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Who better to win the big one after 9/11?
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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01:00But for much of their existence, they attracted little attention from the rest of the country.
01:06When you thought about teams growing up as a kid, you know, it was the Steelers, it was the Cowboys,
01:11it was the Dolphins in the early 70s.
01:15Obviously, the New England Patriots weren't one of those teams that you thought about when you expected teams to be
01:20in the playoffs every year.
01:21First of all, I didn't even know where they were when I got drafted.
01:24Massachusetts, I still don't even know how to spell it.
01:28Still, the team had its diehard fans, including a Boston-area businessman named Robert Kraft, who bought the team in
01:391994.
01:41The Patriots' head coach was Bill Parcells, and in 1996, their talented secondary was coached by Bill Belichick.
01:51I said, I should have stayed in college because this is a lot of work, and it was because that's
01:57what he demanded out of us.
01:59He had a very important role in what we achieved my rookie year as far as making it to the
02:05Super Bowl.
02:05We're going to make believers today.
02:08Got that right. Absolutely right.
02:13Let's go back to throw it. Here they come after him again.
02:16And he does throw it up the sidelines, and it is...
02:19Oh, intercept!
02:20Intercept it now, baby, it's over.
02:23The Patriots were still looking for their first Super Bowl title.
02:28Four years later, they were looking for a new head coach when a familiar name resurfaced.
02:35The first and only person that I thought would be right for the job was Bill Belichick.
02:42Every time that Mr. Kraft pulled me into his office, he was the only person I wanted to talk about.
02:47It's my honor and pleasure to introduce Bill Belichick.
02:52Another newcomer for the 2000 season was a sixth-round draft pick named Tom Brady.
03:01When you're at the 199th pick, it was like, whew!
03:05You know, I was thinking about, as those other 198 names were called, what the heck I was going to
03:10do for the rest of my life.
03:11And then I was happy as could be, because I had a direction.
03:15We had a starting quarterback there who I could learn a lot from.
03:17He was one of the best quarterbacks in the league at the time.
03:20He also had an owner who, in his heart, was still a fan, and who tried his best to know
03:26the names of every Patriots player.
03:30I remember the first time he met me, he called me Kyle Brady, you know, the tight end.
03:34All he knew was Brady, so he said, hey, Kyle.
03:37And I kind of let it go.
03:38I mean, I wasn't going to say anything to the owner.
03:39I was 22 years old, and I said, hey, Mr. Kraft.
03:43I said, I'm Tom Brady.
03:45And he goes, oh, yeah, of course, you know, I know, you're a quarterback.
03:47I've seen you play, you're doing a good job.
03:49And I said, well, you know, I just want to tell you, it's, you know, one of the best decisions
03:52you ever made picking me.
03:54And I don't think I meant it in a way that was cocky or anything.
03:57I just wanted to let him know that I thought I was capable of really helping the team,
04:00and that whatever role I was going to be in, I was going to do the best I could do.
04:04His rookie year, his job was to throw me interceptions on the look team.
04:10He was kind of a quiet guy, very tall, lanky, skinny guy.
04:15I can't stand it.
04:16Run it again.
04:17Hold up and run it again, Brady.
04:19I remember sitting in the team meeting room.
04:21Everybody had left, and I was kind of running.
04:23There was a notebook there, and it was from my quarterback coach.
04:26And it had quarterbacks listed on the top.
04:29And, of course, me being curious, I decided, well, I was going to look at this notebook and see what
04:34it said.
04:34Well, I opened it up, and it was an evaluation of me.
04:37And it says, slow on reads, slow to react, doesn't deliver the ball in time.
04:42Everything he needs to do, he needs to do quicker.
04:45That was kind of the knock on me my whole life, you know, never being quick enough, never being fast
04:50enough.
04:51And it's very warranted.
04:52I think at the time, I didn't really read defense as well.
04:55In his rookie season, Brady threw only one complete pass, and the 2000 Patriots finished with a 5-11 record.
05:05Fresh motivation was needed for the 2001 season.
05:09Coach Belichick did some things where it seemed outlandish a little bit, but you know he had a point.
05:16We'll get some camp t-shirts, and every year they have a different slogan on them.
05:21I remember that season we had wanted winners, and it basically gave a definition of what a winner is.
05:28One thing that's always been important to Coach Belichick is that we're in shape.
05:33And he signified that by bringing a big old anchor.
05:37In the meeting, he says, you see that anchor downstairs?
05:39Well, that signifies all the dead weight that we've been dragging around for the last year.
