2003: The Super Sequel Part II

After a 14-2 regular season, the 2003 Patriots battle through three memorable playoff games to capture their second title in three seasons, as told by those who were there to witness the postseason run firsthand, mixed with the iconic sounds that defined the championships season.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Two super Bowl championship in three years for the Patriots. Yeah,
and they are now the dominant team in the NFL,
the brand new Century two super Bowls the Century.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
After disappointing two and two start to the two thousand
and three season, the New England Patriots reeled off twelve
straight wins, winning the AFC East and earning the number
one seed in the conference. But it will be a
daunting path through the playoffs to secure a second title,
featuring three unforgettable games that would be every bit as
dramatic as New England's first championship run. This is two
thousand and three the Super Squel, Part two, the postseason.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Damon Huard will take the snap, go to one knee,
and that is all she wrote for.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Two thousand and three regular season.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Now it's out of the playoffs as the Patriots try
to make it two Super Bowl championships in the last
three years.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
The Patriots would face the twelve and four Tennessee Titans
in the divisional round, led by Cohen VP Steve McNair.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
That is it.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
The Tennessee Titans have gone on the road behind Eddie
George and co MVP Steve McNair and that great run defense.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Coming off a wild card victory over the Ravens, the
Titans were tough and experienced team, one that New England
had beaten earlier in the year thirty eight to thirty,
the first win of their current twelve game on Beaton Street.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
And despite the fact that the Tennessee Titans Steve McNair
threw for almost four hundred yards and Tennessee had almost
fourned fifty yards of the game, New England wins up
by the count of thirty eight to thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
But like the two thousand and one Divisional round, weather
would once again be a factor with arctic cold in
the forecast.

Speaker 5 (01:45):
Theon Brandt Louis, I'll say, the night before the games,
you know, as we go and do our walk our
walk through, you know some of these crazy behind defensive
players that we have on the team. Mike Brabel, you
know William again is Teddy Woovesky, you know, all those
guys outside of the shirts off, and they had a
weather advisory for people to not be outside, and it

(02:07):
is we're doing a walk through and half of these
clowns are outside of the shirts off, you know, and
it's just some of those.

Speaker 6 (02:13):
Things the memories.

Speaker 5 (02:14):
You kind of think about those days and that was
a long time ago, man, you know, and I'm very
blessed to still have that great memory to think about
those memorable moments, you know, because that is what made
this team, you know, just having that opportunity to be
on the field with those guys, just to do a
walk through shirtless.

Speaker 6 (02:32):
And everybody just like Bill, you know, this is what
it is.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
We're going to face this Matt Chatham linebacker and special teamer.

Speaker 7 (02:38):
The guy that I would say is responsible for that
is actually, you know, just recently honored here Mike Rabel.
So Crable is obviously known as the guy with edge,
you guy who loved to push the envelope, tough guy,
smart guy, all those kinds of things. But you know,
it's not as iff at that point, I hadn't played
in a decent amount of cold games in my life,
but this one was different than really any of us experience.

(03:00):
And we had an en stadium walked through the night
before in Gillette and Braves comes walking up out of
the locker room with the without sleeves on, you know,
just with like the light sleeveless sort of practice T
shirt almost and it's a helmet's only practice. But you
know the rest of us are all bundled up in

(03:20):
like three layers of thermal sweats and gloves and hats
and all that kind of stuff, and braves is just
like sleeveless and let's roll. We're gonna He's gonna go
through this sort of two hour thing, and I'm like,
oh man, But then it makes you kind of feel
like a jerk for letting him go through that, go
through it alone. So his rationality was basically, I'm good.
It can't possibly be where sun stunded the one I'm

(03:42):
gonna feel like now.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.

Speaker 8 (03:46):
It was the first time that it was too cold
to breathe through my mouth, so I decided to try
to breathe through my nose. And I don't want to
get overly graphics here, let's just say that everything was
frozen and like hurt the back of my head. It
was so cold when you breathed it in. But that
was again, that was a really good Tennessee Titans football team.

(04:09):
I'm glad we had them at home. You know, our
team was built for our home venue at the time,
and that showed up in that game and then the
next week against the Colts because that was part of
gold be Home and that was something that Bill knew, right.
Bill was part of those Giants, and those Giants teams

(04:30):
were built around, you know, built for their venue, just
like the Colts were built for their venue, you know.
So that Tennessee game, I'll never forget how cold it.

Speaker 9 (04:42):
Was at the time.

Speaker 10 (04:43):
There is eight oh one and the temperature five degrees
with a wind shield of minus three.

Speaker 11 (04:49):
Christian Buria, University of Colorado.

Speaker 9 (04:51):
I am from the West Coast.

Speaker 12 (04:52):
I played in Colorado, but I am not used to
the cold, and this was next level, historically cold. I
remember going to a ski shop down in Attleborough and
I was looking for one of those old school one
piece suits you see the bobslet team wear. I was
trying to find something because if there's not a chance
in hell I'm gonna make it through this.

Speaker 9 (05:13):
I actually burnt my cleats. My cleats melted.

Speaker 12 (05:17):
Because I was putting them up next to the little
those little burners that they have on the sideline, and
my cleats burned.

Speaker 9 (05:22):
I had to change my cleats.

Speaker 12 (05:24):
In the end, it was really about just staying moving
and if you were actually playing, it was fine.

Speaker 13 (05:31):
Karen Grigian, the Boston Herald.

Speaker 14 (05:33):
I mean they kept showing the thermometer on the field
where it's like it was like twenty below zero, and
it was literally it was. The heat was on, but
it was still freezing in the press box, particularly few
in the front row.

Speaker 15 (05:47):
You were sitting here, and I wonder how many fans
would stay away because of the low temperatures. But as
I look around, not many people did stay away. They're here,
they're excited.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Nick Fitzie Stevens, Patriots fan and person to.

Speaker 13 (06:00):
Go back to the super Bowl.

Speaker 16 (06:02):
The New England Patriots were likely to have to go
through the co MVPs of the league. Let me repeat
that there was no cupcake schedule. There was no softy,
there was no cakewalk. The Pats would have to defeat
the co MVPs of the season. They would get they
would get their shot to do it at home, and
as it turns out, the tougher of the two games
would be the divisional round game, a Saturday night affair

(06:24):
against Steve McNair and the Titans.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
McNair quarterback draw. He has room and has the.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Fust inside the five What's coming Eddie George first down
and more demps saved a huge game.

Speaker 16 (06:37):
The conversation all week leading up to the game wasn't
just how are they gonna stop Steve McNair, How are
the Patriots gonna handle this awesome offense? It was how
can they play football in legitimate Arctic conditions?

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Kickoff that frozen Fox borrow.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
The conditions did little to slow down the Patriots offense
out of the gate, with Brady hitting Bethel Johnson for
a forty one yard touchdown strike to open the scoring
lock to the.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Fire side left, with Givens to the near side right.
He comes in motion, goes in motion from right to left.
Brady in the shotgun, takes the snap on third and
six time, fires down the net on.

Speaker 17 (07:09):
Left round clock touch down, touch down play trios cut
Firth fell shot sift.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
The Titans would respond on their next drive, with McNair
hitting big plays to Derek Mason and Drew Bennett. Then
Chris Brown tied things up with a five yard.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Run second and goal at the Patriot five.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
We'll call it the give mister Brown to the right,
tries to cut it back left and is brought down
in now he got it the end of the end
zone touchdown.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
With the Pats offense would continue to hummer early on,
moving the ball on a second consecutive drive, only to
see their reliable kicker Adam Vinatieri miss a forty four
yard field goal. As conditions continue to deteriorate.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Ball is on the fire hash mark, the angle will
be to the right for Vinitteri. I'm make it a
forty four yard field goal attempt where they set it up,
the ball down, the kick is up, that is on.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
The way and it is no good Teddy Bruskie.

