Team Bill post of the year. You guys are a truly deranged group.
When one of you concedes even a single point, it will be a monumental event. I do retract that McGinest was an all-pro (thought he was), though he was a 2X pro bowler and is the all-time NFL postseason sack leader. It doesn’t change that he was absolutely a great player and would be universally recognized as a star player rather than a coached up average Joe for your narrative. Bruschi was a 2x second-team AP all-pro...if you’re going to argue about first team/second team, you’re again avoiding the fact that he was a star player either way.
TaLeNtWiSe tHeY WeRe An aVeRaGe D...lol...seriously, it’s impossible to break through the cult thinking. I just named six players who were not just above average but well above average by any objective measure.
Also, BB cut Milloy in 2003, fact boy. He gave him 7 year contract in his first month as GM. Only in your Kool-Aid drinking world would you look at the timeline here and say “derp, Bill said he wasn’t even good in 2001 so he wasn’t a star...“ He had an interception in the AFCCG against Pittsburgh.
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You BB haters are something else, haters of the greatest coach in NFL history, he'll never be rivaled. Makes me think you're troll fans from another team.
Many average teams have multiple Pro Bowlers. They give Pro Bowl nods out like lollipops in the doctors office. I was quoting you also what personnel men all over the league were saying about the Patriots that year. This is pretty well known. And it's no surprise that Willie McGinest didn't make those teams because as good as WIllie is, and I agree he's very good, people were down on him over parts of his career. Even in the year we're talking about, he spent much of it injured and only started 5 games.
I was wrong about Milloy's cut but it doesn't matter since that team went 9-7 and clearly, Belichick thought Milloy was on his last legs. He was not proven wrong. I'm in Buffalo and Bills fans would regularly talk about getting the Patriots scraps.
You severely overrate Milloy.
As for Vrabel, he wasn't a starter at Pittsburgh and he didn't start immediately in New England, and he wasnt the big impact guy he later became. Certainly not an All-Pro like you stated.
I'll say it again: Ty Law was the elite player on that team.
The rest are the kinds of good players you need to win Super Bowls.
Now Seymour is going to be a HOF. A truly great player. But that year as a rookie he didn't even start and play half the game until midway through the season. He was a pup.
Bruschi, very good player, but not a top player in the league. I actually rate McGinest higher than Bruschi for impact.
I'd also note something else. Most of these guys except for Seymour and Vrabel were around the Patriots for many years and they were part of failing defenses under Pete Carroll. Milloy, Bruschi, McGinest and Law were long term vets by 2001. Those Ds finished 20, 20, 19, 19 under Carroll. With the 4 players we're talking about. Clearly, Belichick knew something more about defense than Peter Carroll did because he used Carroll's players to win a Super Bowl, whereas Carroll's defenses just got worse year after year.