February 17, 2025 • 41 mins
Fresh off their second Super Bowl victory in three seasons, the Patriots weren’t satisfied. They reloaded with key additions, including the blockbuster trade for bruising running back Corey Dillon and the drafting of future cornerstone Vince Wilfork. With Bill Belichick and Tom Brady leading a veteran squad hungry for more, New England entered 2004 not just as defending champions—but as a team poised to build a dynasty.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What do you remember about the two thousand and four Patriots?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
And the Patriots are world champions again.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
After winning two championships in three seasons, The Patriots third
Super Bowl win in two thousand and four cemented their
place as the NFL's dynasty of the new millennium.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Back to bye World championships three out of four.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now, twenty years later, we're going back for our third
and final chapter to recapture how the greatest Patriots team
of the two thousands came together and reigned supreme.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yes, so Lugano Studs, this is a Patriots super Bowl
sound odyssey.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yes, it's a Dynasty Episode one reloaded. Since the nineteen sixties,
every decade has brought a new NFL dynasty. Fince Lombardi's
Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls following
the merger.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Of the NFL and AFL.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
With three NFL championships preceding them, the pack was the
league's first royalty.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
My name is Vince Lombardi.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Last year, the Green Bay Packers won an unprecedented third
successive World title.
Speaker 6 (00:56):
The Green Bay Packers have won five World championships in
the last eight is.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Ning isn't everything, but it's the only thing in our business.
Speaker 7 (01:04):
There is no second place either.
Speaker 8 (01:06):
Your first toy lad In.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The nineteen seventies, the Steelers won four titles in six years.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Lightings been gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Super Bowl Mark team is his great The Pittsburgh Steelers
are the champions for the Next Foot Football League for
the second straight.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Year, followed by the San Francisco forty nine Ers five
Super Bowl wins that span from nineteen eighty one to
nineteen ninety four, adding two more teams to the historical ledger.
The Cowboys were America's team in the nineteen nineties with
three Super Bowl wins in four seasons.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Just gone out to the crowd and to us that
Montana is the unanimous Super Bowl MVP for the third time,
and that's another.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Record, adding two more teams to the historical ledger. The
Cowboys were America's team in the nineteen nineties with three
Super Bowl wins in four seasons.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Ben Snibardi Trophy going to the winning Dallas Cowboys, who
have now equal to five one by the San Francisco
forty nine Ers, and of course those two teams battling
throughout the course of the year for that supreme position.
Speaker 9 (02:05):
And regarded as the two of the best.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
In the NFL at the turn of the century. Few
thought the New England Patriots were headed to dynasty status
after upsetting the Saint Louis Rams as underdogs in Super
Bowl thirty six.
Speaker 10 (02:16):
We are the champions.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
We are the champion, especially when the Pats missed the
playoffs altogether in two thousand and two. But in two
thousand and three, the Patriots bounced back with their second
title in three seasons.
Speaker 11 (02:31):
You know, this seam's met all comers this year, fifteenth
straight and they've been some heart attacks, but they've come
out on top.
Speaker 9 (02:38):
They deserve all the credit world. These guys are.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Champions, raising the question was there something special happening in
New England.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Two super Bowl championship in three years for the Patriots. Yeah,
and they are now the dominant team in the nfloped
the brand new century.
Speaker 12 (02:57):
Two super Bowls the century.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
As the two thousand and four season opened, the Patriots
had a chance to win three out of four and
officially secure their place as the new dynasty of the
two thousands.
Speaker 13 (03:08):
The New England Patriots. When you consider this team, think
about dynasties in sports, and the definition has changed through
the years, but if you can win three out of
four at three Super Bowls in four seasons, that's a dynasty.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady,
the Patriots franchise had transformed themselves from one that bottomed
out in the early nineties into the league's juggernaut that
routinely knocked off league MVPs and higher seeds with sound
and timely football and.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Bill Belijack and his staff coming up with a brilliant
defensive game plan.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
The first championship was a Cinderella run, with an unhralded
second year quarterback leading a remade squad to an unlikely
upset championship.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Kick is on the way and it is good.
Speaker 14 (03:48):
It's good.
Speaker 15 (03:49):
It's God had a bit.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Of terry BOMs of forties hay yard field goal and
the game is over. Heather, Patriots are Superfolke.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sect second was proof of concept, as New England bounced
back from a nine to seven season and turned around
a sputtering two and two start and never lost again.
Speaker 13 (04:07):
They haven't lost a game since the fourth week of
the two thousand and three season.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
In two thousand and four, it would all come together,
but the lessons from two thousand and two's down year.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Still freshen their minds.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Director of player personnel Scott Pioli and head coach Bill
Belichick quickly reset their outlook for another championship run. It
would secure the Patriots place among the league's historical dynasties.
Speaker 12 (04:27):
Scott Pioli, Patriots Director of player Personnel.
Speaker 16 (04:30):
I think the outlook overall was optimistic, but the fact
that we had won the super Bowl, you know, with
the one regular season after the old one regular season
and then didn't even make the playoffs the year before,
we had a greater and better understanding of how fragile
the whole thing is, and that one season, truly it
(04:52):
was part of a you know, it was something that
we said that outside people didn't understand, is that one
season has nothing.
Speaker 9 (04:59):
To do with the next, and we understood that fully.
Speaker 16 (05:02):
We also knew that the super Bowl we went after
the three season, we had been fortunate because we had
a lot of injuries. As a matter of fact, that
year in three, we set an NFL record for the
most number of starts lost by players by starters, where
a team that made the playoffs, let alone won the
Super Bowl. So We felt good about our football team.
(05:27):
We felt good about, you know, our draft, because what
had happened by this is now season four of the program,
so we now had young players that we had acquired
and had.
Speaker 9 (05:41):
Started to develop within our system.
Speaker 16 (05:43):
So we felt good about the team, the talent, the
player development.
Speaker 9 (05:48):
But we also knew a that it was fragile and one.
Speaker 16 (05:52):
Season had nothing to do with the next, because again,
when that first super Bowl, then you have a stinker
the next year, that could always happen again.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 8 (06:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
I remember in the first staff meeting, one of the
first staff meetings, I was in, you know, right after
they got back and they just.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
Beating Carolina and we're sitting down in the staff meeting.
Speaker 7 (06:13):
Everybody's in there, and I just remember coach walking in
and kind of looked around and looked at me, and
he was, you know, in his fashion, just basically told everybody,
he's like, put all that super Bowl stuff away. I
don't want to see any of it. We're behind, we
gotta go. The season's already started, and you can just
you know, I mean, obviously I wasn't there for the
Carolina Super Bowl, but I was there as they were
(06:34):
getting ready to go and win and do all that stuff.
But I just remember looking at everybody and they were
kind of like, okay, all right, so celebrations over. Okay, good, great, Okay,
next sea, you know, but you could just see like
there was a clear message of it's great, but we
got to go. So I'm in the meetings with Charlie
and obviously Dante Scarnekia, who I was working with really
closely with the offensive line, and we were just instantly
(06:55):
going into next year.
Speaker 17 (06:56):
Yeah, bra, you would have thought that all yeah, coaches,
dont kind of like taking a little easy on guys
now that all, yeah, we completed, our task is behind us.
The first meeting we had, Bill gave it to us,
and you just sit there thinking, like, bro, we just
won the Super Bowl like last week, and he's already
in here in our face.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Hey, it's over with.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
It was fellas the season starts.
Speaker 17 (07:17):
Now you get what I'm saying, Like, guys don't understand that, Hey,
it's time to move on. Everybody outside this building can celebrate.
It's time for us to figure out what team that
O three team is behind us. It's a totally different team.
Or are you guys gonna.
Speaker 14 (07:31):
Be we haven't done anything.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
If you want to be a champion, you got to
win from here out.
Speaker 8 (07:36):
This stuff is none stop.
Speaker 17 (07:37):
There's no off days, there's no off season, none of that.
When you win the Super Bowl, you only have what
two weeks?
Speaker 8 (07:43):
What's the pointer?
Speaker 9 (07:44):
Taking fourteen days?
Speaker 17 (07:46):
We were right back at it because we knew what
we wanted to achieve the following the next year. You know,
three hundred and sixty four days ago, we was right here.
Here's this opportunity for us to go out here and
seize the moment, and we did it.
Speaker 12 (07:58):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 18 (08:01):
There was this odd feeling that we didn't belong or
didn't deserve the luxury of riches that the New England
Patriots were bringing us now that they had won two
Super Bowls in three seasons, Like, wait a second, do
we belong Like I've gotten into this club twice now,
like I keep sneaking by the bouncer. I don't think
(08:23):
I belong here? Like the Pats are legitimately good. Anything
that could have been flukish about the two thousand and
one season and then missing the playoffs in two thousand
and two was immediately wiped away by the two thousand
and three season and the run that that team went on,
and to see them not only get ready to carry
(08:43):
on the excellence that they executed in two thousand and three,
culminating in one of the most thrilling Super Bowls of
all time by not only bringing back the same team
but also improving it looking like an absolute juggernaut, and
the subsequent winning streak this team was to go on.
We as a fan base weren't yet the spoiled and
(09:07):
titled obnoxious like Pats fans that everyone grew to hate
in the latter part of the decade and throughout the
double Dynastic run.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
But there was a there was a there was a whiff.
Speaker 18 (09:18):
There was a whiff of obnoxiousness in the air, and
I got to say, by and large, all of us
embraced it.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Unlike two thousand and one, a heavy influx of veteran
free agents was not needed. The team's core, as well
as a collection of developing draft picks, ensured plenty of
continuity heading into two thousand and four. There was to
be but one crown jewel a free agency who would
arrive in a pre draft trade a hard charging it
disgruntled running back from Cincinnati that was looking for a
fresh start, Corey Dillon.
Speaker 19 (09:43):
Another big move is shaking things up for this weekend.
The Bengals have traded disgruntled running back Corey Dillon to
the Patriots for a second round pick this weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The acquisition of the seven year veteran was six seasons
of over eleven hundred rushing yards. Began to come together
in the weeks leading up to the draft.
Speaker 12 (09:59):
Scott p Patriots director of player personnel.
Speaker 16 (10:02):
Bill had a good relationship with the Brown family, with
the Bangles, and that had come up and Corey was
looking for a way out. Corey uh was represented at
the time by an agent by the name of Steve Feldman,
and there were a number of conversations back and forth
with Felde and myself, and the Bengals gave us permission
(10:26):
to meet with Corey. It was, you know, one of
our things was we knew Corey the player, and unless
you live with a player, you don't know.