Speaker 18 (08:00):
Arizona just so hard to score. You know, when you
get in elements, whether it's the snow in Miami or
the freezing the freezing day which is against Tennessee was
you know, it's just it's going to be ugly. It's
going to be back and forth. And why we won
championships so often was just there were just three or
four plays that we had players that made them consistently

(08:20):
all the time, and then it was a multiple multitude
of players that could do that.

Speaker 11 (08:25):
Deon Brandt Lewisville.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
Unfortunately, during the course of the game, I got Sante
Samuels ended up having the foulespites.

Speaker 6 (08:33):
I mean, this was the craziest thing.

Speaker 5 (08:35):
I I've never seen a guy with purple nails and stuff,
and it's toe nails, his fingernails.

Speaker 11 (08:41):
You know.

Speaker 5 (08:42):
Scientas from Miami, so you know, and I'm from Georgia.
We're not used to that type weather. But we went
on and took care of business. All the other things
will kind of get taken care of after the game.

Speaker 13 (08:50):
As they had all season long.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
The defense stepped up, with Rodney Harrison making his first
postseason interception for the Patriots on the very next play
after Vinetieri's miss.

Speaker 19 (08:59):
McNair are gonna put it up, gonna go deep down
the sideline.

Speaker 11 (09:02):
It is here something Rodney.

Speaker 19 (09:05):
Harrison, and Harrison is down at his own forty three
yard line.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
The offense would take advantage, putting together an eleven play
fifty seven yard touchdown drive to take a fourteen to
seven lead that would hold into the third quarter.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
And so the first half of us come to an
end here in Foxboro with a score at the half,
the New England Patriots fourteen, Tennessee Titans seven.

Speaker 18 (09:27):
I mean, McNair had a great year, but they couldn't
get anything going. And you know, we just I think
we stopped him in the end. There was a last
ditch pass up in year. But I mean, we just,
I mean, we just feel like we couldn't get beat
when it was that cold. You know, that's the confidence
that we had.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Paul Parrillo Patriots Football Weekly.

Speaker 20 (09:45):
Two really really good teams, tough, physical, defensive minded, not
a lot of mistakes. And you know, I remember Steve
McNair being really at the height of his career at
the time. He was co MVP with Peyton Manning and

(10:05):
deservedly so. He had a great year then.

Speaker 9 (10:09):
And I just thought that the.

Speaker 20 (10:11):
Titans played and acted so much like those those Patriots teams.
Did you know they didn't come in with a lot
of flashy, you know, toys that they were looking to
throw it all over the place down for he liked
Indy had the high powered offense. Tennessee played like the Patriots.

Speaker 15 (10:26):
We talked to Jeff Fisher last night and he said,
I said, what about your game playing an offense?

Speaker 9 (10:31):
And he looked at us and he goes, We've nailed it.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
We got it.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
After struggling for three straight possessions, the Titans offense found
a spark on their first possession of the second half,
going seventy yards in eleven plays to tie the game
up on an eleven yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason and.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
A critical point in the ball game four and a
half minutes to go. Third quarter, Patch lead fourteen to seven.
Bennett fireside left, Mason left slot, Calico near side right,
mccarran's right slot, direct snap to McNair out of a
shotgun buyer's left clot by Mason break backer.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
He goes in.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
The Patriots avoided disaster on their next possession after a
Dan Graham fumble was recovered by the Titans near midfield.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Second down and seven Brady on a long count. Brady's
still calling signal spot pass right complete with Daniel Graham
going to get nothing. He's hammers the play bumble on
the play and I think Tennessee has.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
It once again. The defense stepped up, forcing the Titans
to go backwards and eventually punt. The back and forth
continued with neither team able to score until late in
the fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
McNair passes to the left of White check He's gonna
be it and knockdown by Brandy mcguinnis.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Sparked by a poor punt from the Titans, combined with
a nine yard return by Tory Brown, the Patriots needed
just thirteen yards to set up a forty six yard
field goal attempt for Adam Vinatieri with just over four
minutes remaining in the game, Nick.

Speaker 16 (11:51):
Fitzi Stevens as great as Adam Vinitari's kicked to win
Super Bowl thirty six was, and obviously the kick against
the Raiders forty five yards kicking a cylinder block to
get them to overtime, I gotta say Vinitary's game winning
kick against the Titans also pretty incredible because it's like
negative twenty degrees outside and yet mister automatic when it counts,

(12:15):
drilled it.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Ryan Kenjingll snap four or eleven to go in the
game tied at fourteen, snap, all down, kick up on
the way, and it is good.

Speaker 13 (12:26):
Karen Grigian, you know, I talked.

Speaker 14 (12:28):
To him about it after and playing in that kind
of cold and it's for a kicker. You're literally have
to psych yourself up to kick a brick. I mean,
you know, the football is hard. I mean the cold,
I mean it's just and again, I don't know if
I'd have the guts to you know, to inflict that

(12:50):
kind of pain to win a game.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
But he did it. This is further Newayn Glenn Glee.

Speaker 13 (13:00):
And good.

Speaker 14 (13:05):
And given the conditions. And again it's not like the
snowball and the blizzard where he kicked that. I mean,
that's immortal and that will live the test of time.
But I still think in below zero conditions, literally kicking

(13:27):
a huge brick through the upright from forty something yards,
I think that ranks up there too.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
That I'm Benna.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
Terry hits a forty six yard field goal with poor
Roh six to play, and the Patriots take the lead
seventeen to fourteen, and now.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
It is up to the defense.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
The Titans would get one final crack at a comeback
and started to find their stride, quickly moving the ball
from their starting field position at their own twenty four
yard line. They get as close as New England's thirty
three before intentional grounding and holding penalties set up a
fourth and twelve from New England's forty two to decide
the game.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
Fourth and twelve for Tennessee just outside their own for
the Patriots forty two yard line, ball is on the
near half mark. Tennessee is trying to go right to left.
The Patriots defense has to.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Make one more play and they've got to make it
right here and right now, and if they do, they
will advance to the championship game.

Speaker 16 (14:25):
I'm not sure where he is in this world right now,
but I would like to offer heartfelt gratitude to former
Titans receiver Drew Bennett who drops out what was sort
of like a hail Mary heave ho on fourth down
by the Titans to basically put them back in field
goal range with like less than a minute to go,
and he dropped it.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
McNair takes the snap back to throw the pletch he
lets it go.

Speaker 17 (14:48):
And it is clout in complete, in complete, the balls.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
Knocked out on the hands, and Drew Bennett.

Speaker 17 (14:56):
And the Patriots well advanced to the AFC Championship gu
with one thirty eighth ago Tennessee would no timeouts left,
Patriots defense needed to make one more play.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Then they made it.

Speaker 20 (15:09):
Paul Perillo and the Patriots showed you that they can
win games whatever style you wanted. That was the beauty
of the first dynasty, Especially whatever way you wanted to play,
they would find a way to win. Of course, in
the end, How do you win it? Adam VINITII, because
he just never missed when he had to make it.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
You know he's gotta come through. You know, he's gotta
go through.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Just like that, the Patriots prevailed and we're moving on
for a date in the AFC Championship against Peyton Manning
and the Indianapolis Colts.

Speaker 19 (15:37):
Chillette Stadium is alive and kicking for today's AFC Championship
between Indianapolis and New England.

Speaker 9 (15:42):
The Colts are great road warriors at eight and one.

Speaker 19 (15:44):
The Patriots perfect.

Speaker 9 (15:46):
At home at nine to zero.

Speaker 19 (15:47):
But all that matters is what happens here today. One
of these teams is sixty minutes from the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
For a second week in a row, the Patriots would
face one of the least co MVPs as Peyton Manning
and the high flying Colts offense made their way to
say snowy Foxborough for the conference title.