05:43Brady had shrugged off the weight of a rough rookie season.
05:46In the 2001 preseason, I definitely felt that I was gaining confidence.
05:50I remember Lawyer Molloy coming up to me during training camp, and I remember he was playing in the middle
05:54of the field safety.
05:55And I dropped back, I looked at Lawyer, I looked him off, I pumped him, and I fired the ball
05:59back to the back side.
06:00And he came with me after the drill, he said, man, you got a lot better.
06:03I think I gave him a pat on the butt, said, good job, don't do it again, something like that.
06:09By the start of the regular season, Brady had moved up to number two on the quarterback depth chart.
06:15Talk to me about your favorites.
06:17Talk to me about your favorites, because it, yeah, just talk to me about, love under, okay.
06:21I like sticks.
06:23Okay.
06:23I like double seam, I like 10 seam.
06:25Okay.
06:26I don't like 6-8 swing.
06:27Okay.
06:27I don't like 5-8 quick now.
06:29Okay.
06:29You just want to throw so you can get on TV, huh?
06:32Yeah.
06:34Over the next six months, Tom Brady would get more face time than anyone could have imagined.
06:43For coaching quarterbacks, he was never too high, he was never too low.
06:48He always said, guys, you know, we had a good day, but we can do a little bit better.
06:51Or, hey, we had a bad day, but we're going to do better tomorrow.
06:54On August 5th, Rabine collapsed while on a treadmill.
06:58We came in from practice, and the quarterbacks all got summoned together.
07:03Sad news today out of Foxboro.
07:05Their quarterback coach, Dick Rabine, died of heart failure at Mass General Hospital today.
07:10He's only 45 years old.
07:13I think that was tough for all of us.
07:15That entire season was dedicated to him.
07:18The Patriots were unified, and it showed on opening day.
07:23When we played the Cincinnati Bengals was the first time that we ran out on the field as
07:28a team, and it was because they kind of screwed up.
07:31Before we even got into the tunnel, they started calling out our names, and we're just sitting
07:36in the tunnel like, okay, they're not going to wait on this.
07:41At that point, you know, we just decided to go out as a team.
07:45A simple act, born of circumstance, that would define their team for years to come.
07:53We had this great anticipation of this new year, and we went out and just played terrible.
07:59We got our butts whooped.
08:00I mean, I'm very blunt about that.
08:03The give to Dillon, shoots it up the middle, and roars into the end zone.
08:07Touchdown.
08:07That was the first game of my career that I didn't complete because I had a neck injury.
08:12You know, I'm sitting here as one of the leaders, and I don't even know if I can play next
08:17week.
08:22Are you serious?
08:24You got smoked by the Bengals?
08:26Beaten by the Bengals?
08:31It was a Tuesday morning, and I remember driving in to the stadium.
08:37And, you know, it's our day off, and I wanted to go in there and work out and try to
08:41get
08:41the game plan down, and I remember listening to the radio in the morning, and there it was.
08:47First time, I happened to report early for the training room session because I was hurt.
08:55I get a call from my girlfriend at the time, which is my wife now.
08:59She said, baby, somebody flew a plane into the towers in New York.
09:06So I rushed to the training room, and sure enough, there it was on the television.
09:11I remember going over to Drew Bledsoe's house, and I remember listening to a conference call
09:16of all the different player reps from around the league talking about whether or not to
09:20play the game.
09:20Canceling that week was a great idea because everybody wanted to be with their family.
09:26Nobody wanted to be on the field playing, but the following week getting back felt right.
09:34What better poetry than the Patriots, because obviously patriotism and stuff like that, versus
09:42the New York Jets, New York where it happened, where the tragedy happened.
09:48What better game to show your patriotism?
10:00One of our players, Joe Andrews, he had three brothers that were firefighters in the Twin
10:04Towers that made it out alive, and they were on the field with us at the coin toss.
10:10It just really brought back the first moment you went to kindergarten, you learned how to
10:15do the Pledge of Allegiance.
10:18For Drew Bledsoe, a day of healing became a day of pain.
10:23One of the best times that I'm your butt and your chin straps up.
10:30Why would Drew Bledsoe's, he called him a water buffalo, he was slow as dirt.
10:37Why would he think he could run and make that first down?
10:43It was the hardest hit I've ever heard.
10:50I remember saying to Drew, you know, you sure you're all right?
10:53You sure you're okay?
10:55He's trying to get his bearings.
10:56He goes, well, how do we, how do we call that check with me?