Speaker 9 (10:34):
And Corey had a reputation which I would.
Speaker 16 (10:36):
Say immediately was completely unfair and untrue, unfounded, whatever we
want to call that. But you don't know those things
until you live what's own. And so what happened was
the Bengals gave us permission. And this is a great
story because in our way of wanting.
Speaker 9 (10:57):
You know, we didn't want people to know what we
were possibly doing. We need to keep family business, family business.
So Bill and I.
Speaker 6 (11:03):
Got got in my car and we drove down.
Speaker 20 (11:07):
To the Rocky Hill Residency and Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and
Feldman and Corey flew into Hartford and.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
They met us, and we met in.
Speaker 16 (11:19):
A we rented out a room and met in the
Rocky Hill Residents.
Speaker 9 (11:24):
In just the forums.
Speaker 21 (11:26):
What we found out in that situation, and I think
something that was really important to our organization at the time,
is we understood talent, we understood players, but we also
knew that our culture.
Speaker 16 (11:39):
Our program was what it was, and we wanted to
make sure that players knew what we were. There was
a very emotional moment by Corey about him wanting.
Speaker 9 (11:49):
To get out of Cincinnati, and it was this moment
where he got extremely emotional.
Speaker 16 (11:56):
And in a very positive way and let us know
how much he wanted to win or have a chance
with him.
Speaker 19 (12:02):
Well, here's what Dylan has to say about that little I'm.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Not a bad person. I just I'm just a competitor
and I love to compete and win, and it just
wasn't getting done there. So I mean, there's a lot
of stuff, you know, back and forth that was done
in Cincinnati that I left in Cincinnati.
Speaker 16 (12:19):
He just felt like he was at this place where
he you know, wasn't respected and he had gotten to
the point where he all he wanted to do was
he didn't care about money, he didn't care about his role.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
He wanted he wanted to.
Speaker 15 (12:32):
Be the guy.
Speaker 16 (12:33):
And I remember, you know, they had to have a
moment to talk and Bill and I talked and we
were like, this guy's all in, you know, he he
knows the drill and he's going to be one of us.
Speaker 9 (12:45):
And it was an incredible it was to me, it
was one.
Speaker 16 (12:48):
Of those moments, you know, it encapsulated all of what
we stood for organizations, right, and what we were trying
to do and how.
Speaker 9 (12:58):
We were trying to do it. Make sure that we're.
Speaker 16 (13:00):
Getting not only good players, but good players that fitted
how we were going to be, and we wanted to
be a certain way, unapologetically and on the program.
Speaker 15 (13:10):
Corey Dillon, University of Washington I'm thinking like worst case
scenario type things. So I'm thinking, like, man, I may
have to sit out a year or whatever.
Speaker 8 (13:20):
I think.
Speaker 15 (13:21):
I think the Raiders were real serious about bringing me
in and and that was that was my first first option.
And that's what I was thinking, like, Man, I might
be going to Oakland. So to actually get the call
from my agent was like and he told me like this.
He was just like, pack a back, We're going to Boston.
So actually coming down here and meeting with Bill if
(13:45):
Scott Pioli, Man, we had a great conversation and it
was simple. Man, it didn't take that long.
Speaker 22 (13:50):
Bengals all time leading Russia now with Patriot Marvel Lewis
now rid of his biggest thorn with the NFL Draft
five days away, and in that draft, the Bengals now
I have five pitch on Day one, including the Patriots
second round. That's number fifty six overall. That's what they
get for the Descrontald Dylon, who tossed his uniform into
the stands cleaned out his locker after last season's finale
against the Browns. Bottom line, this deal makes a ton
(14:12):
of sense for the Bengals, for the Pats and from Dylan.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I've in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 8 (14:17):
It was a dog.
Speaker 23 (14:18):
On Saturday morning, we were off it was the off season,
and Bill calls me at home. He says, uh, do
you have time to come in and meet someone? And
I said, well, yeah, I said who? He said, We're
talking to Corey Dillon. I said, oh my gosh. I
actually said something else, but I ain't gonna say on
the radio, but it was like, yeah, you kidding.
Speaker 8 (14:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 23 (14:43):
So I came in and had a conversation with Bill
about him, and then Corey had finished his round in
the building and I finally got him. We sat and talked,
and you know, it just sort of hit me. I
said to I said, you know, you're a big acquisition
for us, so your success, whatever you're going to be,
(15:08):
it's going to reflect on me, and it's going to
be you know, what's going to.
Speaker 8 (15:12):
Happen to me.
Speaker 23 (15:13):
So you know, we got to come to an agreement
here and what this is all going to be. He said, Coach,
I think you've been listening too much to the you know,
all the hoopla about me and stuff. He said, I'm
not like that. I said, well, yeah, you're right. There's
a whole lot of shit about you out there. So
he said, I'm not like that at all, he said,
(15:33):
he said, You're not gonna have any problems with me,
not one bit. I said, I hope you understand if
I'm a little bit worried about that, you know, so,
and we, uh we talked for a few minutes, and
he was fantastic. And in the whole freaking time he
was with me, I never had to worry about that son.
He was where he was supposed to be. He played
(15:55):
his ass off, He practiced his ass off. I mean
he had everybody has their demons and stuff, you know,
off the field or something. He wasn't like that when
he walked into the building. When he walked into the building,
he was He was a true professional.
Speaker 19 (16:08):
And Corey Dillon is gonna fit in well with the
Patriots team that's really no name players other than at
the Tom Brady's.
Speaker 24 (16:14):
I certainly do Cory Dillon as a playmaker. He's a
guy that wants a team. He's a guy that played
a lot of last year injured and very unhappy. He's uh,
very eager to get on the team and really prove
type of player he has always been the last seven years.
Speaker 8 (16:26):
I mean, we're we're a big running team.
Speaker 16 (16:28):
Man.
Speaker 8 (16:28):
It sort of fit right into who he was. And
Corey was huge.
Speaker 23 (16:32):
I mean, you know, two forty supposed to be two
thirty eight, but he was, you know, close to two
forty forty five. He was a monster as a runner.
And as oh my gosh, you talk about can see
vision as a runner, he had that. He had that
great vision.
Speaker 19 (16:49):
Do you think that he and Belichick can coexist?
Speaker 8 (16:52):
Absolutely?
Speaker 24 (16:52):
Corey Dillon would flourish in New England. He's a guy,
he is a winner. He's going to a winner. He
wanted out of Cincinnati. Now I can go to a team.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
Where he already was respecs.
Speaker 24 (17:00):
The coach respects the players and he knows that they
can win without him, so he wants to step in
and let them know that he can play and he
can add to what they are already doing.
Speaker 15 (17:08):
Corey dyllon University of want Ah, Man, that was a
lot of anxiety, to be honest with you, because you
don't know what to expect. They already got something in
place and they're rolling, and then you got this, You
got this notion of like what they really need me for?
They just want a super Bowl, you know what I mean.
So I think I think some people think it's easy
(17:29):
to be traded to a Super Bowl champion. Man, there's
more pressure on you to make your mark and to
contribute to that to that team. So I mean I
embraced that situation as well. I just wanted to come
in and, you know what, do my part. And for
the most part, man, my teammates were great. They accepted me,
(17:52):
the organization accepted me. Bill let me do my theme, man,
So it kind of worked out.
Speaker 12 (17:57):
Nick Fitzi Stevens Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 18 (18:00):
Patriots fans had yet to become accustomed to the idea
of somebody else was really good somewhere, but they had
played their time out, so they should come to New England,
chase a ring and.
Speaker 8 (18:12):
Re establish their greatness.
Speaker 18 (18:14):
I guess we got our first feeling of what it
was like to see someone play it out elsewhere then
come to New England and be awesome with two thousand
and three's acquisition of Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
But two thousand and.
Speaker 18 (18:23):
Four bringing in Corey Dillon was next level like that.
We could get a like the Patriots. Antoine Smith was
sneaky good for a couple of years and a kind
of an unheralded member of the first couple of Super
Bowl teams for the Patriots. But getting Corey Dillon like
a legitimate fantasy stud an, a one back like that,
(18:45):
I think. I think Patriots fans couldn't believe that we
could get someone like that.
Speaker 19 (18:50):
How is Dylan's arrival going to affect the Patriots draft?
Speaker 18 (18:54):
You know, Kara, I spoke with several NFL executives on
my drive over here today and the prevailing opinion was
the rich get richer.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
With Dylan officially in the fold five days later, the
Patriots looked to the draft to continue to the quality
pipeline that had been established since Belichick and Puoli arrived.
Following the departure of monstrous nose tackled Ted Washington.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
The team had a.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Literal big need in the middle of their defense, one
that had already been partially filled by a veteran free
agent named Keith Traylor. Their eyes were on Miami Hurricanes
defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, with the assumption that will Fork
was unlikely to last until the Patriots first pick at
twenty first overall, acquired a year before in a trade
with the Ravens, who moved up to grab quarterback Kyle Bowler.
Speaker 16 (19:35):
The only team of two first round picks happen to
be the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
This involved with.
Speaker 13 (19:41):
The Kyle Bowler orchestrations last year.
Speaker 18 (19:44):
So this is the pick that was originally owned by
the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
The current Senior Bowl executive director, Jim Nagy, was a
second year's scout with the Patriots at the time, getting
a crash course in the Belichick style of scouting.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Jim Nagy, Executive Director of the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 25 (19:58):
Yeah, I was a really young scout going into my
second year. I spent one year in Washington before I
got to the Patriots, and yeah, it was a great group.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
We were young, it was.
Speaker 25 (20:09):
It was really a really young staff, you know, live
by Scott Pioli put together a really good group. A
lot of those guys went on it, you know, become
general managers and assistant general managers and had great, great,
long careers. Some of us are still having great careers
in the NFL. But you bring up the word rigorous,
it was rigorous. It was not an easy scouting system
at all. It was in terms of the report writing
(20:30):
it was it was more thorough than any other system
I've been in, you know, in the in the next
fifteen twenty years working in the league, there was nothing
that really matched that.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
There was a lot of observational.