Speaker 11 (16:01):
Game Christian Fourier University of Colorado.

Speaker 12 (16:04):
I want to say it's the first time ever a
team had to beat back to back CO MVPs. Right,
So you had Steve mcdair MVP, Peyton Manning MVP. I
think that was that's a little sneaky, good little nugget,
because I don't think any other team has ever had
to do that before. Go through the playoffs and beat
two MVPs, not one, but two.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Peyton Manning and the two playoff games is forty four
of fifty six seventy seven percent passing six hundred and
eighty one yards in two games, eight touchdowns, no interceptions.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
They haven't punted it in two playoff game.

Speaker 12 (16:35):
I don't think that we were nervous about them. I
think we had kind of cracked the code with beating
them defense.

Speaker 9 (16:43):
I remember it.

Speaker 12 (16:43):
Here's what I do remember that Damian Damon Hewart got
the game ball in the locker room afterwards because he
did such a good job of mimicking Peyton Manning.

Speaker 9 (16:55):
Everything it was.

Speaker 12 (16:57):
And if you were a scout team guy like I was,
every now and then we had to share those duties.
Even if you were starting or playing, you still would
jump in. Everybody had to really commit to playing their role,
listening to the signals, motioning, chipping, shifting, and really painting
a picture so the defense could thrive that day, and
they did.

Speaker 9 (17:16):
I thought that the game was won during the week.

Speaker 12 (17:19):
Honestly, at least from the defensive side of the ball
is of how how good Heward was at playing Peyton
Manny Paul Perillo.

Speaker 20 (17:28):
I think that, you know, we probably should backtrack a
little bit because that game in Indie was so important
for a lot of different reasons. People look at the
goal line stand, they remember the goal line stand and
they were like, wow.

Speaker 9 (17:39):
That was that was unbelievable.

Speaker 20 (17:40):
I don't think people to this day understand the ramifications
of stopping the Colts for plays from inside the five
the way they.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Did down fifteen seconds to go the head off.

Speaker 20 (17:51):
Tog if the Colts score a time on that play.
This game is in Indianapolis. You saw what happened when.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
They played in Indy.

Speaker 20 (18:06):
It's thirty eight thirty four. You can see the contrast
in the style of game that's played in January in
Foxborough on grass as opposed to in the Dome at
the time with artificial turf. Just an enormous goal line stand.
In the last play by McGuinness on Edrin James to
stuff him. That's the difference between hosting and traveling. In

(18:29):
the AFC Championship game, the Colts had no.

Speaker 8 (18:31):
Shot in this game.

Speaker 13 (18:33):
Nick Fitzi Stevens.

Speaker 16 (18:35):
This is a team Peyton Manning's Colts, who the previous
week in the divisional round didn't punt, like kind of
like the way Buffalo didn't punt against the Patriots a
couple of times in the twenty twenty one season. Peyton
Manning and the Colts did not punt. They couldn't have
come into Foxborough more motivated, more focused, more fired up,

(18:56):
and more offensively charged. And Belichick and the elements, I think.

Speaker 10 (19:00):
This is not a game of finesse, and with these
kinds of conditions, it's hard to play a finesse game.
It's more of a smash smallt game, and that's where
the Patriots have to act well.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
The game day conditions were not quite as frigid as
they were against the Titans, they still suited the Patriots
as wet snow fell throughout the game, providing a perfect
home field advantage.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Much has been made about the fact that the Cults
are a dome team.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
They're eight and one on the road this year, including
the playoffs, but the weather with some snow and cold temperatures,
does have to have a little bit of an effect
on the way they play their game.

Speaker 10 (19:31):
Oh I gotta believe it as well. But once again,
the Patriots, I think will adapt to it better.

Speaker 13 (19:37):
For good reason, Scott Pioli.

Speaker 8 (19:39):
The weather was right for us for what we wanted
to do. We had to do. There was a game plan.
The coaches put together great game plan. The players did
an even better job of executing the game plan. You know,
in terms of putting the pressure. Peyton was visibly uncomfortable
throughout the game. There's no doubt.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
Here's the right Jarvis Cray the twenty five yard line.

Speaker 8 (20:02):
We went into that game. I remember feeling that our
players were they were borderline angry and confident, right. It
was a good confluence of an anger and and wanted
to prove some stuff and and they did and they
knew that they you know, we had we had the
right circumstances in order to do that. And I just remember, yeah,

(20:27):
I felt like at the end of that game that
we had beat them up right physically, and that was
that was the team that we had become and were
beginning to be more of.

Speaker 11 (20:38):
Teddy Bruski Arizona.

Speaker 18 (20:39):
To have a mental edge on a player and to
almost know him inside. And now, because when you play
Peyton Manning it's a team, it's not we We believed
that it wasn't truly physical, it was more intellectual, and
we had players that were as tough as nails that
could still think with the best of them, and whatever
adjustments and plans that Bill wanted us to have, it

(21:00):
was almost, okay, let's dare him to run the football
because we don't think they will. And you know that
they didn't, and they still wanted to throw at Peyton
tried to be who he was. He wanted to win
it all himself, and we wouldn't let him do it.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
Deon Brent Louisville, I think the biggest talk was Tom
Brady versus Peyton Manny, and I think all the guys
and we all corralled with one another. That has always
been a talk throughout the years with those two individuals,
and I think it always bore down to tom Brady's
support system, you know, the guys around there, the game preparation.

(21:34):
We wanted to make sure that Tom Brady got the
up on Peyton Manny. That was the only thing that
matters to him. We're going to make sure our guy
ends up at the top, regardless of what happens. We
wanted to make sure that Tom Brady got his just due.
You get what I'm saying. He's the greatest quarterback to
ever played the game of football, you know, And that
was our whole model. The game preparation was simple. We

(21:55):
knew exactly what they were doing defensively. We knew exactly
what they was going to do offensive though. It was
just all about us going to excue the blaze.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Dominic Rhodes back at the four, Adam Minterry kicking off
right to left, kick off is away end over end
and coming down to Rhodes at the eleven, head to
the middle of the fifteen, right to the twenty and
bang at the twenty five and down at about the
twenty seven yard line.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
What a solid pop. I believe it was Chris Aikins
who had the first hit.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
The Patriots quickly showed they came to play in all
three phases. The offense took the ball sixty five yards
on their first possession for an opening score.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
Brady fakes the pass left, Gouff fires ruck right over
and tuck down David Gibbons. Tom Brady pop faked the
slip screen left and then fired it into the en Zo.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
To Gibbons, I'm the Patriots take the.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
Up and he drive and go sixty five yards.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Well, the defense quickly grabbed interceptions on both of the
Colts first two times with the.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
Ball fires to the end zone.

Speaker 17 (22:47):
Hitter shaft out of the end zone by Rodney Harratin
goes downfield. It is a a soft gud picked up
picked up by Tyler.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
He's at the forty yard line of the forty one.
What a great play by time law.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Both times those takeaways were turned into field goals as
the Patriots built a.

Speaker 13 (23:04):
Thirteen to zero lead.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
Then things got even worse for Indy as a high
punt snap was kicked out of the end zone by
punter Hunter Smith for a safety that made it fifteen
zero Patriots at halftime.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
Hunter Smith, that is twenty to punt for the Colts.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
First time in the postseason they've been forced to punt.
Patriot defense immense on that series, Smith averaging forty two
and a half yards of punt hide.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Scott hooters Head going back to the five yard line.
Tick odd of the m zone for US safety by
Hunter Smith.