11:00You know, how do we call the check with me's?
11:02I said, how do we call the check with me's?
11:03And I looked over to him and said, we got to get him out of the game.
11:05And he couldn't remember anything.
11:07In that moment, two careers were changed forever.
11:13The Patriots organization would never.
11:16Still, that moment was easy to miss.
11:20I felt like I was in control, but the proof's in the play.
11:24You got to put the points on the board.
11:26And I didn't do that.
11:37I remember that night going to the hospital.
11:40You know, I think only then did we realize the extent of what had happened.
11:44WBZ has learned that Bledsoe has a collapsed lung, has lost a great deal of blood.
11:49And our sources are telling us that this could potentially be a season-ending injury.
11:53And at that point, I was like, what else can happen?
11:57We lost the Bengals, a game we thought that we were going to win.
12:01I hurt my damn neck, 9-11, and now our starting quarterback is out.
12:10What else can happen?
12:20Bledsoe's injuries will thrust second-year backup Tom Brady.
12:23Into the starting row for this Sunday's matchup against the high-powered Indianapolis Colts.
12:28Everybody kind of went up, and that week in practice said,
12:31All right, if we're going to have a good season, you're going to be our man the next six, eight
12:36weeks.
12:36So, let's go. Let's get it done.
12:38I've always told myself, if you ever get this opportunity,
12:41because you never know how many you're going to get.
12:43And when you do get your opportunity, you better be ready to take advantage,
12:46especially how competitive this league is and how good every team you play is.
12:51Drew Bledsoe returned to the sideline in time for Tom Brady's first NFL start.
12:58We needed a win against the Colts in week three.
13:02We're 0-2. They're 2-0.
13:04They're scoring a ton of points.
13:05We need to find a way to play better and get a win.
13:12Not anything against, you know, Peyton Manning or the Colts.
13:15We just kind of had their number.
13:18Back to throw is Manning on second and 18.
13:21Fires to the right. It is intercepted.
13:23It was a different feel in that game.
13:25And we felt great about what we were capable of.
13:28And we went out there for the first time in a year and a half,
13:31really like, man, this is the energy we got to bring every week.
13:35The only thing they brought to Miami was inconsistency.
13:42The Patriots of that era always struggled with the Dolphins for some reason.
13:48It's so weird because the Dolphins were just an okay team.
13:56It's hot and humid down there and we didn't do sh**.
14:00I mean, we couldn't move the ball.
14:02And the feeling that we had coming out of that game was we couldn't...
14:05Is that an excuse I hear?
14:07A guy from California complaining about heat is ridiculous.
14:14He's from California.
14:20If we can't beat them, we can never win the AFC East.
14:23The day we got back, Coach Belichick brought us out onto the practice field
14:27over the corner where there was a hole.
14:29A big four-foot-deep hole.
14:34He says, you guys see this ball?
14:35This is the ball from the game yesterday.
14:37And this is what I think of it.
14:38And he throws it in the hole and he takes a shovel and starts throwing dirt on it.
14:43And after he throws it around, he said, that game's over.
14:45We're burying it and we're moving on.
14:47I remember stomping on top of that and said, you know what?
14:51It's over.
14:54Yeah.
15:00Brady drops straight back to throw.
15:02Looking, looking, goes to the end zone.
15:04Oh, now!
15:05Tom Brady's first NFL touchdown pass.
15:12Brady rolls right.
15:13Got a man open.
15:14Touchdown!
15:1536 seconds left.
15:17Brady drives him 60 yards.
15:19The San Diego game kind of played out the way the rest of the season would play out.
15:23With Tom at the end of the game leading us down, putting us in a position to where Adam
15:28Vinatieri could kick a game-winner field goal.
15:31He is up.
15:32On the way.
15:33Patriots win!
15:37For Tom to be able to march down the field in this game, everybody else, I think, said,
15:42hey, Tom did a nice job and he's for real.
15:47After burying the ball, after winning the way we did, you know, we were gaining that confidence.
15:52We were gaining that swagger.
15:53We were starting to believe in each other.
15:59Oh!
16:01Almost took his head off.
16:05The once 0-2 Patriots worked their way to a 5-4 record in time for their biggest test of
16:12the regular season.
16:15I think the pivotal time in that season was the game against the St. Louis Rams the first time.
16:23We're 5-4, starting to feel good about ourselves again.
16:27But this was the greatest show on turf coming in.
16:29This is the team that everybody labeled, you know, the Super Bowl champions before the season.