Speaker 25 (20:41):
Learning that went on in New England and really one
of the greatest takeaways I had from working for that,
you know, that era of Patriot teams was was just
the makeup of the group, right, the group dynamics. Talking
about that twenty fourteen men in particular, it was just
the maturity of that group. You know, had obviously had
a Bolese on your back coming off of let's super
(21:03):
rule win and to go back to back, but just
the maturity that that veteran group, you know, the Teddy Bruskis,
the Ted Johnson's, the you know, Willie McGinnis, I mean,
all those guys.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
It was just a very mature football team.
Speaker 25 (21:15):
The old Guard did a really good job of bringing
those young guys along. And then give credit to the
coaching staff or playing those young players. You know a
lot of a lot of coaches in the NFL you
don't like to play young guys and let them like
live with the you know, take their lumps and live live.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
With them through the growing pains.
Speaker 25 (21:31):
And I think that team, that that coaching staff did
a really good job of that.
Speaker 14 (21:34):
And I think right now has the board fallen properly
for the Patriots.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
Here's the right guy there.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Pioli, Naggy and the scouting staff held their collective breath
as the draft began, knowing how important will Fork would
be to the defense if they could somehow land him.
Speaker 9 (21:46):
The nose tackle position.
Speaker 25 (21:47):
That's I mean, that's everything revolves around that position, that defense.
Uh well, coach Curnell, you know how he you know
how he two gaped that front. I mean you need
to have a big space lead that could take up
blocks and and uh you know, kind of build a
wall up front. And so losing, losing Ted Washington, we
needed to find that guy.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
And really, Vince Willpork was that guy in that draft.
Speaker 25 (22:07):
So sometimes sometimes you just get lucky on draft week,
and sometimes it takes a.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Little bit of luck, you know what.
Speaker 25 (22:14):
You know, even even right now, you know, I I
text my my friends who are GM's around the league
on draft week, and I the one thing I say
is I hope it falls your way. Sometimes, you know,
you get to draft week and things just have to
fall right.
Speaker 9 (22:26):
And thank god for the New England Patriots.
Speaker 25 (22:28):
You know, a bunch of teams passed on Vince Willpork
and you know now he went on and have a
Hall of Fame type careers.
Speaker 12 (22:34):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 16 (22:37):
Part of what you do is you model out who
you think is going to be there, but you never
know what other team's going to do.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
That's the v of the draft. And we evaluated.
Speaker 16 (22:46):
Vince and spend a lot of time on him kind
of with with the belief that it was more.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
Than likely he wasn't going to be available. But what
we did know is he.
Speaker 16 (22:56):
Had the physical build, the skills, the tools that we
knew could not only play in our system, but thrive
in our system.
Speaker 18 (23:06):
Listen, they did lose Ted Washington, good run there, and
we are looking at Vince Wilfork the University of Miami
defensive facks.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
A three and forty pound type guy.
Speaker 18 (23:15):
He's would seem the fit beautifully here.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
He played a lot a lot of one gap.
Speaker 14 (23:19):
He was so quick, explosive, but he has still to
this day.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
I don't know if you've ever shaken hands with Vince Wilfork.
Speaker 16 (23:25):
Even when he goes gentle handshake, it's like it's literally
like putting your hands in a vice. And he doesn't
even squeeze his you know, because of his width, he
you don't know where he's understands.
Speaker 9 (23:38):
He does have a little bit of higher He's not
a really tall guy, but the size of.
Speaker 16 (23:43):
His hands and the length of his arms are not
necessarily proportional to how tall he is.
Speaker 9 (23:51):
And those things big hands, strong hands, and long arms
are really incredible tools.
Speaker 16 (23:58):
And body make types to have for defensive line. We
were pretty certain that, you know, once it started to
look like he was going to be in range through
Holy Cow, you know, this might be a real thing.
And when he was there, there was there was full supporter.
Speaker 18 (24:15):
The last Miami Hurricane of the six is Vince Willford
still on the board.
Speaker 16 (24:18):
This kid is an athletically gifted three hundred and twenty
eight pounder.
Speaker 12 (24:21):
Chris A hec of a talent.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
Vince Willford mim and Hurricane.
Speaker 26 (24:25):
I was pissed, you know, and I remember, you know,
my father died of diabetes. So I wanted to do
something to give back two diabetes. And it was just
me and my family and a couple of friends, and
it was probably like thirty of us and we raised
like six thousand dollars that day. And I was sitting
there and I knew we had six first rounds. I
knew we had that. Ill say, well, I know, I'm
(24:46):
not going to be the last. I'm not going to
be the last Hurricane.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Right as part of a juggernaut Hurricanes team, will fuk
watched his teammate after teammate was selected Sean Taylor at
fifth overall, Kellen Winslow right after him at sixth. Jonathan
Wilmo went to the Jets at twelve, then DJ Williams
at seventeen. Vernon Carey went to the Dolphins to make
it five first round Hurricanes to go before will Fork.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Miami Hurricanes with nineteen first round pictures.
Speaker 13 (25:10):
I'll mentioned in the last four years, this is a
new record for Miami.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
The twenty first pick arrived and will Fork was still
on the board.
Speaker 22 (25:17):
With the twenty first pick in the two thousand.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
And four NFL draft of New England Patriots.
Speaker 22 (25:22):
Select Vince will Fall, defensive lineman University of Miami.
Speaker 26 (25:27):
So here comes New England, right boom.
Speaker 8 (25:29):
They picked me.
Speaker 26 (25:30):
So I said, okay, I'm still pissed. First round, I'm pissed.
And I remember my defensive coordinated at the time, Rendon Shendon,
he coming. He came to me.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
He said, listen.
Speaker 26 (25:38):
No he called me. He said, Vince, listen, I know
you pissed off in you upset, but you're gonna be
the first one to get a ring watch. I said, now,
I don't want to hear that I'm pissed off. So
I finally let it go, and throughout my career, I say, well,
I'm gonna show you I'm the best one of these
Hurricanes that got drafted that year.
Speaker 9 (25:53):
Ship the Rents get richer.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
That's what the rinch get richer.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
Doesn't have drafts better than them.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Later, of course, the drafted end with will for beause
the Pats double dipped in the first round with tight
end Benjamin Watson at thirty second overall and added another
collection of rookies.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Who would make contributions.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
When training camp arrived in July, the Patriots were primed
for another Super Bowl run, even if they didn't overtly
acknowledge it themselves. Ernie Adams, director of football Research.
Speaker 11 (26:18):
I think we tried to do a good job of
just hey, it's a new season. Nobody's going to come
in here and want to look at our scrap books.
They're going to come in here and want to knock
our heads off. You know, we understand that's you know,
it's the National Football League, and you know it is
a new season, so we have to It's I mean,
(26:39):
every season is a unique challenge.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The Patriots had built a veteran defense that was in
its prime, coming off a two thousand and three season
in which they ranked first in the NFL and points.
This group had game changing talent on all three levels.
The only question was how good this defense could be.
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
Those guys were so competitive that it was a room
full of alphas, I mean every single one of them.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
So, I mean I would walk in the linebacker.
Speaker 7 (27:04):
Room and honestly, I wasn't sure if if I was
going to be coaching football or fighting.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Like I was like, okay, well maybe we might be
fighting today. I have no idea what's gonna happen. I
mean you would.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
Literally walk in and you know, William McGinnis would walk
by Izzo and he'd like, you know, just like walk
by and be like, yep, you're dry.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I got the edge on you today. And they're talking
about hydration, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
And so now Larry's in the back of the room
chugging waters and I'm like, what are you doing And
he's like, he's like, he's not gonna be more hydrated.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
Than I am. I'm like, are you kidding me right now?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Like this is what we're you know, or you know,
Brude walk in with a book like you know, they didn't.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Carr their playbooks becausey knew the playbook. They he'd walk
in with like a regular book and they'd be like,
what are you doing, Like I read two books last night,
just trying to edge, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:43):
It was like you guys are insane, Like you're insane,
but competitive worked hard. We brought everybody back for OTAs
and we still had that first practice. I just remember
the noise of the defense, the communication, but it was
just it was so loud, so clean, so clear, so
(28:05):
just like locked in focus. It just sounded like a
machine and you were like, wow, like these guys are unreal.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
And I remember, you know, with Draves too.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
The one thing that was amazing to me about Mike Rabel,
you know, you're in college football world, and every year
it was like, hey, we got to get to training
camp to get in shape. I just felt with these
guys like you could have called them any month. You
could have called them in April and they would have
been able to play a three hour football game at
the highest level. They were always in shape. Mike Rabel
(28:37):
was always he was never out of shape. It was
just amazing to me the level of professionalism that these
guys held each other to, and they held themselves to.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Corey Dillon made an immediate impression on his teammates and coaches,
both on the field and off it.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I have in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 8 (28:53):
When you watch him.
Speaker 23 (28:54):
I was always amazed at how talented he really was.
I mean, you knew he was Sinnati.
Speaker 19 (29:01):
Corey Dylan left Cincinnati with a team record eight thousand
rushing yards, a total which would have also smashed the
Patriots franchise rushing record. Dylan has four career twelve hundred
yard seasons, which no Patriot has accomplished since Curtis Martin
in nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 23 (29:17):
But now you're seeing it firsthand, that was that was
I already said that was the best. I'll see that
was the best hour to say. I mean, that was fantastic,
unbelievably fantastic. Then it became, Okay, I gotta get this
button shape, but I can't overuse it, and that's that
became the whole focal point. Get him in shape, getting
(29:39):
ready to play, but also save him because it's gonna
be a long season.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Teddy Bruski Arizona.
Speaker 27 (29:44):
Know how many times I've played against him prior to that,
but you see him watching film and I always thought
he was one of the best in the business out
there in terms of a running back that had size
and speed. I mean, he was just such a tough
nose runner that was in a bad place that really
frustrated him. And it was amazing that when you bring
those players into a place where they have leaders that
(30:07):
are able to just you know, they can see. I
mean it's not like, really I ever took Corey aside
and said a CD, I mean, this is the way
it is here. You know, it was just just watch us, man,
just watch the way we work and the things that
we care about. Because you can figure out pretty quickly
about players and what's important to them and how they
talk in the locker. Room, how they treat practice, how
(30:28):
they treat meeting rooms.
Speaker 8 (30:29):
Are they joking around?
Speaker 27 (30:30):
Are they talking about where they going at night? Never
was much of that here, and players could always see
that and they could figure out quickly what we were about.
Speaker 17 (30:39):
The crazy part about him is the perspective on Corey,
you know, was so could have been so far from
their room. This guy just wanted to win some games.
