As The Ball Bounces: Post-Super Bowl

Bob George

Feb 8, 2005 at 5:00am ET

Nice job, Adam. Another Super Bowl game-winner, albeit not so late in the game. Lead off the last one of the season. He launches one to about the seven-yard line. Never one to kick 'em deep.

Good luck, Romeo Crennel, except against your former mates.

Good luck, Charlie Weis, except against Michigan.

Wesleyan grads stick together. Stay put, Eric Mangini.

Terrell Owens is a lot of negative things. Selfish is not one of them. Where is duct tape for his mouth when you need it?

His mouth ruins great efforts like what he did in the Super Bowl.

Philly did the absolute right thing in taking Donovan McNabb over Ricky Williams. The Eagles got high on the right guy.

But Tom Brady has lots more ability to win the big game than McNabb. At least right now.

That said, McNabb is a great quarterback who one day will deliver the goods for those creepy goons who root for him.

Geeks of the week: Ed Goren and David Hill of Fox Sports. They did a much better job three years ago. Sunday, they turned The Simpsons into the latest version of Num3ers. Is Fox also so sick of the Patriots winning that they now no longer want to do an extended postgame show?

CBS put Greg Gumbel back on the halftime show. Fox now needs to do the same thing with Cris Collinsworth.

Andy Reid did a better job of clock killing in the fourth quarter than Corey Dillon did.

Have we seen the last of Troy Brown? If so, start getting that halftime tribute in the fall ready to go.

And include in that celebration a ceremony which says that nobody, but nobody, will ever wear number 80 again for the Patriots.

The Freddie Mitchell thing got the finish it deserved. Instead of being clobbered by Rodney Harrison, he was simply a non-factor and totally forgettable while Harrison registered two picks. Works for me.

So, what was your reaction when the Patriots drafted Deion Branch in 2002? "Oh, yeah! Future Super Bowl MVP!" Liar.

Branch is another example that Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli know what they're doing, and you and I don't.

If Ty Law comes back, it will be at his 2005 cap figure. He will no sooner restructure his contract than Belichick will learn to dance.

Which this year won't be a factor. No City Hall rally. Just the duck boats. At least the comparisons to the Red Sox rally won't ring out, especially given that the Charles River is currently frozen.

Back to school: The Patriots might also lose linebacker coach Dean Pees, former head coach of Kent State and a possible defensive coordinator candidate. Good linebacker corps, Dean. Too bad you can't stay longer.

Nice touch to have that kid flip the coin, but it was the worst flip in Super Bowl history.

Next step for Adam Vinatieri: Sign a new extension.

Next step for Tom Brady: Marry that pretty girl from Longmeadow.

Ask a Bengal fan now what they think of Dillon.

Better yet, ask a Browns fan now what they think of Belichick.

The city of Bakersfield, California loves Stephen Neal.

And when my daughter plays AYSO Spring Select soccer on Saturdays at CSUB, I look down at the lawn and wonder if Neal walked on the blades of grass I just walked on.

Simply stated, his story is one of the best sidebars to this season.

Seeing a duck boat with three Vinces in it was the only thing you needed to see at the parade on Tuesday.

Speaking of these Patriot parades, what harm would it be to have it on Saturday? Can't the players hang around for three or four more days? Who knows.

Wonder if dad Bob is giving son Jonathan lessons on how to deliver effective victory speeches.

44 years without a title. Chuck Bednarik got his wish. His Eagles remain the last football champs in that city.

Remember them: Julius Adams. Steve Nelson. John Hannah. Steve Grogan. Pete Brock. The five men who played in both the 1976 playoff loss to Oakland and Super Bowl XX. The current Big Six who are still with the Patriots who can say they were with the Patriots when they lost Super Bowl XXXI can at least say they went on to win three more after that. The Super Bowl XX vets cannot make that claim. But they are never forgotten by their loving fans, who should have won it all in 1976 but simply could not.

Free agents? New assistant coaches? Can't that wait just a few more days?

This is a time for celebration. A celebration of a dynasty. A Patriot dynasty.

Let the Patriots themselves deny it. We know better. There is no better thing to be in sports right now than a Patriots fan.

And given the history of the team, saying that is still a remarkable thing.