Who was/is your favorite Patriot

[Pats2000]

Most of you know I am a Ravens fan but I am curious too know.

1- Who is your favorite Patriot before the TB12 Era?
2- During the TB12 Era

I personally always enjoyed Edelman and Ty Law

P.S. Ray Lewis murdered someone just for any of you who might mention it

I started watching football in 2001, lol, guess I picked the right year. I was still in high school at the time.

So I don't have a pre-TB12, but I always loved watching Teddy Bruschi play. The way he laid himself out on every play and just made the critical plays at the right times. Rodney Harrison is a close second.

 

[p8ryts]

I appreciate that. Not apologizing, just defending my position in advance. There's a large faction that wants to argue with just about everything. Tom, Bill, the Krafts, Gronk, Jules, Wes, free agency, politics, taxes. Lots of keyboard cowboys these days.

Gronk was one of our greatest players but his goofy antics and the way he left will always impact my view of him.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

I had lots of them. Get ready for a long list:

Drew Bledsoe
Curtis Martin
Sam Gash
Ben Coates
Glenn when he was on the field
McGinest when he was on the field
Chris Slade
Ted Johnson and his no neck
The secondary of Ty Law, Willie Clay, Lawyer Milloy and Larry Whigham. They were ahead of their time dancing around/group celebrating when a big play occurred.
Teddy Bruschi on his name alone. He was a backup with Parcells and Carroll until ‘99.

sam gash, that's a great one. I had to look him up to make sure he was a fullback (Vaguely remembered). Interesting tidbit: "Gash earned the unique distinction of being the first back in NFL history to be selected to the Pro Bowl without carrying the ball at all during the regular season."

 

[UrbanCowboy]

One of our current problems is I don't know if we have any current candidates for this list. Probably Slater. Maybe Andrews. We need an Alpha!!!

Right. Slater is an excellent choice. Shoulda put him on my list!

 

[wjcook68]

Willie Mc and Tedy Bruschi

 

[Pape]

I was hoping Vince would get a mention ….

He's my number 2 in the ab era... Whigham holds the #1 spot just because he used to hang out in our endzone during games

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I don't mean to be disrespectful but you have some strange choices here. Hobbs? Butler? DMac? Ryan? In the DB ranks we are passing over Haynes, Clayborn, Gilmore, Jackson, Harrison, Milloy, Marion, FOX . I do like Butler and Ryan but not in that class. DMac, I'm biased here, thinking he was an overrated safety. I'm stopping here because I realize this is an impossible task. I'm assuming you are a post 2000 fan so don't have the background on a lot of these players. Just go look up the 76 roster, packed with really good players. Hannah, Gray, Grogan, Cunningham, Francis, Stingley, Hamilton, Adams, Nelson. Apologies again, don't mean anything personal here.

Anyway, Willie Mac is my guy, the original Alpha.

1976 New England Patriots Roster & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 1976 New England Patriots Roster, Players , Starters and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

That mid-70's team (75-78) was unbelievable. Typical Pats bad luck at the time, as they were good enough to have won multiple titles. Beyond who you listed, there was Don Calhoun, Andy Johnson, McCray, Sam Hunt, Stanley Morgan in '77, Clayborn in '78. Great head coach in Fairbanks as well.

 

[Pape]

BB list

• Larry Whigham - Larry! Larry! Larry!
• John Hannah - my dad used to tell just how good this guy was when i was a kid in the 70's
• Jeff Dellenbach - badass center, was sorry to see him go
• Gino Cappelletti - as much for how good he was on the air as he was on the field
• Russ Francis - was pissed when he left, happy when he came back
• Tim Goad - Goads Toads, Section 12 ... hell yeah
• Sam Cunningham - dude was a complete gamer... who didn't have 10 different Sam Cunningham cards stuck in their bike spokes ...
• Bob Gladieux - "Would Bob Gladieux please report to the Patriot locker room" lmao, best Patriot story ever
• Doug Dumler - wouldn't believe me if i told ya, so i wont tell ya
• Grogan - i mean, really, who doesn't love Steve Grogan?
• Steve Nelson - just a great all around LB - completely forgotten except in NE, but shouldn't be...