16:34All the publications had them winning the Super Bowl.
16:37Warner steps up, fires for the end zone, caught, touchdown Rams!
16:41In cuts! Slants and in cuts!
16:44That's the game!
16:45You know, I think you're always trying to compare yourself to a team and trying to figure out where you
16:49stand.
16:50I think that game, even though we lost, gave us some confidence.
16:55If this is the next Super Bowl champions, hey, they're not that much better than us.
17:00In the locker room, you would have thought we won the game because they're supposed to be the Super Bowl
17:05champions.
17:06What can we be?
17:08So, if they were the Super Bowl champions, I would expect AFC championship appearance of the Patriots after that.
17:19And they never lost another game that season.
17:22Today's going to be here where Drew's going to be healthy.
17:25Tom's playing well.
17:27What's going to happen here?
17:29No disrespect to Tom, but without Drew getting hurt, he would have never seen the field.
17:33At that point, Drew Bloodsoe was our franchise.
17:36They just signed him to a new 10-year deal.
17:39He was the man at the time.
17:41A great debate raged across New England.
17:45Number 11 or number 12?
17:49We poll the coaches, we're going to poll the fans, we're going to poll the fourth graders, we're going to,
17:56I mean, the barbers, we'll poll everybody.
17:59And you would just assume that a guy like Drew Bloodsoe, if he was ready to come back, that he
18:05would get his starting job back.
18:07That's me as a teammate looking in.
18:10The thing about playing quarterback is only one guy gets to play.
18:13And I want to play and Drew wants to play.
18:15And who wouldn't want to play?
18:15It's almost like to like one person, you have to dislike the other.
18:19And that's not the way it should be, and that's not the way it is.
18:23With a 5-5 record, a hard decision was finally made.
18:28Coach Belichick just said, hey, Tom is our quarterback for the rest of the season.
18:33That's final.
18:34That's what Mr. Kraft's paying me to do, and that's what I'm going to do.
18:37I'm going to make the decisions that I think are the best for the football team.
18:40T-E-A-M as in team.
18:42Drew was very upset about not being the starting quarterback.
18:47Are you hurt, frustrated, or how do you feel?
18:50Next question.
18:52In any way, did you see this coming through?
18:55I'll just put it this way.
18:56I look forward to the chance to compete for my job.
19:01And I'll leave it at that.
19:03You never want to lose your job anyway.
19:06You definitely don't want to lose it because you got injured,
19:08and you expect to get back on the field.
19:10But he comes back in and says,
19:12As I said yesterday, I'm going to do whatever I can, as I always have,
19:16to help this team win.
19:17And one thing that falls into that heading is to try and conduct myself
19:21in a manner that allows the players on our team to support both Tom and myself.
19:25And if that means standing on the sideline and helping Tom,
19:29that's what I'm going to do.
19:30You want to call him for me?
19:31You want me to?
19:31Yeah.
19:32Okay.
19:32Yeah, I'd love to.
19:33You want to have you?
19:34Yeah, I'd love to.
19:35I'm a great coordinator.
19:38You know, I think from Drew's standpoint,
19:40the one thing I'd say about him is he was always rooting for me very genuinely
19:44and rooting for the team because that's the kind of player he was.
19:56Coach Belichick brings in a film to meeting time and it's all about the Breeders' Cup,
20:02one of the major horse races of the year.
20:05As we're watching it, he ends up stopping at about three quarters of the way through the race and just
20:10basically asked us,
20:11you know, who's going to win this?
20:12Who do you think is going to win this?
20:13And as we're throwing out answers, this or that, he basically just stopped and said,
20:17who cares, it's not over yet.
20:20You know, a lot of times in the horse race at that quarter pole, the best horse ends up making
20:25a move.
20:26And all the work that we put up to that point got us ready for that last stretch drive.
20:34To win their division, they needed victories against their AFC East rivals.
20:41Handle up to Mark Edwards, turning to the left, going to slam it in.
20:44That's it! That's it!
20:47That's awesome!
20:51Week 15, we're getting ready for the Miami Dolphins.
20:54And all of a sudden, the training camp winter t-shirt resurfaces in our lockers.
20:59And it was just a friendly reminder, I guess, of what you're going to have to do this week
21:04if you want to become the AFC East champs.
21:08Lawyer Malloy embraced former Patriot greats before the game,
21:12and the future Patriot great during it.
21:17Direct snap, comes to Kevin Fawke, it's a throwback to the left of Tom Brady, he's got it at the
21:2330!