That's all he wanted to do. This guy was a workhorse.
He actually I don't know. He was like a kid
a kid factory, you know, coming to New England and
(30:59):
just seeing it is open here. We work hard, but
you're gonna reap the benefits later. It's gonna pay off
in the end. This guy didn't say one word throughout
the whole year, but he enjoyed the run that we had.
Speaker 8 (31:11):
Corey dyllon University of One.
Speaker 15 (31:13):
So, I mean, just breaking the ice and getting to
know these guys, and I mean just coming here doing
training camp and us joking around and getting familiar with
each other, we kind of, you know, everybody was just like,
oh okay, So some of the things I hear ain't
what they are, you know what I mean. So yeah,
I mean I'm pretty sure coming in due to the
(31:37):
fact that p left Cincinnati, they were like, can we
trust him? Can Is he gonna be able to fit
in with us? Can he does? You know, just things
like that of that nature and just coming in and
they seeing my personality that like, I'm just like them,
I think kind of broke the ice and we started
we started yelling and they let me do my things.
Speaker 12 (31:58):
Patriot Football Weekly.
Speaker 14 (32:01):
You would sort of look at it and say, well,
maybe that can be a great move, But he's a
guy who's been in trouble. He's his you know, his
desire and professionalism has been called into question. We'll see
how that goes. That kind of got eliminated. In training camp,
you could sort of see what this guy could provide
for the offense, and you know, how they wanted to
(32:23):
play and how they had played in one with Antwine Smith,
Corey Dillon was a maserati. Compared to Antoine Smith, who's
a good player. I mean no disrespect to Antwine Smith,
good solid NFL player. Corey Dillon at his best was
one of the best running backs of football, and certainly
in twenty and forty was at his best. I think
he transformed the offense a little bit, gave him a
(32:45):
little bit of a power speed combo, big plays and
the tough yards.
Speaker 5 (32:50):
Dylan trying to go to the left culture of the
cross a line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Bangs on on his feet oat of the thirty yard
line goes Corey Dillon on.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
The defensive side of the ball. A familiar face disappeared
in a new place during camp, the wide receiver Troy
Brown suddenly taking reps at cornerback, a move that would
prove pressient later in the season.
Speaker 14 (33:07):
I don't think it was the way we cover it now,
with every detail being blogged and tweeted and documented the
way we do now. But we all did say, well,
that's kind of strange. You know, Troy Brown's playing some defense.
We all talked about it. Yeah, that's cute. You know,
I wonder what that will mean. Obviously we found out that,
you know, much like a lot of things Bill Belichick
did ahead of time, you know, they wound up being
(33:29):
important when they needed it during the course of the season.
Speaker 9 (33:32):
Troy Brown, Marshall University.
Speaker 10 (33:34):
At first, I didn't know how to take it.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Was.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
It was Eric Mangini that came. I was sitting in
front of my lock of mind, of my own business,
getting ready for a training camp practice, you know, and
he comes in with this little highlights of this is
covered two, you got cover three whatever it is, you know,
and are you playing defense today? You know you're doing
one on one, You're doing one on ones and artis stuff.
So and I'm like look at him, like seriously. He's like, yeah, seriously.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
And I was just.
Speaker 10 (34:01):
Like, like, all right, did I give you the best
that I got? I mean, we had at that time,
you know, it was it was later in my career.
We had we had good receivers.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
On the team.
Speaker 10 (34:09):
We had David David Gibbons, and we had Dan I
think David pat Mustak, you know. So, so we had
Bethel Johnson was here. So we had some some talent
on the football team that would allow to give us
some flexibility to go over and play on that side
of that ball, just at least at least with practice anyway.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So meanwhile, the rookie Will Fork and his fellow Nos
tackle Keith Trailor got a crash course in the two
gaping style of defense.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
Ben's will Ford.
Speaker 26 (34:37):
My mindset was I need to be on the field,
and it really wasn't. I was upset I didn't start,
you know, because in college, the only year I started
was my last year there.
Speaker 8 (34:47):
You know, I played.
Speaker 26 (34:48):
Behind uh two defensive tackles in college my first and
second year, but my playing time I played more than them,
So that really didn't bother me. And I knew Keith
Traylor was an older guy coming in and he never
really played in his defense, so it was new to
him too, and he was an older guy, and me
and Keith had a great relationship. We learned off each
(35:09):
other because every time I had to do something, even
though I was a rookie, he had to do it
because we both had to learn how to be a
nosackle because think about it, we were trying to replace
the great Ted Washington at that position, right so and
also in my mind was like, okay, New England Patriots
just won a Super Bowl and he picked me first runder.
I can't let them down. So all that drove me.
(35:32):
And I know how I work and the work I
put in with study and stuff, it wasn't gonna be
a problem for me to hit the field and start
making plays. I just needed to understand the system I was.
Speaker 15 (35:45):
In players, Like what for because they go to a
program where the pros teach them how to be pros.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
This is how we work in New England.
Speaker 17 (35:53):
They would teach him how to be professional football clab.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
No longer the surprising bloodsoe backup. Tom Brady fully ascended
to one of the most deadly quarterbacks in the NFL,
one who not only set the standard, but held his
teammates to the same standard.
Speaker 15 (36:09):
Corey Dillon, University of washing Man. Just just being that
ultimate competitor. I could see that. I knew it. Just
how he prepares. He was always first then last out, and.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
The way he gathered all of us.
Speaker 15 (36:25):
There's not one player in that locker room that wouldn't
run through a brick wall for Tom Brady. And and
that's what it's about. He controlled, he had that, he
had that.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
Control over the team where.
Speaker 15 (36:38):
Hey, man, let's when he gets going, when head button
people and screaming, let's go man, It's it's exciting for
your quarterback to see your quarterback to express those kind
of emotions and energy. Man, it fires everybody up. So
ultimate leader, ultimate competitor. And I've seen I've seen it
(37:02):
then I knew he was gonna be great. So and
he proved it, so he'sile he proved it.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
Not like top for.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Top for everything, Matt Patricia offensive assistant Tom Brady.
Speaker 7 (37:15):
Is you know, there's not enough good words in the
English language, I think to describe him, right.
Speaker 6 (37:18):
I mean, he's just unbelievable.
Speaker 7 (37:20):
And being with him for as long as I was,
and being on offense, to start to be with him
every day was incredible, and then switch to the other
side and compete against him every day was even you know,
even more amazing. But really, from from the start he
was just he's just the best guy ever. But even
more so what I thought was amazing. As we'd be
out of practice on Fridays, I'm a young coach, We're
(37:42):
getting ready to go obviously play the opponent that week,
and he'd be like, hey, Maddie, He's like, can you
make sure you get me all the advanced stuff for
next week because as soon as the game's over, I
want to start working on Pittsburgh and I want to
make sure you have this.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
He goes, what do you think?
Speaker 7 (37:53):
And I would give him the breakdown, Like I would
just give him the breakdown every every Friday, and he
would take it and he would go and then that's
how he started prep And I'm like, you know, okay,
Like I got to make sure my stuff is good
because I got to make sure he's you know, I
just you felt he gave you that empowerment of making
you feel like, hey, you're what you're doing is really important.
Speaker 6 (38:11):
Right now and I need that. Can you help me?
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Now?
Speaker 6 (38:13):
Look whether what I was giving him, I don't know
twenty five.
Speaker 7 (38:15):
Years ago was any good or not good, but he
always asked for it and always wanted it.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Brushing aside a one to three preseason that was capped
off with a thirty one nothing loss to the Jaguars
at home, Patriots were ready for another title run, aware
of the stakes, but without a focus on defending a
championship instead going out and earning it.
Speaker 9 (38:33):
Anew deon brat Louisville.
Speaker 17 (38:35):
Yeah, Well, the mato was that let's go out and
do something that hasn't been done in a long time.
Speaker 8 (38:40):
That was our mato.
Speaker 17 (38:41):
We already see what it looks like when we do
everything the right way, we carry out all these assignments,
we can come in here and we commit and dedicate
ourselves to this.
Speaker 9 (38:50):
We know exactly what this looked like. We just did it.
Speaker 17 (38:53):
Let's mimic the same exact thing, bring in some more
players and do the exact same thing.
Speaker 8 (38:58):
And that's what happened.
Speaker 17 (38:59):
You saw adding these other guys to the program, and
now everything changes. You get what I'm saying, that competitive
edge that we're always talking about, the dedication factor, guys
holding each other accountable. That was really the most important
piece that going into four. You know, the veteran guys
on the team were really holding all everybody accountable for everything.
(39:21):
You missed one of this, you missed this for first
of all, everybody was one hundred percent in the off
season program. But if we see guys over here slacking
in this during our run drills, passing drills. If you
see that, guys calling players out, and that's what you
need to actually when you want to have that championship
type team and that model, that's what you got to
actually embody.
Speaker 12 (39:41):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 9 (39:44):
We never had to fight over confidence. You know, now
did the truth be told?
Speaker 16 (39:49):
You know, when you're winning a bunch, you start to
smell yourself a little bit.
Speaker 9 (39:52):
But we were never a we were never a group.
Speaker 16 (39:57):
Or individuals that we had overcomptent.
Speaker 9 (40:01):
Did we think we had a good team. Did we
think we had good talent? Yeah, but we knew that
Colts were pretty darn good. We knew that, you know,
we knew that there were other good teams.
Speaker 16 (40:10):
And we also, again the year before had proven there's
a lot that can go wrong between September and the
end of December.
Speaker 9 (40:20):
Let alone what happens in January.
Speaker 16 (40:22):
Right, Really, I mean truly one of the things that
you learned when you're in this business, particularly when you're coaching,
but especially in personnel. An NFL season is an unbelievable
exercise not only in mental and emotional endurance, but truly
in attrition.
Speaker 9 (40:42):
And you know, so, yeah, we thought we had from talent,
We thought we had a good team.
Speaker 16 (40:48):
We thought we had you know, our quarterback was developing,
and David Gibbons was developing, Dion was you.
Speaker 9 (40:55):
Know, we had players. So we had Corey Dillon, but
you never know how to stuff's gonna work out.
Speaker 16 (41:01):
Plus, on top of bald what I've just said, this
is a chemistry experiment too. How is that group of
talent going to gel and function together?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Next time?
