"The Club"-Globe article on core players

So now there are 10 (technically 11, if you count Patrick Pass, who is on injured reserve). The remaining charter members of all three Patriots Super Bowl championship teams are Tom Brady, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Matt Light, Troy Brown, Kevin Faulk, Larry Izzo, Lonie Paxton, and Stephen Neal. Their average age is 30.6 years.

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"People said why did Tedy drop that pass? Well, why do you think he dropped it? He's playing with one hand. He's been wearing different casts all season. Mike Vrabel, he's playing inside linebacker for us. Well, he's an outside linebacker, and he's banged up. And in spite of all that, we're 13-4."

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"Those guys have been through it all," noted cornerback Asante Samuel, a two-time Super Bowl alumnus. "You can't win the whole thing without veteran leadership. They know what it takes. We've been following their lead all season."

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As he scurried away, Izzo was asked if some of his teammates felt overlooked this season.

"Winning is what matters," he said. "That's the only thing those guys care about."

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NEPat said:

I thought today's article by Jackie MacMullan was a good one. It basically talks about the core group of veterans on this team, especially the players who have been there for all three Superbowl wins. It has some good quotes, especially about these guys fighting through injury.
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/01/11/the_clubs_ranks_are_dwindling/



I liked this quote from Brady, defending the linebackers from some criticism that they've lost a step:


The rest of the team follows their example:


Repeating the Patriots mantra:


I just thought it gave a good look at how much toughness and pride the core group of vets on this team has.

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And you better believe Vets that have paid their dues belong to the core, even if not to that exclusive group.

Harrison and Dillon for two set a tone right away that they weren't here to fool around, (I'll add Junior, too bad he didn't make it to the playoffs).

When you see Rex, (woof), Grossman say he wasn't ready to play, contrast that with Dillon being awarded the black practice player Jersey and it tells you all you need to know.

Edit: I can't leave out Artrell and there are more.

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RayClay said:

And you better believe Vets that have paid their dues belong to the core, even if not to that exclusive group.

Harrison and Dillon for two set a tone right away that they weren't here to fool around, (I'll add Junior, too bad he didn't make it to the playoffs).

When you see Rex, (woof), Grossman say he wasn't ready to play, contrast that with Dillon being awarded the black practice player Jersey and it tells you all you need to know.

Edit: I can't leave out Artrell and there are more.

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