Speaker 18 (23:33):
Teddy Bruskie Arizona Tie made plays, Rodney's making plays and
all of a sudden, it's just it's you know, we
got you again, and we felt we felt good about
always felt good about beating the Colts. I mean it
was only like it was like that movie the Outsiders,
the Greasers versus the Socials. You know, we were like
the dirty, grimy type of team and they were the
fancy kids, you know, so we'd always felt good beating

(23:55):
those guys.

Speaker 13 (23:56):
Matt Chatham.

Speaker 7 (23:57):
One of the real heroes for us back then was
Roman Fifers, because Fife's role would go from his normal
stuff to where he was wired to wire generally because
he was really good in coverage and just sort of
played really well in space and was kind of our
guy that did that best. So when it was going
to be a cold sweet there's gonna be a lot
more him. And I'm a guy who steels reps, you know,

(24:17):
for for rundown stuff and run heavy games. It's never
going to be that against the Colts. So I'm just
in special team's only mode. But brew to to you know,
to fight holding stuff down to the inside, and William
Fraves being disruptive as always. I mean, it's just a
it's a really good combination to go after those guys
and we understood him really well, and I think again

(24:38):
put together some of the best Actually not just the
execution or not just the game plan is sort of
thought up, but then the execution of those game plans,
it was was an old timer.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Colts would make a push with an opening drive touchdown
to start the third quarter, but Tom Brady and the
offense continued to do just enough, tacking on three more
vineeerie field goals to keep pace ahead of them, adding.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Out of the shotgun roads tools left in the backfield,
big fourth down, direct snap demanding standing in there, fires
to the right, intercepted ty Law back to twenty back
to the twenty five, heading to.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
The right, there's going to be hit springs away from
that one at the thirty. At the thirty yard line,
goest ty Law. His third pass interception up the game.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
A third and final ty Law interception destroyed any comeback
attempts as New England's all time defense put up an
all time performance to cap off one of the most
impressive defensive seasons in NFL history.

Speaker 20 (25:31):
Paul Parillo, it comes down to Rodney Harrison in ty Law.
You know two guys that just made the plays when
they had to make the plays, and to the Colts
credit that day, at least they fought back. I think
the following year and four, I think they sort of
had a resignation that we're not beating them here, We're
not beating them in this situation. But that twenty four

(25:53):
to fourteen loss and three, I give the Colts credit
for continuing to fight, but the Patriots were just tougher,
and I think that was the bottom line.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
These guys never quit. They played hard, and then the
final quarter when they had to make a defensive stand,
they did. You forced the four complete four straight incompletions
by Manning and then hung on for the win.

Speaker 14 (26:17):
Karen Drigian, There's no question that Belichick his schemes, how
he attacked Manning, how he moved guys in disguise guys.
It was in Peyton's head to start, and.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Bill Belijack and his staff Romeo Brunell coming up with
a brilliant defensive game plan, intercepting Manning four times, holding
this team to fourteen points as they held Tennessee last
week to fourteen points.

Speaker 14 (26:46):
And again, Peyton is one of the most cerebral, intelligent
court of actually find and yet you know, for the
first five to ten games of going against the Patriots,
he had no clue what the hell what's going on?
And they made him look bad.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
Peyton's place is in New Hampshire, isn't it. It's Peyton's
nice is not in Foxboro. I'll tell you that, because.

Speaker 9 (27:11):
Now he is owing five.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
They're coming to Foxborough, Nick Fitzi Stevens.

Speaker 16 (27:17):
This is one of the all time defensive performances by
the Patriots. And I'm sure anytime Peyton Manning ever came
back to Jillette Stadium, even if he wasn't on the field,
he probably looked out and thought Tyla was just gonna
pop up and snag one on him. But they just
won the AFC Championship. Holy smokes, The pats are going
back to the Super Bowl. Holy I can't believe this.

(27:38):
The Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl. I
never thought I'd see them win one Super Bowl in
this life. Now they have a chance to win a
second one in three years. Get out of here.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Brady takes the snapgos to one man and that's all
she wrote the final score.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
Hey Patriots, shame being Annapolis coach.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
Fourteen. The fireworks go up, the crowd goes wild. Ye
Hyeah super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Second time in three years, the Patriots go to the
Super Bowl.

Speaker 16 (28:13):
There we go, guys, there we go.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
For the second time in three seasons, the Patriots were
back in the Super Bowl. But this time things were different,
as the team had gone from double digit underdogs against
the greatest show on Turf in Super Bowl thirty six
to touchdown favorites over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl
thirty eight. Charlie Weiss, offensive coordinator.

Speaker 21 (28:32):
Normally I give credit to Bill Bill and the coaches
to but in this case, I like to give credit
to the players.

Speaker 22 (28:39):
We had such a great veteran group in that locker
room that kept everyone keyed in on what was important.
You know, we very seldom had problems, and you know,
very seldom because the veteran players really ran the locker room.

Speaker 21 (29:00):
In any championship caliber tine, you need to have a
championship locker room, and.

Speaker 13 (29:07):
We had one Matt Chatham.

Speaker 7 (29:09):
Guys that were there for the three or four We
have that point of reference with the first one. You know,
where there was the nine to eleven year and we
didn't have the week between. So you win the SC
Championship game. You're rushing back to Foxboro and jumping right
back on a plane once you can get your bags basically,
so you're into the week. There's no sort of absorbing

(29:33):
at all. And getting to do the Super Bowl experience,
it was just such a whirlwind. You just you kind
of feel like you was there and next thing you know,
it's the kickoff to start the Super Bowl. It just
it feels that bad. The Houston one was more, okay,
this is what's normal. Like it's sort of a week
of pageantry back home where you're still working for sure,
but there's more of the extended build up, and then
you go down to the city and you know, get

(29:54):
to experience it a little bit, but obviously keep your
head deep in the playbook and all that. I think
that was probably the biggest difference for us. We actually
got to experience a Super Bowl as more per usual.

Speaker 11 (30:05):
Christian Fourier a University of Colorado.

Speaker 12 (30:07):
Here's what I remember for that very clear, clear's day.
Not necessarily the game, okay, it was the lead up
to the game. It was the locker room before the game.
It was the Bill's pregame speech. Now I've been in
a ton of locker rooms and most coaches the raw
ros speeches don't work because they're all pros, and Bill's
not a raw raw. I would never say the hair

(30:28):
of the back of my next stood up when Bill
was speaking, you know, pregame. He's the message was always clear,
and I really appreciated that because I needed direction.

Speaker 9 (30:37):
What do you want us to do? How do you
want us to approach this game?

Speaker 13 (30:40):
Nick Fitzi Stevens.

Speaker 16 (30:42):
I remember Warren Sapp saying in some interview somewhere that
he thought this was going to be an absolute lopsided
affair and the Panthers would dominate the Patriots because no
way the Pats line and this Russ Hochstein guy could
possibly ever protect Tom Brady from one of the best
defensive lines in recent NFL memory.

Speaker 12 (31:02):
That whole week, the Carolina Panthers are talking a lot
of smack, and Bill was adamant about not saying anything back,
staying quiet. We're gonna let our play do the talking.
And he was really, really, you know, consistent with that
message throughout the week. And so, okay, we're just letting
it go. But we're all irritated by it and we
can't say anything, we have to wait till Sunday. So Bill,

(31:26):
before we actually took the field, I remember he all
stood there and he just gave what I thought was
probably the most for me inspiring pregame speech I've ever
been a part of, because it was not paraphrasing now
for him, because I don't exactly remember what it was,
but I heard it's personal.

Speaker 6 (31:46):
Now.

Speaker 12 (31:46):
They've been talking all week, they've been doing all this.
Now it's our turn. And it was almost like, hey, listen,
I know, go get him.

Speaker 19 (31:54):
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the AFC champion New England Patriots.

Speaker 3 (32:08):
Wow, we go.

