Four Patriots have been selected to play in Orlando next month, and none of the names should be much of a surprise for any fans here in New England.
The obvious selection is quarterback Tom Brady, who has been selected for a franchise-record 12th time in his 17-year career. He’s put together a pretty good streak, having been selected in each of the last eight years going back to 2009. Prior to that, the only reason it wasn’t nine-straight was because he missed the 2008 selection due to the season-ending knee injury he suffered in the first game of that season. He also made it in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
But despite being selected, the veteran quarterback hasn’t played in the game for over a decade. He missed three of them because the Patriots were playing in the Super Bowl and also sat out six more due to injury or another undisclosed reason. The last time he actually played in the game was back in 2005, which saw him finish 4-of-9 with an interception and a quarterback rating of 21.8, although he did lead the group on a drive that resulted in a 44-yard field goal by then-teammate Adam Vinatieri.
That poor performance likely didn’t phase him, as he won his third Super Bowl Championship just one week earlier as the Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21.
Among those who were also selected were linebacker Dont’a Hightower, safety Devin McCourty and special teams captain Matthew Slater. It’s the third time for McCourty and the sixth consecutive trip for Slater, while it will be the first for Hightower.
The game is scheduled for January 29 at 8pm on ESPN in Orlando at Camping World Stadium.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