Speaker 1 (41:11):
The Patriots take a win streak into the regular season
and prove themselves to be a team that could win
games however necessary, putting their names in the record books
before the postseason even arrived. Join us on this Patriots
super Bowl sound odyssey. Yes, it's a dynasty.
What do you remember about the two thousand and four Patriots?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
And the Patriots are world champions again.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
After winning two championships in three seasons, The Patriots third
Super Bowl win in two thousand and four cemented their
place as the NFL's dynasty of the new millennium.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Back to bye World championships three out of four.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now, twenty years later, we're going back for our third
and final chapter to recapture how the greatest Patriots team
of the two thousands came together and reigned supreme.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yes, so Lugano Studs, this is a Patriots super Bowl
sound odyssey.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yes, it's a Dynasty Episode one reloaded. Since the nineteen sixties,
every decade has brought a new NFL dynasty. Fince Lombardi's
Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls following
the merger.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Of the NFL and AFL.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
With three NFL championships preceding them, the pack was the
league's first royalty.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
My name is Vince Lombardi.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Last year, the Green Bay Packers won an unprecedented third
successive World title.
Speaker 6 (00:56):
The Green Bay Packers have won five World championships in
the last eight is.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Ning isn't everything, but it's the only thing in our business.
Speaker 7 (01:04):
There is no second place either.
Speaker 8 (01:06):
Your first toy lad In.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The nineteen seventies, the Steelers won four titles in six years.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Lightings been gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Super Bowl Mark team is his great The Pittsburgh Steelers
are the champions for the Next Foot Football League for
the second straight.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Year, followed by the San Francisco forty nine Ers five
Super Bowl wins that span from nineteen eighty one to
nineteen ninety four, adding two more teams to the historical ledger.
The Cowboys were America's team in the nineteen nineties with
three Super Bowl wins in four seasons.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Just gone out to the crowd and to us that
Montana is the unanimous Super Bowl MVP for the third time,
and that's another.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Record, adding two more teams to the historical ledger. The
Cowboys were America's team in the nineteen nineties with three
Super Bowl wins in four seasons.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Ben Snibardi Trophy going to the winning Dallas Cowboys, who
have now equal to five one by the San Francisco
forty nine Ers, and of course those two teams battling
throughout the course of the year for that supreme position.
Speaker 9 (02:05):
And regarded as the two of the best.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
In the NFL at the turn of the century. Few
thought the New England Patriots were headed to dynasty status
after upsetting the Saint Louis Rams as underdogs in Super
Bowl thirty six.
Speaker 10 (02:16):
We are the champions.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
We are the champion, especially when the Pats missed the
playoffs altogether in two thousand and two. But in two
thousand and three, the Patriots bounced back with their second
title in three seasons.
Speaker 11 (02:31):
You know, this seam's met all comers this year, fifteenth
straight and they've been some heart attacks, but they've come
out on top.
Speaker 9 (02:38):
They deserve all the credit world. These guys are.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Champions, raising the question was there something special happening in
New England.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Two super Bowl championship in three years for the Patriots. Yeah,
and they are now the dominant team in the nfloped
the brand new century.
Speaker 12 (02:57):
Two super Bowls the century.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
As the two thousand and four season opened, the Patriots
had a chance to win three out of four and
officially secure their place as the new dynasty of the
two thousands.
Speaker 13 (03:08):
The New England Patriots. When you consider this team, think
about dynasties in sports, and the definition has changed through
the years, but if you can win three out of
four at three Super Bowls in four seasons, that's a dynasty.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady,
the Patriots franchise had transformed themselves from one that bottomed
out in the early nineties into the league's juggernaut that
routinely knocked off league MVPs and higher seeds with sound
and timely football and.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Bill Belijack and his staff coming up with a brilliant
defensive game plan.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
The first championship was a Cinderella run, with an unhralded
second year quarterback leading a remade squad to an unlikely
upset championship.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Kick is on the way and it is good.
Speaker 14 (03:48):
It's good.
Speaker 15 (03:49):
It's God had a bit.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Of terry BOMs of forties hay yard field goal and
the game is over. Heather, Patriots are Superfolke.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sect second was proof of concept, as New England bounced
back from a nine to seven season and turned around
a sputtering two and two start and never lost again.
Speaker 13 (04:07):
They haven't lost a game since the fourth week of
the two thousand and three season.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
In two thousand and four, it would all come together,
but the lessons from two thousand and two's down year.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Still freshen their minds.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Director of player personnel Scott Pioli and head coach Bill
Belichick quickly reset their outlook for another championship run. It
would secure the Patriots place among the league's historical dynasties.
Speaker 12 (04:27):
Scott Pioli, Patriots Director of player Personnel.
Speaker 16 (04:30):
I think the outlook overall was optimistic, but the fact
that we had won the super Bowl, you know, with
the one regular season after the old one regular season
and then didn't even make the playoffs the year before,
we had a greater and better understanding of how fragile
the whole thing is, and that one season, truly it
(04:52):
was part of a you know, it was something that
we said that outside people didn't understand, is that one
season has nothing.
Speaker 9 (04:59):
To do with the next, and we understood that fully.
Speaker 16 (05:02):
We also knew that the super Bowl we went after
the three season, we had been fortunate because we had
a lot of injuries. As a matter of fact, that
year in three, we set an NFL record for the
most number of starts lost by players by starters, where
a team that made the playoffs, let alone won the
Super Bowl. So We felt good about our football team.
(05:27):
We felt good about, you know, our draft, because what
had happened by this is now season four of the program,
so we now had young players that we had acquired
and had.
Speaker 9 (05:41):
Started to develop within our system.
Speaker 16 (05:43):
So we felt good about the team, the talent, the
player development.
Speaker 9 (05:48):
But we also knew a that it was fragile and one.
Speaker 16 (05:52):
Season had nothing to do with the next, because again,
when that first super Bowl, then you have a stinker
the next year, that could always happen again.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 8 (06:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
I remember in the first staff meeting, one of the
first staff meetings, I was in, you know, right after
they got back and they just.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
Beating Carolina and we're sitting down in the staff meeting.
Speaker 7 (06:13):
Everybody's in there, and I just remember coach walking in
and kind of looked around and looked at me, and
he was, you know, in his fashion, just basically told everybody,
he's like, put all that super Bowl stuff away. I
don't want to see any of it. We're behind, we
gotta go. The season's already started, and you can just
you know, I mean, obviously I wasn't there for the
Carolina Super Bowl, but I was there as they were
(06:34):
getting ready to go and win and do all that stuff.
But I just remember looking at everybody and they were
kind of like, okay, all right, so celebrations over. Okay, good, great, Okay,
next sea, you know, but you could just see like
there was a clear message of it's great, but we
got to go. So I'm in the meetings with Charlie
and obviously Dante Scarnekia, who I was working with really
closely with the offensive line, and we were just instantly
(06:55):
going into next year.
Speaker 17 (06:56):
Yeah, bra, you would have thought that all yeah, coaches,
dont kind of like taking a little easy on guys
now that all, yeah, we completed, our task is behind us.
The first meeting we had, Bill gave it to us,
and you just sit there thinking, like, bro, we just
won the Super Bowl like last week, and he's already
in here in our face.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Hey, it's over with.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
It was fellas the season starts.
Speaker 17 (07:17):
Now you get what I'm saying, Like, guys don't understand that, Hey,
it's time to move on. Everybody outside this building can celebrate.
It's time for us to figure out what team that
O three team is behind us. It's a totally different team.
Or are you guys gonna.
Speaker 14 (07:31):
Be we haven't done anything.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
If you want to be a champion, you got to
win from here out.
Speaker 8 (07:36):
This stuff is none stop.
Speaker 17 (07:37):
There's no off days, there's no off season, none of that.
When you win the Super Bowl, you only have what
two weeks?
Speaker 8 (07:43):
What's the pointer?
Speaker 9 (07:44):
Taking fourteen days?
Speaker 17 (07:46):
We were right back at it because we knew what
we wanted to achieve the following the next year. You know,
three hundred and sixty four days ago, we was right here.
Here's this opportunity for us to go out here and
seize the moment, and we did it.
Speaker 12 (07:58):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 18 (08:01):
There was this odd feeling that we didn't belong or
didn't deserve the luxury of riches that the New England
Patriots were bringing us now that they had won two
Super Bowls in three seasons, Like, wait a second, do
we belong Like I've gotten into this club twice now,
like I keep sneaking by the bouncer. I don't think
(08:23):
I belong here? Like the Pats are legitimately good. Anything
that could have been flukish about the two thousand and
one season and then missing the playoffs in two thousand
and two was immediately wiped away by the two thousand
and three season and the run that that team went on,
and to see them not only get ready to carry
(08:43):
on the excellence that they executed in two thousand and three,
culminating in one of the most thrilling Super Bowls of
all time by not only bringing back the same team
but also improving it looking like an absolute juggernaut, and
the subsequent winning streak this team was to go on.
We as a fan base weren't yet the spoiled and
(09:07):
titled obnoxious like Pats fans that everyone grew to hate
in the latter part of the decade and throughout the
double Dynastic run.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
But there was a there was a there was a whiff.
Speaker 18 (09:18):
There was a whiff of obnoxiousness in the air, and
I got to say, by and large, all of us
embraced it.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Unlike two thousand and one, a heavy influx of veteran
free agents was not needed. The team's core, as well
as a collection of developing draft picks, ensured plenty of
continuity heading into two thousand and four. There was to
be but one crown jewel a free agency who would
arrive in a pre draft trade a hard charging it
disgruntled running back from Cincinnati that was looking for a
fresh start, Corey Dillon.
Speaker 19 (09:43):
Another big move is shaking things up for this weekend.
The Bengals have traded disgruntled running back Corey Dillon to
the Patriots for a second round pick this weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The acquisition of the seven year veteran was six seasons
of over eleven hundred rushing yards. Began to come together
in the weeks leading up to the draft.
Speaker 12 (09:59):
Scott p Patriots director of player personnel.
Speaker 16 (10:02):
Bill had a good relationship with the Brown family, with
the Bangles, and that had come up and Corey was
looking for a way out. Corey uh was represented at
the time by an agent by the name of Steve Feldman,
and there were a number of conversations back and forth
with Felde and myself, and the Bengals gave us permission
(10:26):
to meet with Corey. It was, you know, one of
our things was we knew Corey the player, and unless
you live with a player, you don't know.
Speaker 9 (10:34):
And Corey had a reputation which I would.