Speaker 12 (32:18):
We wanted to punch them in the face. We want
to literally fight them. It's almost like he gave us
the green light to go fight.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Seventy two thousand folks on hand for Super Bowl thirty eight,
which is about to begin.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Super Bowl thirty eight began as a physical, defensive struggle,
with a missed thirty one yard field goal by Adam
Vinatieri on New England's first possession, serving as the closest
either team got to putting any points on the.

Speaker 19 (32:39):
Board solitary from thirty one yards, he get go on
the way and he pushed.

Speaker 21 (32:45):
It to the right.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
Otherwise, the two teams combined for eight straight punts before
all hell broke loose.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
In the second quarter, Hey thirty six yard at tenth
for Adam Military far hash Mark angled to his left,
Ken walk to the hole.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Brian tensed to snap. The ball is down. The kick
is up under his block. Third down, Tan twelve, Carolina
at their own twenty five.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
Davis Lallone, running back behind Jake Gilon, drops back to throw.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
Here comes up practice TV Burbo bottle of the ground.
Let's say you has it? Patre Et the cutter for Carolina.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
Nine day after an earlier miss Vineierry had a second
field goal blocked, but just three plays later, Mike Vrabel
forced to fumble that Richard Seymoury covered deep inside Carolina territory,
setting up the first score of the game, as the
Patriots broke the stalemate on a five yard touchdown pass
to Dion Branch.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Didn't go waiting for another time at the Carolina five.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
Pampuan is the.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Running back in motion left the right goes Daniel Graham
Brady play action fake.

Speaker 17 (33:44):
Fires as one touchdown touch down beyond Branch Patricks.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
The Panthers responded, hitting three big plays before Jake Delane
found Steve Smith for a thirty nine yard touchdown.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Behind the quarterback Jake Willem. On third down in ten,
he drops back to throw, he looks, fires to the left.
It is touch down Carolina the Stephen Smith.

Speaker 3 (34:08):
Just like that.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
It was seven to seven with but a minute fourteen
left in the first half and still two more scores
to come.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Brady, out of a shot run second and ten at
his own thirty four, takes the direction. Nap rolls after
was left, steps up, steps up, look, shirts it.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
Down the field and spide.

Speaker 17 (34:23):
D Y rats come a fifty yard line first down.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Peg rayos a quick fifty three yard past to Branch
helps set up a second Patriots touchdown on a drive
that took just forty nine seconds.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Smith is the running back.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
With the slack of the air side left Brady play
action fake m zone touchdown touchdown to they be.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Given that the Panthers would need just a twelve yard
kickoff return and a twenty one yard run by Stephen
Davis to set up a fifty yard field goal by
John Casey to finally cap the first half at fourteen
to ten. Patriots with all twenty four points being scored
in the final three minutes and ten seconds of the
second quarter.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
Here we had a tight, nothing, nothing ball game of
the first quarter.

Speaker 10 (35:00):
Well, wondering what is going to be happening with this
game if these two guys go are in a slug
fist and nothing's gonna happen as far as scores and points.
And here all of a sudden, driving the length of
the field to get two touchdowns and also get a
field goal opportunity and all of them being successful.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
But that back and forth ending was a precursor to
one of the more memorable halftimes in NFL history.

Speaker 16 (35:25):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, there are so many memorable moments from
Super Bowl thirty eight that had nothing to do with
the game itself. You had the halftime show and the
justin Timberlake Janet Jackson and coming up the Janet Super
Bowl video, does she plan to expose herself?

Speaker 3 (35:40):
The answer is on the way.

Speaker 16 (35:42):
And then of course there's Matt Chatham tackling the streaker,
which we didn't get to see on live TV. Later on,
the All twenty two film would make its way to
social media and we could see it, but we heard
tail of a streaker running onto the field and Chatham
on special teams just absolutely laying the guy out and
becoming kind of an icon legend in these parts.

Speaker 13 (36:02):
Matt Chatham, I think.

Speaker 7 (36:03):
What made that a little different, especially even now where
you see, you know, people run on the field all
the time and pick a sports soccer, football, baseball, it's
relatively common. But it was a little different back then because,
like I mentioned, the nine to eleven stuff was two
Super Bowls prior, but we were in the middle of
the ward at that time. Security is crazy high because
at that time there's all these threats on, you know,

(36:25):
big venues.

Speaker 16 (36:25):
Right, and.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
We have a gentleman who ran on the field, I
mean some kind of a step dance wait a while.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
We just doesn't have the very entire of very little
clothing on.

Speaker 7 (36:38):
So we're kind of in the middle of the field
there and remember as it's starting to happen, we're kind
of looking at each other and you can see it
from some of the NFL films sort of replay cuts
of it, where we're kind of looking at each other
like there is kind of like a wt after this,
Like what is this Like is that just the street
coor is it not?

Speaker 3 (36:58):
And here come the security people and this guy is
going to be tackled.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh yeah, he's at the forty forty five, he's at
the fifty and he's knocked down by a member.

Speaker 7 (37:08):
Of the Patriot There's not supposed to be anyone within them,
you know, anyone anywhere near Here. Weren't supposedly the most
secure place on earth at this moment, but we weren't.
It's sort of like you've been conditioned a little bit
to have this heightened sense of fears are on work,
but just like curiosity about I don't know what's this?
You know, so, and then you know, then when it's like, Okay,
there's no danger here, it's like, get this gay gass

(37:29):
out of here. We have a game to win. I
think it was sort of first half of it was that,
and then once you realize, oh, this is just one
of those guys, you're kind of like, man, I want
to win a ring today. Get this clown OUTI you know,
it was really more about that you beat it. We've
got we've got another goal in mind.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
And that was Chatham. Matt Chatham.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
You know, the players say something like that, and they're
saying come on, we've got a world championship we're playing
for here, and some bozo decides to come out with
a key any briefs and dance around at the forty
yard line.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
The third quarter looked a lot like the first quarter,
with no scoring and it combined four punts. Injuries to
New England's secondary began to add up, with starters Rodney
Harrison and Eugene Wilson both leaving the game. As the
fourth quarter began, New England extended their lead to twenty
one to ten with an Antoine Smith rushing touchdown first and.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
Goali goal for the Patriots at the Carolina two. They
break the huddle, Seymour the fullback, Smith the tailback in
the eye of the handoff to Antwine.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Smith to the right eh touch down that crop Smith.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
That's when the Panthers started to heat up, targeting New
England's battered secondary.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Inside hand off to the Sean Floster breaks a tackle
at the thirty how much out of the twenty hut
the fifteen at.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
Ten for five and in touch down.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
To Sean Flosster, then off a Brady interception and eighty
five yard touchdown strike to Moose and Muhammed play action.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Fake below, stands in there, stands in there, got time,
Blotch shoots.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
It long and Deacer's man is up and he's downing.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
Look at thirty hut the twenty fifteen.

Speaker 9 (38:59):
Ten cal.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Suddenly, for the first time since mid November, the Patriots
were losing Paul Perillo.

Speaker 20 (39:08):
A shootout broke out in the middle of a you know,
a defensive standoff. You know, no one really sniffed scoring,
you know, at times in that game, and then all
of a sudden, you know, I think injuries really hurt
the Patriots and the secondary. I felt like, uh, you know,
Rodney breaking his arm and then you have people remember
Sean Mayer out there with the Super Bowl on the line,

(39:30):
and you know, he was a hard working I think,
undrafted rookie out of Penn State, I want to say
special teamer, and you know, and to the Panthers credit,
it's good coaching, you know, I think that they they
targeted him. Ricky Proll, you know, made some big plays,
and Jake Delane, I think, quite honestly played the game
of his life. I think he was really good that

(39:52):
that night. Brady save for one mistake that that red
zone pick was was probably as good as he had
been in that kind of a environment, a truly truly
special super Bowl that had a lot of twists and turns.