AB list

• Larry Whigham - Larry! Larry! Larry!
• Vince Wilfork - One of the best... would actually think about going to Canton when he gets in
• Julian Edelman - Mr Patriot, v2.0
• Tedy Bruschi - Mr Patriot, v1.0 - Epitomizes what it meant to be a New England Patriot
• Bobby Hamilton - Just loved having him on the line
• Don Davis - he was on the Rams, in 36... joined NE in 2003 - my bro knew him
• Trey Flowers - loved how this guy played hard nosed ball before fleecing going to Detroit
• Willie Mac, Vrabes, Law etc - The early defensive stars of Dynasty v1 - loved their fight... No names become world beaters - Deserve much more respect then they are accorded... Half of them belong in the HoF no matter what their "stats" say

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Wow, Pape, the Dellenbach reference is amazing. I think he was here....a season? (Checked, here from 1995-1996. Doh.)

 

[TBR]

Amendola, Moss, Gronk

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Russ Francis or marv cook!

Two great tight ends. One was all world, but escaped and one played with a horrible collection of qb’s and was thrown more hospital balls than any other patriot ever!

 

[patsfan13]

Sam Cunningham. Hannah.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Wow, Pape, the Dellenbach reference is amazing. I think he was here....a season? (Checked, here from 1995-1996. Doh.)

Dellenbach I imagine would be a Dolphin all time favorite since he hiked to Marino for almost all his career.

I’ve had a lot of day dreams of Stanley Morgan taking passes from Tom Brady. With todays rules he would of been Antonio Brown without the baggage. Stills holds the nfl record of 19.2 ypc. He should be in the mf hall of fame.

 

[Pape]

Dellenbach I imagine would be a Dolphin all time favorite since he hiked to Marino for almost all his career.

I’ve had a lot of day dreams of Stanley Morgan taking passes from Tom Brady. With todays rules he would of been Antonio Brown without the baggage. Stills holds the nfl record of 19.2 ypc. He should be in the mf hall of fame.

There was an immediate difference in the line play during his time here... why he wasnt the primary starter baffles me... so much better than Dave Wolenbaugh (sp?)

 

[1960Pats]

My favorite pre-Brady Pat would be Gino Cappelletti. He wasn't the most athletic guy out there but he did the most with what he had. He made many clutch field goals to win games and was also a steady pass catcher. Second would be Steve Grogan. He was famous for his naked reverses where he would either make a long gain or get crushed. The guy was always in a cast, at least so it seemed. One tough dude.

I ran into Grogan and his agent at the Hilltop Steak House right after he lost his starting job. He was not a happy camper.

 

[1960Pats]

I absolutely loved Gronk when he was here, 100% one of my favorites if not THE favorite during his time here, but the mouth running, and subsequent divorce has left me the bitter ex. I may come around when he retires, but for now, I remain mad. Before everyone jumps on me, I understand this is a "me" problem.

You're not alone. Gronk lost some of his luster with the way he delayed his "retirement" until he couldn't be replaced. I also don't like his shots at the Pats after he left.

 

[1960Pats]

Dellenbach I imagine would be a Dolphin all time favorite since he hiked to Marino for almost all his career.

I’ve had a lot of day dreams of Stanley Morgan taking passes from Tom Brady. With todays rules he would of been Antonio Brown without the baggage. Stills holds the nfl record of 19.2 ypc. He should be in the mf hall of fame.

Another reason why the HOF is useless.

 

[1960Pats]

B.B. - Bruschi & T. Brown

A.B. - Harrison & Edelman

What does BB and AB stand for?

 

[1960Pats]

I had lots of them. Get ready for a long list:

Drew Bledsoe
Curtis Martin
Sam Gash
Ben Coates
Glenn when he was on the field
McGinest when he was on the field
Chris Slade
Ted Johnson and his no neck
The secondary of Ty Law, Willie Clay, Lawyer Milloy and Larry Whigham. They were ahead of their time dancing around/group celebrating when a big play occurred.
Teddy Bruschi on his name alone. He was a backup with Parcells and Carroll until ‘99.

Troy Brown?

 

[1960Pats]

My all time favorite Patriot is Ty Law and he has always been far ahead of Brady. A quick ranking would be:

1. Law
2. Bruschi- just made timely plays and made the defense feel like a family.
3. Brady-obvious
4. Ellis Hobbs- I know this is a shocker since he was often overmatched but his effort was sky high and I respected it.
5. Corey Dillon- we haven't come close to a rb having a season like his 1600yd in 04.
6. Moss-He ruined my expectations for deep threat wrs lol.
7. Edelman- I guess it is about how you finish because I couldn't stand him as a wr early in his career.
8. Butler- The sb benching dropped him a little but he could've easily been #1 on this list for that int alone.
9. Gronk- I love the dude and I think I cared too much. I watch football to be entertained and his health genuinely made me sad and that why he is lower on the list.
10. Dmac
11. Logan Ryan- I honestly feel he had Hof skill but was held back by his below average speed.

Troy Brown?