Speaker 16 (10:36):
Say immediately was completely unfair and untrue, unfounded, whatever we
want to call that. But you don't know those things
until you live what's own. And so what happened was
the Bengals gave us permission. And this is a great
story because in our way of wanting.
Speaker 9 (10:57):
You know, we didn't want people to know what we
were possibly doing. We need to keep family business, family business.
So Bill and I.
Speaker 6 (11:03):
Got got in my car and we drove down.
Speaker 20 (11:07):
To the Rocky Hill Residency and Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and
Feldman and Corey flew into Hartford and.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
They met us, and we met in.
Speaker 16 (11:19):
A we rented out a room and met in the
Rocky Hill Residents.
Speaker 9 (11:24):
In just the forums.
Speaker 21 (11:26):
What we found out in that situation, and I think
something that was really important to our organization at the time,
is we understood talent, we understood players, but we also
knew that our culture.
Speaker 16 (11:39):
Our program was what it was, and we wanted to
make sure that players knew what we were. There was
a very emotional moment by Corey about him wanting.
Speaker 9 (11:49):
To get out of Cincinnati, and it was this moment
where he got extremely emotional.
Speaker 16 (11:56):
And in a very positive way and let us know
how much he wanted to win or have a chance
with him.
Speaker 19 (12:02):
Well, here's what Dylan has to say about that little I'm.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Not a bad person. I just I'm just a competitor
and I love to compete and win, and it just
wasn't getting done there. So I mean, there's a lot
of stuff, you know, back and forth that was done
in Cincinnati that I left in Cincinnati.
Speaker 16 (12:19):
He just felt like he was at this place where
he you know, wasn't respected and he had gotten to
the point where he all he wanted to do was
he didn't care about money, he didn't care about his role.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
He wanted he wanted to.
Speaker 15 (12:32):
Be the guy.
Speaker 16 (12:33):
And I remember, you know, they had to have a
moment to talk and Bill and I talked and we
were like, this guy's all in, you know, he he
knows the drill and he's going to be one of us.
Speaker 9 (12:45):
And it was an incredible it was to me, it
was one.
Speaker 16 (12:48):
Of those moments, you know, it encapsulated all of what
we stood for organizations, right, and what we were trying
to do and how.
Speaker 9 (12:58):
We were trying to do it. Make sure that we're.
Speaker 16 (13:00):
Getting not only good players, but good players that fitted
how we were going to be, and we wanted to
be a certain way, unapologetically and on the program.
Speaker 15 (13:10):
Corey Dillon, University of Washington I'm thinking like worst case
scenario type things. So I'm thinking, like, man, I may
have to sit out a year or whatever.
Speaker 8 (13:20):
I think.
Speaker 15 (13:21):
I think the Raiders were real serious about bringing me
in and and that was that was my first first option.
And that's what I was thinking, like, Man, I might
be going to Oakland. So to actually get the call
from my agent was like and he told me like this.
He was just like, pack a back, We're going to Boston.
So actually coming down here and meeting with Bill if
(13:45):
Scott Pioli, Man, we had a great conversation and it
was simple. Man, it didn't take that long.
Speaker 22 (13:50):
Bengals all time leading Russia now with Patriot Marvel Lewis
now rid of his biggest thorn with the NFL Draft
five days away, and in that draft, the Bengals now
I have five pitch on Day one, including the Patriots
second round. That's number fifty six overall. That's what they
get for the Descrontald Dylon, who tossed his uniform into
the stands cleaned out his locker after last season's finale
against the Browns. Bottom line, this deal makes a ton
(14:12):
of sense for the Bengals, for the Pats and from Dylan.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I've in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 8 (14:17):
It was a dog.
Speaker 23 (14:18):
On Saturday morning, we were off it was the off season,
and Bill calls me at home. He says, uh, do
you have time to come in and meet someone? And
I said, well, yeah, I said who? He said, We're
talking to Corey Dillon. I said, oh my gosh. I
actually said something else, but I ain't gonna say on
the radio, but it was like, yeah, you kidding.
Speaker 8 (14:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 23 (14:43):
So I came in and had a conversation with Bill
about him, and then Corey had finished his round in
the building and I finally got him. We sat and talked,
and you know, it just sort of hit me. I
said to I said, you know, you're a big acquisition
for us, so your success, whatever you're going to be,
(15:08):
it's going to reflect on me, and it's going to
be you know, what's going to.
Speaker 8 (15:12):
Happen to me.
Speaker 23 (15:13):
So you know, we got to come to an agreement
here and what this is all going to be. He said, Coach,
I think you've been listening too much to the you know,
all the hoopla about me and stuff. He said, I'm
not like that. I said, well, yeah, you're right. There's
a whole lot of shit about you out there. So
he said, I'm not like that at all, he said,
(15:33):
he said, You're not gonna have any problems with me,
not one bit. I said, I hope you understand if
I'm a little bit worried about that, you know, so,
and we, uh we talked for a few minutes, and
he was fantastic. And in the whole freaking time he
was with me, I never had to worry about that son.
He was where he was supposed to be. He played
(15:55):
his ass off, He practiced his ass off. I mean
he had everybody has their demons and stuff, you know,
off the field or something. He wasn't like that when
he walked into the building. When he walked into the building,
he was He was a true professional.
Speaker 19 (16:08):
And Corey Dillon is gonna fit in well with the
Patriots team that's really no name players other than at
the Tom Brady's.
Speaker 24 (16:14):
I certainly do Cory Dillon as a playmaker. He's a
guy that wants a team. He's a guy that played
a lot of last year injured and very unhappy. He's uh,
very eager to get on the team and really prove
type of player he has always been the last seven years.
Speaker 8 (16:26):
I mean, we're we're a big running team.
Speaker 16 (16:28):
Man.
Speaker 8 (16:28):
It sort of fit right into who he was. And
Corey was huge.
Speaker 23 (16:32):
I mean, you know, two forty supposed to be two
thirty eight, but he was, you know, close to two
forty forty five. He was a monster as a runner.
And as oh my gosh, you talk about can see
vision as a runner, he had that. He had that
great vision.
Speaker 19 (16:49):
Do you think that he and Belichick can coexist?
Speaker 8 (16:52):
Absolutely?
Speaker 24 (16:52):
Corey Dillon would flourish in New England. He's a guy,
he is a winner. He's going to a winner. He
wanted out of Cincinnati. Now I can go to a team.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
Where he already was respecs.
Speaker 24 (17:00):
The coach respects the players and he knows that they
can win without him, so he wants to step in
and let them know that he can play and he
can add to what they are already doing.
Speaker 15 (17:08):
Corey dyllon University of want Ah, Man, that was a
lot of anxiety, to be honest with you, because you
don't know what to expect. They already got something in
place and they're rolling, and then you got this, You
got this notion of like what they really need me for?
They just want a super Bowl, you know what I mean.
So I think I think some people think it's easy
(17:29):
to be traded to a Super Bowl champion. Man, there's
more pressure on you to make your mark and to
contribute to that to that team. So I mean I
embraced that situation as well. I just wanted to come
in and, you know what, do my part. And for
the most part, man, my teammates were great. They accepted me,
(17:52):
the organization accepted me. Bill let me do my theme, man,
So it kind of worked out.
Speaker 12 (17:57):
Nick Fitzi Stevens Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 18 (18:00):
Patriots fans had yet to become accustomed to the idea
of somebody else was really good somewhere, but they had
played their time out, so they should come to New England,
chase a ring and.
Speaker 8 (18:12):
Re establish their greatness.
Speaker 18 (18:14):
I guess we got our first feeling of what it
was like to see someone play it out elsewhere then
come to New England and be awesome with two thousand
and three's acquisition of Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 9 (18:22):
But two thousand and.
Speaker 18 (18:23):
Four bringing in Corey Dillon was next level like that.
We could get a like the Patriots. Antoine Smith was
sneaky good for a couple of years and a kind
of an unheralded member of the first couple of Super
Bowl teams for the Patriots. But getting Corey Dillon like
a legitimate fantasy stud an, a one back like that,
(18:45):
I think. I think Patriots fans couldn't believe that we
could get someone like that.
Speaker 19 (18:50):
How is Dylan's arrival going to affect the Patriots draft?
Speaker 18 (18:54):
You know, Kara, I spoke with several NFL executives on
my drive over here today and the prevailing opinion was
the rich get richer.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
With Dylan officially in the fold five days later, the
Patriots looked to the draft to continue to the quality
pipeline that had been established since Belichick and Puoli arrived.
Following the departure of monstrous nose tackled Ted Washington.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
The team had a.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Literal big need in the middle of their defense, one
that had already been partially filled by a veteran free
agent named Keith Traylor. Their eyes were on Miami Hurricanes
defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, with the assumption that will Fork
was unlikely to last until the Patriots first pick at
twenty first overall, acquired a year before in a trade
with the Ravens, who moved up to grab quarterback Kyle Bowler.
Speaker 16 (19:35):
The only team of two first round picks happen to
be the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
This involved with.
Speaker 13 (19:41):
The Kyle Bowler orchestrations last year.
Speaker 18 (19:44):
So this is the pick that was originally owned by
the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
The current Senior Bowl executive director, Jim Nagy, was a
second year's scout with the Patriots at the time, getting
a crash course in the Belichick style of scouting.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Jim Nagy, Executive Director of the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 25 (19:58):
Yeah, I was a really young scout going into my
second year. I spent one year in Washington before I
got to the Patriots, and yeah, it was a great group.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
We were young, it was.
Speaker 25 (20:09):
It was really a really young staff, you know, live
by Scott Pioli put together a really good group. A
lot of those guys went on it, you know, become
general managers and assistant general managers and had great, great,
long careers. Some of us are still having great careers
in the NFL. But you bring up the word rigorous,
it was rigorous. It was not an easy scouting system
at all. It was in terms of the report writing
(20:30):
it was it was more thorough than any other system
I've been in, you know, in the in the next
fifteen twenty years working in the league, there was nothing
that really matched that.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
There was a lot of observational.
Speaker 25 (20:41):
Learning that went on in New England and really one
of the greatest takeaways I had from working for that,
you know, that era of Patriot teams was was just
the makeup of the group, right, the group dynamics. Talking
about that twenty fourteen men in particular, it was just
the maturity of that group. You know, had obviously had
a Bolese on your back coming off of let's super
(21:03):
rule win and to go back to back, but just
the maturity that that veteran group, you know, the Teddy Bruskis,
the Ted Johnson's, the you know, Willie McGinnis, I mean,
all those guys.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
It was just a very mature football team.