Speaker 11 (40:07):
Teddy Bruski, Arizona.

Speaker 18 (40:08):
Yeah, you talk about feeling about feeling like they can't
score anything on us because we're that good defensively. To man,
we can't stop these guys. And this is where I
learned about defenses in the Super Bowl, getting guessed and
we as defensive players play on emotion, and you know,
we we go out there the first three plays and

(40:29):
we feel like we're floating and you go out to this,
to the to the bench, and it's like, I don't
even know what happened out there, man, I mean, you're
just still You're just so geeked and emotional. It's different
on the offensive side of the ball. So come the
end of the third quarter in the fourth quarter, you're spent.
You're spent physically and almost emotionally too.

Speaker 6 (40:45):
So it's hard.

Speaker 18 (40:46):
And that's what really showed for both of the defenses,
for the Panthers and the Patriots. Our defense, because we
weren't stopping the loan, our guys were going down. Rodney
breaks his arms so and we still give him a
hard time about not finishing that Super Bowl. Well actually yeah,
but yeah, So in terms of fatigue, that's when I
started to learn that you better be ready to go

(41:07):
fourth quarter because there's a there's a pretty good chance
that defenses are going to be guessed.

Speaker 13 (41:12):
Matt Chatham.

Speaker 7 (41:13):
The pace of the game that you kind of talked about,
I mean, that was one of the weirder ones, and
again I think in Super Bowl history because the first
half was just the slug fest. It was not a
lot of scoring. It was really great effort, I guess
maybe both sides. And then I think my argument more
and more so for injury. You know, we got banged
up really badly on the back end with a couple

(41:34):
of big injuries, and they did a good job of
adjusting and it became a bit of a shootout in
the second half. So you know, it's it's being prepared
to overcome whatever it is that comes your way. And
I was kind of always build a big preaching point
with us and we handled it that day. But it
was a blast and it's a cool feeling, but it

(41:56):
was a stressful one.

Speaker 5 (41:58):
Louisville harped on it all week those two weeks of preparation.
You know what I'm saying, Stay of course, fellas, and
understand that the game. Once the game settles, and then
we'll get to see who's gonna do what. You get
what I'm saying. Early on, there's gonna be so much emotion,
so much everybody's super hYP the fans are going crazy.
I thought it out super slow halftime, and then we'll

(42:19):
come back out and here it is, is this bombs
going off left and right, and I think it's just
all about who's going to be the last man standing,
who's going to sustain the fight?

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Down by one, Brady and the Patriots offense put together
a methodical drive with David Gibbings coming up with big
play catches of twenty five and eighteen yards.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
Back to throw, rolls to his right, Looks fires to
the right, white open inside.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
Of thirty federal time funds on the near side.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
How about the twenty three yard line on the reception
to David gibbon n erect snap to Brady drifts to
his right, Looks fires to the right, cart at the
top five.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
Yard line and down of the two yard.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Lines and called them out of bounce to the pree
goes David Gibbons.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Linebacker Mike Rabel will grab his first Super Bowl down
catch of his career.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
Second down and goal to go at the Carolina one
and a half yard life.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
They break the huddle with three tight ends.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
Seymour the fullback off set right play actions fake Brady
fire touch dam River time ty what I have God
do PLAYO take Brion sac leaves.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Kevin Folk would take a direct snap on the two
point conversion to re establish a twenty nine to twenty
two lead.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
Brady will go for a two point conversion.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
Faucas Is running back to the left, swaps to both
sides for Tom Brady in a shotgun.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
It goes a direct snap to.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Kevin Parker, come back staff to Kevin Buck Hen you
run ahead two Buck good target.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
Charlie Weiss, offensive coordinator.

Speaker 21 (43:44):
Actually, we had studied in the offseason.

Speaker 9 (43:47):
We were working on two point plays and.

Speaker 21 (43:52):
Trying to go through you know what, what can we
do that that are exotics that would give us the
best chance to carry over from week to week so
that when you ever need to pull it out of
the bag, it's ready to go. So this was one
of the ones because of Kevin's hands, because you couldn't

(44:15):
count that this snap was going to be perfect every time.
But Kevin had such great hands, and you know, between
him catching the ball and the quarterback faking.

Speaker 22 (44:26):
Like he went over his head, you know.

Speaker 11 (44:30):
It actually was.

Speaker 21 (44:32):
It actually was an easy play for us to carry
over from week to week and use it when when,
whenever we needed to use it.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
But the Panthers didn't blink and continue to attack a
decimated Patriots secondary, hitting plays of nineteen and thirty one
yards with Dellan finding Ricky Prol for a game tying touchdown.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
A lot of a.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
Shotgun formation go out and takes the snap, fires.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
To the end zone touchdown.

Speaker 16 (44:56):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, the crazy thing about this fourth quarter
comeback by the Panthers was the person who caught the
touchdown that tied the game for the Panthers is the
exact same person who caught the touchdown pass from Kurt
Warner in Super Bowl thirty six to tie things up
at seventeen seventeen before Brady's drive, the Troy Brown catch,

(45:18):
and ultimately Vinitary's forty eight yard field goal. Ricky Proll
will forever remain a famous almost infamous, but a famous
name in Patriots' history. Twice in a Super Bowl with
less than two minutes left, he catches a touchdown pass
for the Patriots opponent to tie the game, and then
ultimately watch the Patriots drive the field and have Adam

(45:41):
Viniti hit an over forty yard game winning field goal.
You can't script this stuff.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Once again, in the Super Bowl, Tom Brady took the
field late in the game, with the score tied and
the opportunity to win a championship with a scoring drive.
It was another moment that would define the most clutched
quarterback in NFL history.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Brady out of a shotgun formation, Rady awaiting the snap
He's got it, dropped back to throw looks fires caught
first down Carolina twenty three yard line.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
Cut by Deon Branch. First down Patrians.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Carolina twenty three yard line, eight seconds.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Remaining in the game.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Having already missed two field goals, Adam Vinatieri lined up
a forty one yard kick with a chance to win
a second Super Bowl on the line, but with a
long snapper off the street, the kick was far more
tenuous than the one Vinettieri had nailed in Super Bowl
thirty six.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Now Adam will try to win it. Two years ago
he won it on a forty eight yard field goal
against Saint Louis ju Night. At twenty nine, twenty nine,
he'll try to win it with about a forty one
yard field goal against floor the Carolina Panthers.

Speaker 23 (46:49):
Scott Pioli remember how the end of our end of
our season went where we lost Ronnie Pats and then
we had Sean McDermott, not not the Buffalo will Saw McDermott,
but the other show McDermott the long snapper.

Speaker 8 (47:01):
He gets hurt too, and we called kitchen and again
there was there was this whole story that I knew
about that was there was unfolding hour before the game,
pre game meal. You know, Kinchin had the yips on
Thursday night. He called me up to his room and

(47:22):
wanted to go home. I'm like, Davie, you can't go home.
And I told Bill and there was just this under
You know, you don't find a long snapper. It's not
like you're going down to the Sunoco and getting a
new spark plug in the middle of January and February.
And then this is the game'sfold in pre game I
don't know if you're on the story, but he was

(47:44):
again buttering a roll or cutting a roll, and he slipped,
allegedly and sliced open his head. And I mean it
was like I remember is An and Brave all telling
the story, like you know, their language was a little
bit more colorful than mine, but they couldn't leave it.
And he's got a snap, some pretty important snaps of

(48:06):
the course I gave in cleaning the game winner. So
along with the crazy that you're talking about, there was
the in game normal crazy that the world knew about.
Then there was this other crazy that was in the
back of my head. He's like, you know, if he
was playing the team that had put him, and Bill
and I were yet and Ernie had all been together
with him in Cleveland, it.