21:23That's when I kind of realized that the coaches made the right decision when they decided to go with him.
21:29You know, not taking anything away from anybody else,
21:31but this was our guy in order to be successful this year.
21:35And Foxborough loves Tom Brady!
21:38Brady!
21:40Here we go!
21:41Oh, it's a throwback!
21:42Back to the throw, Brady, fires it left, open the pass, 20, 15, 10, left side, 5, touchdown, Patrick Pass!
21:51In a lot of ways, we thought that was going to be our last game at Foxborough Stadium.
21:55So, it was really a farewell tour for the team.
21:57And we walked around the entire stadium, shook hands with everybody.
22:01Merry Christmas!
22:02We'll see you at the back of this show!
22:05And I think the fans were so excited, we were so excited, and we're sending this stadium out the right
22:11way.
22:12Or so they thought.
22:14In their final regular season game, the Patriots could do much more than clinch their division.
22:20This team that went through all this adversity this year,
22:24if you won this game, not only would you win the AFC East,
22:28there was a possibility that you would get that first round bye in the playoffs.
22:52Two years later, they would be facing this same franchise in the Super Bowl.
22:58For now, they're 1-15.
23:01And that little guy, Smith, would get the Patriots problems in that Super Bowl.
23:08All the Panthers needed was a different quarterback than Chris Wienke.
23:15Seconds ticked down.
23:16Myself and Otis went over and grabbed the cooler that had the most ice in it.
23:20Because, you know, that's what you want.
23:22You wanted him to just, you know, get that cold chill going down his spine.
23:27And so me and him, we hoisted it up.
23:30Sure enough.
23:33We got all of it.
23:35We doused it.
23:37The celebration was followed by news that thrilled the Foxborough faithful.
23:43As we're flying back home, the pilot announces that the Jets just beat Oakland.
23:48So we have another game in Foxborough Stadium.
24:00Move the tarp off the field a little early.
24:04Belichick does whatever he needs to do to try to get an edge in a game.
24:07And sometimes that means crappy field conditions for me.
24:12It was a lot of snow.
24:14And it started about three or four hours before the game.
24:17And that's right when you're driving in.
24:19Well, there was a huge backup on the road.
24:21And I'm sitting there in my parked car about a mile from the stadium not moving.
24:24So I called our security guy.
24:26And I said, Frank, I'm stuck in traffic.
24:28I need help.
24:29So he sent a police escort about a mile out that, you know, found my car.
24:33And I followed them into the stadium.
24:35Got there, changed.
24:3720 minutes later, I'm on the field warming up.
24:39Well, you know, me being a knucklehead, I go out there in a T-shirt, you know,
24:43to prove to everybody that this weather is not going to bother me at all.
24:46I didn't feel like it was home field advantage.
24:48I was cold, man.
24:52Lawyer Malloy showed a quiet confidence.
24:55Tom Brady, just confidence.
24:58We're going to get this one.
25:00Promise?
25:00I promise that.
25:07We got off to a very slow start.
25:09I threw an interception early.
25:10And we went into halftime.
25:12And I remember looking at David Patton and looking at another receiver and saying,
25:15if you guys play the best half of your life, I'm going to play the best half of my life.
25:23The snap to Brady.
25:24Looks, stands, starts to run with it.
25:26He's down to the five and he's in.
25:28Touchdown.
25:29Tom Brady.
25:30Victory gets her back in it.
25:33We called a play, I think around like a five or six-yard line, which is about the limit
25:36for me.
25:36I don't think I'm running much farther in from that.
25:39For me, a lot of the time, the instinct is to stay back there and try to throw the ball.
25:42Well, it opened so much that I said, you know what, I'm going to try to take this one.
25:49I used to love the way Tom Ratham used to spike the ball.
25:52He'd just throw that ball on the ground as hard as he could.
25:54So I think I was intending to do the same thing.
25:56And as I slammed it, you know, I was going right down with the ball.
26:02And he gets up and spikes the ball and goes wild here at Foxboro.
26:08That's some great comebacks.
26:10Keep it up, baby.
26:12Hey.
26:14It was the two-minute warning.
26:19Patriots 10.
26:20The stage was set for a play that would highlight an obscure section of the rule book and rewrite
26:27the history book.
26:29It was called Trips Right 68 Slant D Slant.
26:32There was nobody on the left side of the field from the center over.
26:36He said, God, how can I not throw over there?
26:38Well, the problem was it was a blitz zone.
26:40Well, that's when I got hit.
26:48The Raiders have the ball.