Speaker 25 (21:15):
The old Guard did a really good job of bringing
those young guys along. And then give credit to the
coaching staff or playing those young players. You know a
lot of a lot of coaches in the NFL you
don't like to play young guys and let them like
live with the you know, take their lumps and live live.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
With them through the growing pains.
Speaker 25 (21:31):
And I think that team, that that coaching staff did
a really good job of that.
Speaker 14 (21:34):
And I think right now has the board fallen properly
for the Patriots.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
Here's the right guy there.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Pioli, Naggy and the scouting staff held their collective breath
as the draft began, knowing how important will Fork would
be to the defense if they could somehow land him.
Speaker 9 (21:46):
The nose tackle position.
Speaker 25 (21:47):
That's I mean, that's everything revolves around that position, that defense.
Uh well, coach Curnell, you know how he you know
how he two gaped that front. I mean you need
to have a big space lead that could take up
blocks and and uh you know, kind of build a
wall up front. And so losing, losing Ted Washington, we
needed to find that guy.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
And really, Vince Willpork was that guy in that draft.
Speaker 25 (22:07):
So sometimes sometimes you just get lucky on draft week,
and sometimes it takes a.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Little bit of luck, you know what.
Speaker 25 (22:14):
You know, even even right now, you know, I I
text my my friends who are GM's around the league
on draft week, and I the one thing I say
is I hope it falls your way. Sometimes, you know,
you get to draft week and things just have to
fall right.
Speaker 9 (22:26):
And thank god for the New England Patriots.
Speaker 25 (22:28):
You know, a bunch of teams passed on Vince Willpork
and you know now he went on and have a
Hall of Fame type careers.
Speaker 12 (22:34):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 16 (22:37):
Part of what you do is you model out who
you think is going to be there, but you never
know what other team's going to do.
Speaker 9 (22:42):
That's the v of the draft. And we evaluated.
Speaker 16 (22:46):
Vince and spend a lot of time on him kind
of with with the belief that it was more.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
Than likely he wasn't going to be available. But what
we did know is he.
Speaker 16 (22:56):
Had the physical build, the skills, the tools that we
knew could not only play in our system, but thrive
in our system.
Speaker 18 (23:06):
Listen, they did lose Ted Washington, good run there, and
we are looking at Vince Wilfork the University of Miami
defensive facks.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
A three and forty pound type guy.
Speaker 18 (23:15):
He's would seem the fit beautifully here.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
He played a lot a lot of one gap.
Speaker 14 (23:19):
He was so quick, explosive, but he has still to
this day.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
I don't know if you've ever shaken hands with Vince Wilfork.
Speaker 16 (23:25):
Even when he goes gentle handshake, it's like it's literally
like putting your hands in a vice. And he doesn't
even squeeze his you know, because of his width, he
you don't know where he's understands.
Speaker 9 (23:38):
He does have a little bit of higher He's not
a really tall guy, but the size of.
Speaker 16 (23:43):
His hands and the length of his arms are not
necessarily proportional to how tall he is.
Speaker 9 (23:51):
And those things big hands, strong hands, and long arms
are really incredible tools.
Speaker 16 (23:58):
And body make types to have for defensive line. We
were pretty certain that, you know, once it started to
look like he was going to be in range through
Holy Cow, you know, this might be a real thing.
And when he was there, there was there was full supporter.
Speaker 18 (24:15):
The last Miami Hurricane of the six is Vince Willford
still on the board.
Speaker 16 (24:18):
This kid is an athletically gifted three hundred and twenty
eight pounder.
Speaker 12 (24:21):
Chris A hec of a talent.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
Vince Willford mim and Hurricane.
Speaker 26 (24:25):
I was pissed, you know, and I remember, you know,
my father died of diabetes. So I wanted to do
something to give back two diabetes. And it was just
me and my family and a couple of friends, and
it was probably like thirty of us and we raised
like six thousand dollars that day. And I was sitting
there and I knew we had six first rounds. I
knew we had that. Ill say, well, I know, I'm
(24:46):
not going to be the last. I'm not going to
be the last Hurricane.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Right as part of a juggernaut Hurricanes team, will fuk
watched his teammate after teammate was selected Sean Taylor at
fifth overall, Kellen Winslow right after him at sixth. Jonathan
Wilmo went to the Jets at twelve, then DJ Williams
at seventeen. Vernon Carey went to the Dolphins to make
it five first round Hurricanes to go before will Fork.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Miami Hurricanes with nineteen first round pictures.
Speaker 13 (25:10):
I'll mentioned in the last four years, this is a
new record for Miami.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
The twenty first pick arrived and will Fork was still
on the board.
Speaker 22 (25:17):
With the twenty first pick in the two thousand.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
And four NFL draft of New England Patriots.
Speaker 22 (25:22):
Select Vince will Fall, defensive lineman University of Miami.
Speaker 26 (25:27):
So here comes New England, right boom.
Speaker 8 (25:29):
They picked me.
Speaker 26 (25:30):
So I said, okay, I'm still pissed. First round, I'm pissed.
And I remember my defensive coordinated at the time, Rendon Shendon,
he coming. He came to me.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
He said, listen.
Speaker 26 (25:38):
No he called me. He said, Vince, listen, I know
you pissed off in you upset, but you're gonna be
the first one to get a ring watch. I said, now,
I don't want to hear that I'm pissed off. So
I finally let it go, and throughout my career, I say, well,
I'm gonna show you I'm the best one of these
Hurricanes that got drafted that year.
Speaker 9 (25:53):
Ship the Rents get richer.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
That's what the rinch get richer.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
Doesn't have drafts better than them.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Later, of course, the drafted end with will for beause
the Pats double dipped in the first round with tight
end Benjamin Watson at thirty second overall and added another
collection of rookies.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Who would make contributions.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
When training camp arrived in July, the Patriots were primed
for another Super Bowl run, even if they didn't overtly
acknowledge it themselves. Ernie Adams, director of football Research.
Speaker 11 (26:18):
I think we tried to do a good job of
just hey, it's a new season. Nobody's going to come
in here and want to look at our scrap books.
They're going to come in here and want to knock
our heads off. You know, we understand that's you know,
it's the National Football League, and you know it is
a new season, so we have to It's I mean,
(26:39):
every season is a unique challenge.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
The Patriots had built a veteran defense that was in
its prime, coming off a two thousand and three season
in which they ranked first in the NFL and points.
This group had game changing talent on all three levels.
The only question was how good this defense could be.
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
Those guys were so competitive that it was a room
full of alphas, I mean every single one of them.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
So, I mean I would walk in the linebacker.
Speaker 7 (27:04):
Room and honestly, I wasn't sure if if I was
going to be coaching football or fighting.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Like I was like, okay, well maybe we might be
fighting today. I have no idea what's gonna happen. I
mean you would.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
Literally walk in and you know, William McGinnis would walk
by Izzo and he'd like, you know, just like walk
by and be like, yep, you're dry.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I got the edge on you today. And they're talking
about hydration, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
And so now Larry's in the back of the room
chugging waters and I'm like, what are you doing And
he's like, he's like, he's not gonna be more hydrated.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
Than I am. I'm like, are you kidding me right now?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Like this is what we're you know, or you know,
Brude walk in with a book like you know, they didn't.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Carr their playbooks becausey knew the playbook. They he'd walk
in with like a regular book and they'd be like,
what are you doing, Like I read two books last night,
just trying to edge, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:43):
It was like you guys are insane, Like you're insane,
but competitive worked hard. We brought everybody back for OTAs
and we still had that first practice. I just remember
the noise of the defense, the communication, but it was
just it was so loud, so clean, so clear, so
(28:05):
just like locked in focus. It just sounded like a
machine and you were like, wow, like these guys are unreal.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
And I remember, you know, with Draves too.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
The one thing that was amazing to me about Mike Rabel,
you know, you're in college football world, and every year
it was like, hey, we got to get to training
camp to get in shape. I just felt with these
guys like you could have called them any month. You
could have called them in April and they would have
been able to play a three hour football game at
the highest level. They were always in shape. Mike Rabel
(28:37):
was always he was never out of shape. It was
just amazing to me the level of professionalism that these
guys held each other to, and they held themselves to.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Corey Dillon made an immediate impression on his teammates and coaches,
both on the field and off it.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I have in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 8 (28:53):
When you watch him.
Speaker 23 (28:54):
I was always amazed at how talented he really was.
I mean, you knew he was Sinnati.
Speaker 19 (29:01):
Corey Dylan left Cincinnati with a team record eight thousand
rushing yards, a total which would have also smashed the
Patriots franchise rushing record. Dylan has four career twelve hundred
yard seasons, which no Patriot has accomplished since Curtis Martin
in nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 23 (29:17):
But now you're seeing it firsthand, that was that was
I already said that was the best. I'll see that
was the best hour to say. I mean, that was fantastic,
unbelievably fantastic. Then it became, Okay, I gotta get this
button shape, but I can't overuse it, and that's that
became the whole focal point. Get him in shape, getting
(29:39):
ready to play, but also save him because it's gonna
be a long season.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Teddy Bruski Arizona.
Speaker 27 (29:44):
Know how many times I've played against him prior to that,
but you see him watching film and I always thought
he was one of the best in the business out
there in terms of a running back that had size
and speed. I mean, he was just such a tough
nose runner that was in a bad place that really
frustrated him. And it was amazing that when you bring
those players into a place where they have leaders that
(30:07):
are able to just you know, they can see. I
mean it's not like, really I ever took Corey aside
and said a CD, I mean, this is the way
it is here. You know, it was just just watch us, man,
just watch the way we work and the things that
we care about. Because you can figure out pretty quickly
about players and what's important to them and how they
talk in the locker. Room, how they treat practice, how
(30:28):
they treat meeting rooms.
Speaker 8 (30:29):
Are they joking around?
Speaker 27 (30:30):
Are they talking about where they going at night? Never
was much of that here, and players could always see
that and they could figure out quickly what we were about.
Speaker 17 (30:39):
The crazy part about him is the perspective on Corey,
you know, was so could have been so far from
their room. This guy just wanted to win some games.
That's all he wanted to do. This guy was a workhorse.