Speaker 11 (48:23):
Was yeah, it was.

Speaker 8 (48:26):
There was a lot going on.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
Ryan Kinchen will snap, Ken Walter will hull.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
The spot is the forty one yard line near hash
Mark Angle, will be to the left for Adam Vinna tarry.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
A pulps pounding finished the Super Bowl thirty eight.

Speaker 8 (48:42):
My only concern was the snap, the snap and the
ball getting back to Ken Walter. That's momoy. I mean,
Adam was money. I mean, you know, he was money.

Speaker 13 (48:54):
Adam Vinettieri kicker.

Speaker 24 (48:56):
We had another holder or another snapper that got hurt.
And then Ryan Kitchen, who was retired, came in. Bill
knew him from from earlier in his career and he
can't He comes in and he he had he had
a little.

Speaker 8 (49:10):
Bit of issues.

Speaker 24 (49:10):
He ended up cutting in the webbing of his finger
in the pregame meal, buttering a roll with a stake knife.

Speaker 8 (49:17):
I don't know how that happens.

Speaker 24 (49:18):
But long story short, and in the whole week we
had some some trials and tribulations, a little bit of
craziness that went along. So yeah, there was a lot
of extra circumstances that went into that game. But yeah,
you know, Brian's best snap of his career was the
game winner, was bang right on point.

Speaker 9 (49:36):
It was perfect.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
But I think.

Speaker 24 (49:39):
The good performers at any any you know, kicking or
a pitcher or whatever. You know, if you're if you're
a closer and pitcher and somebody hits a home run
and you lose a game, you gotta forget that right
because you're gonna be out there again and two days later,
and if you're still thinking about that you're gonna have
some issues, and I think the best ones can clear
their minds. And don't get me wrong, it's not easy

(50:01):
to do. I mean, you're you're having a tough game,
or you miss a kick.

Speaker 14 (50:04):
Gosh.

Speaker 24 (50:04):
I mean I I remember the misses way more than
I remember the max I really do.

Speaker 8 (50:08):
I mean, they just grind on you a little bit
more because you're like, why.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
The heck did I mix miss that?

Speaker 19 (50:12):
You know?

Speaker 24 (50:13):
So, yeah, having having a miss earlier in the game
and having one blocked earlier in the game, I'm sure going,
oh my gosh, you know, but you have to be
able to walk out there and at that particular time
and go clear your mind and really just focus on
the next second and a half what's what's happening in
front of you. And it's sometimes easier said than done.

(50:34):
The ones that can't do it usually usually on around
very long.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
Hagle till the last forty one yard field goal a
teenth coming round.

Speaker 3 (50:42):
I'm going to terry snap well.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
Down, kick up kick is on the way, kick is God,
kick is God?

Speaker 14 (50:50):
Man. I'm gon terror.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
Fuckings left pay for your lead.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
Thirty two The twenty nine boys seconds left had a
military with the money on the table, bangs it through.

Speaker 8 (51:06):
I won't repeat what Ernie Adams said to because Ernie
knew what was going on to Ernie and I always
had this great relationship with There were moments where there
was absolute intensity, you know, as we sat next to
each other. But then there are some very Ernie's funny.
People don't understand how funny Ernie Adams is. And he
looked at me as we're geting Brady for the snap,
and I wish I had this visual. I wish I

(51:27):
had a photograph of his eyes and how they kind
of rolled before the you know, as we were lying up.
And I cannot repeat what he said to me, but
he went through and it was a pretty cool moment.

Speaker 1 (51:42):
Forty one yard a tap signals they called the snap
from Penson put down by water, the kept by Meditarius
up and.

Speaker 14 (51:51):
It is good.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
It is good for four seconds wait the fourth water
the Patriots. I taken.

Speaker 5 (52:01):
Twenty nine way Deion Brandton, Louisville, Adam Minitarry Man, you
can't do It's so many words, man, you can just
speak about this guy.

Speaker 6 (52:11):
He's so clutched. One thing, when we needed him, he
came through for us at all times. Everybody just had
to do their jobs.

Speaker 5 (52:18):
I know, everybody like, oh man, that's that little macho
that you all say all the time.

Speaker 6 (52:23):
It's a cliche, but it's the truth. Man.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
If Dean just do what he's supposed to do every play,
Troy do what he's supposed to do. Tell him, dude,
he's supposed to do the front line and Town in
the backfield, David Gibbons at the other receiver position, David Patton.

Speaker 6 (52:36):
If everybody just do what they're supposed to do, just
do their jobs, we'll be fine.

Speaker 10 (52:40):
Just the guy that's the he's got ice water in
his veins. He's able to just keep himself in the
rhythm and the calmness and execute the keck. Now, credit
goes to Brian Kinchen and also the Ken Walter who
did their part getting the snap there and getting the hold.

Speaker 13 (52:57):
Karen Grigian, you know, it looked like.

Speaker 14 (52:59):
He was gonna be a blowout, and it looked like
it was going to be a kind of a walk
in the park. But those Panthers. Delone was such a gritty,
you know, a gritty player, and they kept coming back,
and they kept coming back. You know, some bigger teams.
You know, it's almost like Davy and Goliath, and maybe

(53:20):
if you keep poking at the beast, you know, the
beast will fall. And my feeling, my sense was, you know,
Goliath didn't fall. You know, they they hung just as tough,
and once again Adam and the Terario put them through
the uprights and in the closing seconds and they had

(53:43):
their second Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
Hight Adham into the football. He kicks it end over end,
coming down the smart at the three, to the five,
to the ten, right to the fifteen, to the twenty.
He is hit here down on Super.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
With the win, the Patriots secured their second title in
three seasons, providing validation that the program they had been
building since two thousand was bearing real, sustainable fruit. The
Patriots were no longer happy to have won. They were
starting to expect it every time they took the field.

Speaker 25 (54:28):
And second championship in three years, I mean, it doesn't
happen often, especially in this in this era of the NFL,
with with free agency and then teams changes how many.
I think it just shows what type of football players
we have. You know, I think the Super Bowl a
couple of years ago was a breakout party but now
we're proven that that that were dominant, that dominant team
with a very good football players on it.

Speaker 13 (54:48):
Scott Poli.

Speaker 8 (54:49):
Nothing will ever be like the first that that that's
for sure. After the one, the one championship year and
winning the Super Bowl, I remember Bill and I felt
like we were so far behind, and we spent the
entire trip back planning who we were going to expose
to the expansion list. You have the expansion draft, and
we for the first time it felt like we were
five or six weeks behind everybody else. And then the

(55:10):
next year we don't make the playoffs. This year, when
we went it the second time, there's almost this I
don't know, we know how bad it could go, meaning
not making the playoffs. There was like this defiance of
we are not not going to the playoffs next year.
It was we have a good team, but this team

(55:32):
isn't good enough because this team isn't going to be
as good. You know, if you say, Pat, you no unintended,
You're just going to You're not gonna be as good
the next year. Everyone else is getting better. You better
get it better. So there was this moment. Yes, we
enjoyed it, but there was also this moment. I don't
know if defiance is the right word, but it was like, Okay,
we got to get.

Speaker 11 (55:52):
To work Arizona.

Speaker 8 (55:54):
Yea.

Speaker 18 (55:54):
I think, especially during that twenty one game win streak
that was there, really learn to suppress success. And that
sucks really to do that, because you really don't live
in your successes basically until you retire, you know, and
I think that's what truly great players and teams and
professionals do is you never focus on any type of

(56:17):
championship or accomplishment that you've ever had until you've been
retired and you can finally look back and say, man,
we were pretty good. You know we were, but we
just didn't do that. We didn't do that in terms
of we learned about one and the mentality we had
in two three, the winning that we had, and then
realizing that putting every victory behind us, even if it

(56:40):
was a super Bowl, really preparing for a super Bowl
like it was a regular season game or vice versa.
You know, I think you start to learn how to
do that, and you know, it's a tough way to live.
You know, it's a tough way to live and not
appreciate your success in a moment, but it's something you
have to do if you want to keep winning.