26:50Charles Woodson came on a corner blitz, and he rocked his former Michigan teammate.
26:56And I ran off the field, and I was so pissed.
26:59I mean, I just, I couldn't believe that I'd fumbled the ball to lose the game.
27:04Damn, the game's over.
27:06That's what I was thinking, like, the game is over.
27:08The play's going to be reviewed, though, Greg.
27:11Why?
27:11NFL Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, The Tuck Rule.
27:21After reviewing the play, the quarterback's arm was going forward.
27:26It is an eight.
27:26Oh, right.
27:27Patriots retain the ball.
27:32You know, I'm a strong proponent of the rule now.
27:34But at the time, I definitely, you know, I'm not going to pretend that I had any idea that that
27:40ruling would come out the way it did.
27:41It was overwhelming at that point, you know, just to have another chance, have another season.
27:48And that's pretty much what it was.
27:50It was much more.
27:52It was the first brick in the foundation of a dynasty.
27:59This AFC semifinal boiling down to a very exciting finish.
28:04The Patriots, Adam Vinatieri, can try to tie it.
28:07The Patriots' season depended on a 45-yard field goal into the wind in a snowstorm.
28:18I know that's a real, real low percentage kick.
28:20How many times would I make it if he gave me 100 shots?
28:23I don't know, 10, maybe?
28:40Looking back at it, it's probably the most difficult field goal I've ever had to attempt to make.
28:46And probably the one that I'm the most proud of.
28:48In all my years in the NFL, I think that was the most amazing play I've ever seen.
28:57With Brady setting up Vinatieri in overtime, the outcome seemed almost inevitable.
29:05That's it!
29:11Well, we called a timeout prior to me going out on the field.
29:15And all the big linemen with the size 14 shoes were helping me try to clear a patch of snow
29:20so I could get the best footing as I could.
29:22Coach Gruden calls another timeout.
29:24Which, hindsight looking back at it, I'd like to thank him for it.
29:28It gave us more opportunity to clear more snow on a bigger path
29:31and give me just a little bit better of a spot.
29:51Take me, it's win!
29:54Take me, it's win!
29:55Take me, it's win it all the time!
30:02I talked to a lot of fans after that game, and not a one of them told me they were
30:06cold.
30:07What a ending to what a game!
30:10I'll tell you what, one of the great games ever played here in New England.
30:14We're going to the AFC Championship game!
30:25I think we celebrated that win for about a half an hour after the game.
30:33And then we went, we've got to play a pretty dang good team in Pittsburgh, who are expected to beat
30:39us, so let's get back to work.
30:45First of all, I'm a very upset individual all the time, or at least I give that persona, if you
30:51don't know me.
30:53We went by this storage room, you see a whole bunch of suitcases packed up, and we found out that,
30:59you know, before the game, that the bags in there...
31:02...picked up to go to the Super Bowl, and I think, where was the Super Bowl that year? New Orleans?
31:11There was the players' bags and their families' bags, because they were leaving right after the game to go down
31:17to New Orleans to play the Super Bowl.
31:21You don't do that to the Patriots.
31:24Yeah, we're coming, baby!
31:26I'm happy to report that despite all the prognostications of doom, the Patriots have shown up here today.
31:31We're coming today!
31:32And will take the field against the Steelers.
31:36But their storybook season was about to take on a new twist.
31:45And Brady's down. Brady is down in the backfield.
31:49Oh, boy.
31:54Well, it was actually the third time that game that the same ankle got hit.
32:00Lo and behold, who comes in?
32:04Number 11.
32:06Such is the nature of fate in professional football.
32:10Kind to one, simultaneously cruel to another.
32:17What a nickel for every time the Steelers, in a playoff game, took out the legs of a California native
32:25quarterback.
32:27I'd have two nickels.
32:45Touchdown!
32:46Touchdown!
32:47Touchdown by Drew Bledsoe!
32:48His first touchdown pass of the season!
32:50Come on, Brady.
32:51What a story this is!
32:54Finally, I went in to get it retaped and for them to evaluate it just before half because we had
32:58a little bit of time.
32:59At that point, I thought I was going to go back in and play.
33:02And he decided, you know what, I think we're just going to stick with Drew.
33:05I learned a lot from watching him play that second half.
33:08That he had a great poise about him.
33:10I don't think of poise that I showed much.
33:13Stewart takes the direct snap.
33:15Stands up in the pocket.
33:16Looks, fires down the field.
33:17Could be picked.
33:18It is!
