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Former Patriots DE Willie McGinest to Serve as Honorary Captain Sunday

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
Jan 16, 2014 at 4:29pm ET







Insert Caption Text Here. (USA TODAY Images)

On January 21, 1994, Robert Kraft purchased the New England Patriots and announced, “My objective in buying the Patriots is to help bring a championship to New England.”

Willie McGinest was a big part of the reason that objective ultimately became a reality and to help celebrate Kraft's 20th anniversary, he'll be a part of Sunday's pregame ceremony leading up to their AFC Championship Game in Denver.

McGinest was the team's first draft pick under Kraft's ownership back in 1994, and the team announced on Thursday that he'll serve as an honorary captain for the Patriots before they take on the Broncos.

He was the fourth overall pick for the Patriots in 1994, and became a big part of their rise to becoming a championship team. He'll hopefully provide a little good luck this weekend and will accompany the team's captains at midfield for the pregame coin toss.

McGinest played 11 of his 15 NFL seasons with the Patriots, seeing action in 18 playoff games, four AFC Championship games and four Super Bowls.

The former Patriot eclipsed two NFL postseason records during his time in New England, including most sacks in a game with 4.5 in a Wild Card game vs. Jacksonville and career postseason sacks with 16.


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