Speaker 26 (56:58):
Dan Copen Center so new to it, you know, you
don't really know, you know what you know, first game,
first snap, you snap it and the nerves go right,
and that's usually how it goes. That's how it was
basically from my first game on. But not the Super Bowl.
I mean, that's just a different game. I think my
hand was shaking for ten ten minutes, well into the

(57:18):
second quarter.

Speaker 9 (57:19):
Wow.

Speaker 26 (57:20):
It that game gets to you. But I remember at
the Rookie symposium, someone got up on stage and was
just like, take a look around, and so all the
rookies that got drafted, just take a look around one
of this you know groups you sit as a team.
One of these teams is going to walk away with
like super Bowl rings. And looking back on it after
that year was like, holy crap. You know we were
the ones that were able to walk away with super

(57:41):
Bowl rings. You realize how special it is.

Speaker 27 (57:43):
You know, this team's met all comers this year, fifteenth
straight and there've been some heart attacks, but they've come
out on top.

Speaker 3 (57:50):
They deserve all the credit in the world. These guys
are champions. Bright Louisville.

Speaker 6 (57:54):
We need a Green Bay to beat the Jets to
get into playoffs. That's just that's such a horrible feeling.

Speaker 5 (58:01):
You're sitting here basing your whole playoffs and your run
based on this team when they're losing. How about you
just go out and take advantage of it yourself. So
right away off season program we had one hundred percent,
including MS Brady, you know, Tom's in the building, everybody
was in the building. Starting late February early March. It

(58:21):
was one hundred percent. It wasn't one hundred percent. My
rookie season. That second year one hundred percent. The third
year was one hundred percent. Going into the fourth year
was one hundred percent. That was the thing that sticks
out the most to my for me, you know, looking
back at the off season program, the mini camps, then
we get into training camp, and now preseason, regular season,

(58:42):
and then the playoffs.

Speaker 6 (58:43):
You know, I think those are the things that stuck
out to me.

Speaker 20 (58:46):
Paul Parillo, I just think that they were a lot
like Oh one. I think they were better talent wise,
and I think that the reason they were better is
because guys like Richard Cymour and Matt that were just
kids in one it's sort of matured into you know,
Seymour especially, he was a dominant player by the time

(59:07):
he's in his third year. So I just thought their
toughness exceeded their talent level. So I think there was
some similarities to one in that way, but the three
team was just better. And what I remember most is
just lock it down, you know. I think there was
a rainy game against the Giants where you know, in
the first quarter there were a couple of scoop and score.

(59:29):
The game's over. The game was over because you know,
the other team can play all day in this environment,
in these conditions, they're not scoring fourteen points and you
just knew like the game was over. And that was
my lasting impression of the two thousand and three team
is don't fall behind them, because you're not gonna win
if you do.

Speaker 11 (59:46):
Christian Fourier a University of Colorado.

Speaker 12 (59:48):
It's the locker room, it's the relationships. It's the players.
You hear tons of guys. They all try to find
the right mix of guys too, right that are all
kind of collectively agreeing and seeing things the same way
and committing themselves to achieving the same things. Every team
I've ever been a part of. Now, I've won a

(01:00:09):
championship in high school, I want a national championship. I
was a freshman in Colorado a national championship there. I
won two here. And they all had the same thing
in common. Every single team had the same thing in common.

Speaker 9 (01:00:22):
It was the locker room.

Speaker 12 (01:00:23):
It was the guys, it was the culture, it was
the shared opinion of what it took, what everybody was
willing to go to do to get those things that
to me will never change ever.

Speaker 9 (01:00:35):
That's so that, more than anything stands out to me.

Speaker 16 (01:00:39):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, the two thousand and three season, to
me was the Patriots making their mark and saying their
greatness was not a fluke, that that was here to stay.
And when I think back on that season, that's the
one like two thousand and one still can almost two
thousand and one can almost still be looked at like, wow,
I don't know how they did that, but it's pretty

(01:01:00):
amazing that they did.

Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
Are we still on the air, Yeah, well we can celebrate.

Speaker 16 (01:01:06):
We are the Chaffions, we are the Jeff two thousand
and three. This told you the Patriots were great, and
the Patriots were here to stay for a long long time.
That to me was the stamping of greatness of Brady
and Belichick as the greatest QB coach combo in NFL history.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
Two super Bowl championships in three years for the Patriots.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
Yeah, and they are now.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
The dominant team in the NFL, the brand new century.
Two super Bowls, the century.

Speaker 13 (01:01:43):
Karen Grigian.

Speaker 14 (01:01:44):
Their defense was so good and so tough to beat
throughout that season, with exception maybe of the first game
that I think that was more their signature. But you
also thought the signs that Tom Brady was coming along

(01:02:05):
and that you know, at some point, you know, there
were games I think during the season where he had
to pull them out a few times. So again you're
starting to see signs of this young quarterback emerging as
something more than a game manager.

Speaker 2 (01:02:24):
The Super Bowl may once again it's Tom Brady, Matt Chatham.

Speaker 7 (01:02:29):
I really have fond memories that year just because you know,
the camaraderie. You know, we we the whole backer hood thing.
I mean, this is when that stuff really started to grow.
We had just an incredibly strong group of guys in there.
I look at it now, you know, years and years
later and no, there's no you know, there's no Derek
Thomas or you know, I'm trying to think of a

(01:02:51):
name that would be like an over the time, like
Lawrence Taylor. There's not like a slam uncle jacket guy
in the room necessarily, but I'd say from top to
bob them quality. There were so many good players in
the room. Everyone was really good at what they did.
Just the top to bottom joy of being a part
of that group is something that I'll probably cherish forever.

Speaker 23 (01:03:11):
Scott pod I think what it stands out is what
we talked about first was how we thought we had
a good team.

Speaker 8 (01:03:17):
We thought we were going to be a good team,
We had some really incredible people, and then how things
went right out of the gate and it kind of
it branded us right in a way that stum and
that stayed with us.

Speaker 6 (01:03:33):
And I think.

Speaker 8 (01:03:36):
What sticks out to me about that team is how
much growth we had over the course of the season
and how everyone knew because of Game one what the
other side could look like. And it was validation of
some of the work that we had put into our
process and our systems of not just on game day,
but preparation, player acquisition, player development. It was just the

(01:04:01):
second wing. Was this feeling of validation that wasn't final
because we really needed We had become a little obsessive
at that point in time that you know we're winning back.
We didn't never send back to back, but anything less
than a championship was now after two and three years,
was going to be unacceptable.

Speaker 27 (01:04:23):
To Bob Kraft, to you and your family, to Coach
Belichick and all of your players. Congratulations on your second
Super Bowl victory in three years. Fifteen wins in a row.
It's hard atop that. Here's the Vince Lombardi Trophy number two.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
This has been two thousand and three the Super sequel
part of the Super Bowl sound Otyssey series, produced by
Patriots dot COM's Mike do So and audio engineer Matt Morrell.
We wish to thank all of our guests for sharing
their memories from the unforgettable season and providing a fresh
perspective on the Patriots second championship, and of course, a
huge thanks to you, our listeners and members of Patriots
Nation who have passionately supported the team since long before

(01:05:00):
they were winning championships. We hoped you enjoyed reliving the
thrilling ride with all of its twists and turns two
decades later. Thank you for listening and coming in twenty
twenty five. Stay tuned for our third installment of the
Super Bowl Sound Odyssey Series two thousand and four. Yes,
it's a dynasty.