33:18It's intercepted!
33:20Picked off by the Patriots!
33:21Falling to the ground at the 50-yard line is Lawyer Malloy!
33:25And the final seconds tick away.
33:27Patriots players coming out of the field!
33:29And we're heading to New Orleans as the American Football Conference champions!
33:34We won, everyone goes in the locker room, and I don't really feel a part of it.
33:38That motivated me so much to get ready to play the next week.
33:43But first, he had to endure another round of the Patriots quarterback controversy.
33:50Now, let's get to your thoughts on one of today's big stories, the Brady-Bledsoe debate.
33:56We want to know who you think should start.
33:58Bledsoe.
33:59Why?
34:00Because Bledsoe, look at his history, he's just a better quarterback.
34:03You know, there's a lot of controversy on who's going to play in this game.
34:06Is Tom's ankle okay?
34:08You know, and the reporters were asking Bill every single day.
34:11His answer is, Tom hasn't practiced yet.
34:13If he's okay, he's going to play.
34:14I remember going out on Wednesday at practice, and it was still pretty sore.
34:18But, you know, it was manageable, and I could go out there, and I knew by Sunday it was going
34:21to be okay.
34:23New at 11, the guessing game is over.
34:25Tom Brady will start at quarterback for the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
34:39I was playing for our position.
34:41I was going to be the quarterback that day, but I was playing for Drew.
34:45When I grabbed Drew, that's what I was saying.
34:47You know, we're here, and I told you that we were going to do this.
34:50And I told you we were going to do this together.
34:52Our team all season long went out as a team, and we made a decision.
34:55I don't care if we get in trouble.
34:57I don't care if we get fined.
34:59We're walking out as a team again.
35:02And now, ladies and gentlemen, choosing to be introduced as a team,
35:07the American Football Toppers champions, the American Patriots.
35:15I mean, that's the most excited you ever are as a player.
35:18And you realize every sporting eye in the world is going to watch you play.
35:28I laid them down, and I put my head back.
35:31And I wasn't intending to sleep, but I think I dozed off for about 20 or 30 minutes.
35:36And I just felt good about where I was at.
35:38It wasn't like I was so relaxed.
35:40I didn't realize the importance of the game.
35:42I just felt I was very prepared.
35:44Woke up, went out, changed my shirt, threw my shoulder pads on,
35:47and 12 minutes later, we were running out on the field.
35:50From here in the New Orleans, Super Bowl 36 is underway.
35:54Brady first and goal, St. Louis 8-yard line.
35:58Brady drops back to throw, looks, fires right.
36:01Touchdown, David Pitt! Touchdown, David Pitt!
36:07That play was initially called F-right, 50-out, Z-slant.
36:11Well, the cornerback on the right, Dexter McLeon, he wasn't going to let an owl get thrown on him.
36:16And he always kind of really squatted at the goal line.
36:19And if you run a 10-yard out, he's going to be squatting right on the route.
36:22So, Belichick came, Charlie said, we don't want to run that out.
36:26No, we want to run that out-go.
36:28Well, sure enough, I mean, he freaking calls a play.
36:31That's the right thing.
36:33When he went down the goal, Z-slant.
36:36And he'll drop back.
36:38Soft corner on the right.
36:40He squats at the goal line.
36:41I pump it.
36:42He takes the cheese.
36:44Chief runs around him, and he spins around him.
36:46Makes just an unbelievable catch.
36:49I mean, boy, at that point, we were feeling pretty darn good about the score,
36:53and we ran it at halftime, thinking it's going to be tough for them to beat us.
37:01Unless you're a die-hard fan of one team in particular,
37:04everybody loves to see the underdog win.
37:07Unless you're the St. Louis Rams.
37:10Ricky Paul Weidel inside the tent.
37:14He runs the tent.
37:14Yes!
37:15Touchdown, Ricky Paul!
37:17Tom Brady.
37:19Overrated.
37:20After the Rams tied the score up, I remember looking at our equipment guy.
37:27Overrated.
37:27He was barely rated.
37:30And I put my arm around him, and I said, they screwed up.
37:34They gave us too much time.
37:36It's 17-17.
37:38Well, my first thing is I go up to Charlie, and I say, what are we doing?
37:40And he says, we're going.
37:42So I said, all right, what's the first play?
37:44And Charlie says to me, as I'm sure Bill's setting his here,
37:46he better take care of that ball.
37:48So Charlie yells at me, he says, hey, take care of that ball.