He actually I don't know. He was like a kid
a kid factory, you know, coming to New England and
(30:59):
just seeing it is open here. We work hard, but
you're gonna reap the benefits later. It's gonna pay off
in the end. This guy didn't say one word throughout
the whole year, but he enjoyed the run that we had.
Speaker 8 (31:11):
Corey dyllon University of One.
Speaker 15 (31:13):
So, I mean, just breaking the ice and getting to
know these guys, and I mean just coming here doing
training camp and us joking around and getting familiar with
each other, we kind of, you know, everybody was just like,
oh okay, So some of the things I hear ain't
what they are, you know what I mean. So yeah,
I mean I'm pretty sure coming in due to the
(31:37):
fact that p left Cincinnati, they were like, can we
trust him? Can Is he gonna be able to fit
in with us? Can he does? You know, just things
like that of that nature and just coming in and
they seeing my personality that like, I'm just like them,
I think kind of broke the ice and we started
we started yelling and they let me do my things.
Speaker 12 (31:58):
Patriot Football Weekly.
Speaker 14 (32:01):
You would sort of look at it and say, well,
maybe that can be a great move, But he's a
guy who's been in trouble. He's his you know, his
desire and professionalism has been called into question. We'll see
how that goes. That kind of got eliminated. In training camp,
you could sort of see what this guy could provide
for the offense, and you know, how they wanted to
(32:23):
play and how they had played in one with Antwine Smith,
Corey Dillon was a maserati. Compared to Antoine Smith, who's
a good player. I mean no disrespect to Antwine Smith,
good solid NFL player. Corey Dillon at his best was
one of the best running backs of football, and certainly
in twenty and forty was at his best. I think
he transformed the offense a little bit, gave him a
(32:45):
little bit of a power speed combo, big plays and
the tough yards.
Speaker 5 (32:50):
Dylan trying to go to the left culture of the
cross a line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Bangs on on his feet oat of the thirty yard
line goes Corey Dillon on.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
The defensive side of the ball. A familiar face disappeared
in a new place during camp, the wide receiver Troy
Brown suddenly taking reps at cornerback, a move that would
prove pressient later in the season.
Speaker 14 (33:07):
I don't think it was the way we cover it now,
with every detail being blogged and tweeted and documented the
way we do now. But we all did say, well,
that's kind of strange. You know, Troy Brown's playing some defense.
We all talked about it. Yeah, that's cute. You know,
I wonder what that will mean. Obviously we found out that,
you know, much like a lot of things Bill Belichick
did ahead of time, you know, they wound up being
(33:29):
important when they needed it during the course of the season.
Speaker 9 (33:32):
Troy Brown, Marshall University.
Speaker 10 (33:34):
At first, I didn't know how to take it.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Was.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
It was Eric Mangini that came. I was sitting in
front of my lock of mind, of my own business,
getting ready for a training camp practice, you know, and
he comes in with this little highlights of this is
covered two, you got cover three whatever it is, you know,
and are you playing defense today? You know you're doing
one on one, You're doing one on ones and artis stuff.
So and I'm like look at him, like seriously. He's like, yeah, seriously.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
And I was just.
Speaker 10 (34:01):
Like, like, all right, did I give you the best
that I got? I mean, we had at that time,
you know, it was it was later in my career.
We had we had good receivers.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
On the team.
Speaker 10 (34:09):
We had David David Gibbons, and we had Dan I
think David pat Mustak, you know. So, so we had
Bethel Johnson was here. So we had some some talent
on the football team that would allow to give us
some flexibility to go over and play on that side
of that ball, just at least at least with practice anyway.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So meanwhile, the rookie Will Fork and his fellow Nos
tackle Keith Trailor got a crash course in the two
gaping style of defense.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
Ben's will Ford.
Speaker 26 (34:37):
My mindset was I need to be on the field,
and it really wasn't. I was upset I didn't start,
you know, because in college, the only year I started
was my last year there.
Speaker 8 (34:47):
You know, I played.
Speaker 26 (34:48):
Behind uh two defensive tackles in college my first and
second year, but my playing time I played more than them,
So that really didn't bother me. And I knew Keith
Traylor was an older guy coming in and he never
really played in his defense, so it was new to
him too, and he was an older guy, and me
and Keith had a great relationship. We learned off each
(35:09):
other because every time I had to do something, even
though I was a rookie, he had to do it
because we both had to learn how to be a
nosackle because think about it, we were trying to replace
the great Ted Washington at that position, right so and
also in my mind was like, okay, New England Patriots
just won a Super Bowl and he picked me first runder.
I can't let them down. So all that drove me.
(35:32):
And I know how I work and the work I
put in with study and stuff, it wasn't gonna be
a problem for me to hit the field and start
making plays. I just needed to understand the system I was.
Speaker 15 (35:45):
In players, Like what for because they go to a
program where the pros teach them how to be pros.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
This is how we work in New England.
Speaker 17 (35:53):
They would teach him how to be professional football clab.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
No longer the surprising bloodsoe backup. Tom Brady fully ascended
to one of the most deadly quarterbacks in the NFL,
one who not only set the standard, but held his
teammates to the same standard.
Speaker 15 (36:09):
Corey Dillon, University of washing Man. Just just being that
ultimate competitor. I could see that. I knew it. Just
how he prepares. He was always first then last out, and.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
The way he gathered all of us.
Speaker 15 (36:25):
There's not one player in that locker room that wouldn't
run through a brick wall for Tom Brady. And and
that's what it's about. He controlled, he had that, he
had that.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
Control over the team where.
Speaker 15 (36:38):
Hey, man, let's when he gets going, when head button
people and screaming, let's go man, It's it's exciting for
your quarterback to see your quarterback to express those kind
of emotions and energy. Man, it fires everybody up. So
ultimate leader, ultimate competitor. And I've seen I've seen it
(37:02):
then I knew he was gonna be great. So and
he proved it, so he'sile he proved it.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
Not like top for.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Top for everything, Matt Patricia offensive assistant Tom Brady.
Speaker 7 (37:15):
Is you know, there's not enough good words in the
English language, I think to describe him, right.
Speaker 6 (37:18):
I mean, he's just unbelievable.
Speaker 7 (37:20):
And being with him for as long as I was,
and being on offense, to start to be with him
every day was incredible, and then switch to the other
side and compete against him every day was even you know,
even more amazing. But really, from from the start he
was just he's just the best guy ever. But even
more so what I thought was amazing. As we'd be
out of practice on Fridays, I'm a young coach, We're
(37:42):
getting ready to go obviously play the opponent that week,
and he'd be like, hey, Maddie, He's like, can you
make sure you get me all the advanced stuff for
next week because as soon as the game's over, I
want to start working on Pittsburgh and I want to
make sure you have this.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
He goes, what do you think?
Speaker 7 (37:53):
And I would give him the breakdown, Like I would
just give him the breakdown every every Friday, and he
would take it and he would go and then that's
how he started prep And I'm like, you know, okay,
Like I got to make sure my stuff is good
because I got to make sure he's you know, I
just you felt he gave you that empowerment of making
you feel like, hey, you're what you're doing is really important.
Speaker 6 (38:11):
Right now and I need that. Can you help me?
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Now?
Speaker 6 (38:13):
Look whether what I was giving him, I don't know
twenty five.
Speaker 7 (38:15):
Years ago was any good or not good, but he
always asked for it and always wanted it.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Brushing aside a one to three preseason that was capped
off with a thirty one nothing loss to the Jaguars
at home, Patriots were ready for another title run, aware
of the stakes, but without a focus on defending a
championship instead going out and earning it.
Speaker 9 (38:33):
Anew deon brat Louisville.
Speaker 17 (38:35):
Yeah, Well, the mato was that let's go out and
do something that hasn't been done in a long time.
Speaker 8 (38:40):
That was our mato.
Speaker 17 (38:41):
We already see what it looks like when we do
everything the right way, we carry out all these assignments,
we can come in here and we commit and dedicate
ourselves to this.
Speaker 9 (38:50):
We know exactly what this looked like. We just did it.
Speaker 17 (38:53):
Let's mimic the same exact thing, bring in some more
players and do the exact same thing.
Speaker 8 (38:58):
And that's what happened.
Speaker 17 (38:59):
You saw adding these other guys to the program, and
now everything changes. You get what I'm saying, that competitive
edge that we're always talking about, the dedication factor, guys
holding each other accountable. That was really the most important
piece that going into four. You know, the veteran guys
on the team were really holding all everybody accountable for everything.
(39:21):
You missed one of this, you missed this for first
of all, everybody was one hundred percent in the off
season program. But if we see guys over here slacking
in this during our run drills, passing drills. If you
see that, guys calling players out, and that's what you
need to actually when you want to have that championship
type team and that model, that's what you got to
actually embody.
Speaker 12 (39:41):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 9 (39:44):
We never had to fight over confidence. You know, now
did the truth be told?
Speaker 16 (39:49):
You know, when you're winning a bunch, you start to
smell yourself a little bit.
Speaker 9 (39:52):
But we were never a we were never a group.
Speaker 16 (39:57):
Or individuals that we had overcomptent.
Speaker 9 (40:01):
Did we think we had a good team. Did we
think we had good talent? Yeah, but we knew that
Colts were pretty darn good. We knew that, you know,
we knew that there were other good teams.
Speaker 16 (40:10):
And we also, again the year before had proven there's
a lot that can go wrong between September and the
end of December.
Speaker 9 (40:20):
Let alone what happens in January.
Speaker 16 (40:22):
Right, Really, I mean truly one of the things that
you learned when you're in this business, particularly when you're coaching,
but especially in personnel. An NFL season is an unbelievable
exercise not only in mental and emotional endurance, but truly
in attrition.
Speaker 9 (40:42):
And you know, so, yeah, we thought we had from talent,
We thought we had a good team.
Speaker 16 (40:48):
We thought we had you know, our quarterback was developing,
and David Gibbons was developing, Dion was you.
Speaker 9 (40:55):
Know, we had players. So we had Corey Dillon, but
you never know how to stuff's gonna work out.
Speaker 16 (41:01):
Plus, on top of bald what I've just said, this
is a chemistry experiment too. How is that group of
talent going to gel and function together?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Next time?
Speaker 1 (41:11):
The Patriots take a win streak into the regular season
and prove themselves to be a team that could win
games however necessary, putting their names in the record books
before the postseason even arrived. Join us on this Patriots
super Bowl sound odyssey. Yes, it's a dynasty.
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