it was that Brady was so expressive
about it.
Nichols: And then what happened?
Reiss: He went back to being Tom
Brady – which is polished, clean, saying all the
right things.
Nichols: The Patriot mentality
persevered, and during a two-game losing streak in early November – their first since 2002 – players once again did what they always do: they didn't talk, they
didn't panic, they went about their business and won their next game.
Colvin: We're all a bunch of
individual contractors trying to work toward building one house. Some guy
may be a roofer, some guy may be an electrician, [but] if you just come in
and do your job and try to do it the best you can, then we'll get the house
built. And hopefully we'll have a nice roof over our heads.
Back in the ESPN studio are hosts Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael
Irvin, Ron Jaworski and Mike Ditka. Among some of the comments:
Jaworski: I have their press release
that comes out weekly, and right there in the upper corner are three Vince
Lombardi trophies. They have a template in place that wins. I believe in the
fourth quarter of the season they're going to be successful. And you
mentioned 'fun.' You know what fun is? Fun is winning. Fun is winning
championships. They have the template in place; I believe in the fourth
quarter they'll be in good position to possibly add a fourth in that corner.
... They've got three...They've got three.
Berman: You know what? Believe me, I
am not saying that Adam Vinatieri can't kick, Will McGinest...we're not
saying any of that, but, the hardest thing in football, and I learned
this from Bill Walsh, is to let guys go a year early rather than a year
late. We can spend an hour and debate it all, it's the toughest, the next
year you look at it it's brutal, but what's happening? New England is still
in position to potentially win, they're in the top ten both in offense and
defense – I know they don't care about that. I'm
just saying, this one is tougher; this one they pushed the envelope on,
other than the other years ... It's the hardest thing to do and they've done
it better than anybody in this new system of free agency. Better than
anybody by far. |