37:54And Drew was kind of standing next to me, and he kind of just shuffled in front of that,
37:57and he says, f*** that.
37:59Go out there and sling it.
38:14I remember almost getting strip sacked on the first play.
38:19Starts to run with the throws over the middle.
38:20It is caught there out to the 21-yard line.
38:23If I had taken a sack there, I'm sure we would have just run the clock out.
38:26A pulse-pounding finish to this one here.
38:29My job is to get ready for, you know, overtime.
38:31So on the sideline, I go to one player, I hear a little, ah.
38:37I'm going to the next player.
38:38Let's go, man, let's go.
38:39Come on, we can do it. Ah.
38:41Come on, man, come on. Ah.
38:42It's just starting to pick up.
38:50I turn around, and I'm around the 50-yard line.
38:54I'm like, oh, oh, .
38:57Steps up.
38:57Fires down the field.
38:59Caught.
38:59Troy Brown at the 40.
39:00Stopping the clock at the Ram 36 with .
39:0421 seconds to go.
39:07It happens so quick.
39:08I mean, by the time you spike that ball, you got 40 seconds.
39:12And you're thinking, this is for the world championship.
39:15Brady throws the ball to the ground with seven seconds left,
39:18and Adam Vinatieri will try to win it with a 47-yard field goal attempt.
39:23I've got my arm around Johnny, our equipment guy,
39:26and I give him a little nudge, and I said,
39:28when we go out onto the field and kick this game winner,
39:31get your butt down there and get this ball for me.
39:37The night before that game, I must have tossed and turned all night.
39:41I must have kicked that a thousand times in my sleep,
39:44over and over and over again.
39:47One more time, and the dream would come true.
40:18It's gone! It's gone!
40:21And the Patriots are Super Bowl champions!
40:24The Patriots are Super Bowl champions!
40:45the Patriots are Super Bowl champions!
40:50The Patriots are Super Bowl champions!
40:50The Patriots are Super Bowl champions!
40:54I remember I had my sisters down the other end.
40:58We are so proud of them!
41:01I remember catching their eye because I was facing that way.
41:04I pointed at them and I just put my hands on my head like,
41:08can you believe this is happening?
41:11We're all jumping around and celebrating and stuff.
41:14Our equipment guy came back over to me and gave me a big hug
41:17and said, I got that ball for you, man.
41:20Nice!
41:22I was standing on the podium with my arm around Mr. Kraft and said,
41:27We shocked the world but we didn't shock our Sassman.
41:32And the meaning of that was, it was these 50 players and 20 coaches that said,
41:37we can do this.
41:40One thing that's always been important to Coach Belichick is,
41:44you know, he said everybody flies down is flying back with us.
41:47So, you know, he got asked to go to Disney World.
41:49We're going to Disney World!
41:53When I asked our PR guy, can I go to Disney World?
41:56He said, don't ask me, you better go ask Bill.
41:58So I went down to his room, knocked on his door.
42:00And I sat there for probably 15, 20 minutes, didn't want to bring it up.
42:03So finally on the way out, I said, oh coach, you know, by the way,
42:06I got asked to go to Disney World.
42:08Can I miss the charter plane and go back to Disney World tomorrow morning?
42:13And he looks at me and goes,
42:15**** yeah!
42:16How many times do you think you win the Super Bowl?
42:19And I said, that's good enough for me.
42:23The irony of Brady winning it as much as he did.
42:29Tom Brady would become the Prince Charming of the National Football League,
42:33while Drew Bledsoe was traded to the Buffalo Bills after the 2001 season.
42:39Here you go, 12. You are the man, baby. You are the man.
42:44Future championships would also come without Lawyer Malloy,
42:49released by Bill Belichick prior to the 2003 championship season.
42:54I mean, Lawyer was a captain. He was a good player.
42:57I'd say it's probably the toughest decision I've made as a head coach.
43:02I have a lot of memories from that season and from Coach Belichick.
43:07There's been a lot of things that happened since then.
43:10Not all of them have been positive, but I'm proud of that moment that was captured.
43:19We are all patriots, and tonight the Patriots are world champions!
43:26To see what one team could do for an entire community and for an entire country
43:33is as special as anything that's ever happened in my life.
43:37With everything that happened that year, the symbolic part of us being patriots,
43:42the death of one of our coaches, Dick Rabine, the injuries to Drew,
43:48everything that happened that year, it just seemed like there was a special power out there trying to make us
43:54win.
43:55I don't know if God watches football and cares, but I think he was a Patriot fan.
43:59I really do.
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