2001: Episode Six, We Are All Patriots

In this episode we relive the Patriots’ Super Bowl 36 win with all its ups and downs, an excellent gameplan and flawless execution on the final game-winning drive.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The two thousand and one New England Patriots, the team
that started an NFL dynasty. In a season full of
dramatic twists and turns on and off the field, the
upstart Pats shocked the world, redefining what it meant to
be a team and a Patriot. Twenty years and six
Super Bowl championships later, we're revisiting that historic season, hearing

(00:26):
from different perspectives that were there to witness it firsthand
and tell the tale, from players to coaches, local and
national media, and even some fans. Mixed with some of
the most iconic sounds that define the season. It will
be a unique six part journey back as we follow
the roots of the Patriots dynasty for the one championship
that started it all. We are all Patriots, and tonight

(00:47):
the Patriots at champions I might do so, And this
is two thousand and one a Super Bowl Sound Odyssey,
Episode six. We are all Patriots, good ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome to Super Bowl thirty six. After knocking off
the Raiders and Steelers, the two thousand and one New

(01:09):
England Patriots would be the AFC's representative in Super Bowl
thirty six. The franchise's third Super Bowl appearance in their history.
Previous trips super Bowl twenty against the Bears and thirty
one against the Packers ended in disappointing defeats, and there
were plenty of reasons to believe Super Bowl thirty six
would end its similar fashion. The Saint Louis Ram the
team with the fast record in football team now that

(01:31):
it is sixteen and two. The opponent the Saint Louis Rams,
a team just two years removed from their first championship
and looking to cement their place as the dominant team
in the NFL. Earlier in the season, the Rams had
gone to Foxboro and delivered a twenty four seventeen victory.
The Patriots certainly showed tonight that they can play with
the big boys LA Saint Louis Rams, but we're unable

(01:53):
to get it over the top. The Rams lost to
the Saints the following week, and since then, neither Day
nor the Patriots had lost a game. Due to Er eleventh,
there would be no bye week between the championship games
and the Super Bowl, condensing preparation time. Yeah, one of
the things that Bill Belichick was telling us yesterday, he
said the thing I worry about the most is the
first five minutes. If you look what the Rams doing

(02:14):
the first five minutes on offense, six touchdowns, two field goals,
Look at this defense. Seven takeaway. But after a confidence inspiring,
albeit disappointing loss earlier in the season, the Patriots knew
exactly how they would adjust their approach. Chris Berman ESPN.
We do a long interview with Bill. When we were
done and had everybody clear the room for five minutes,
he was kind enough to give me a singer a minute,

(02:37):
a few minutes, just me and him. I said, so
pretty good offense. What are you gonna do? He warned Boomer.
We will not let Marshall falk beat us. I'm implying
he's great, which of course he was. There is, you know,
Hall of Fame and Warrener looking for fall chaste. Whatever

(03:03):
else happens will happen. But we're gonna do everything in
our power not to let Marshall falk beat us. And
he said that, and look back at the stats at
what Marshall didn't didn't do. There were stemages calling plays
to get him going. And that was the mindset of
the Patriots, and knowing that you could see that he

(03:25):
was not going to have a Marshall falk Day. Scott Pioli,
Patriots director of player personnel. I felt confident going into
the game because the game plan that quite honestly, it
was Bill and Ernie developed Ernie Adams. You know, I
felt confident and it made all the sense in the world.
What we were going to try to do in that

(03:46):
game made all the sense in the world. And then
the players executed it. And again I go back to that.
You know, those players on that team deserve so much
more credit. Bill and Charlie in the entire staff put
even you know, Brad Seeley, the special teams. They were
always so prepared for anything and everything. But a team

(04:10):
can be prepared and then players have to execute. And
we had a lot of really, really good players that
executed that game plan and other game plans during the
course of the year really very well. Mike Greece Metro
West Daily News, Well, I thought they were going to
get steamrolled. To be honest with you, I lived through
Patriots Bears getting ready to Terry Dicka doesn't want to go. Yeah,

(04:35):
he says, wait till I see that final second. Who's
gonna argue with Terry, he wins most of those. Walter Payton,
Mike Dicka, Hungary Chicago finally champions on this January day
in New Orleans forty six to ten the final and
Patriots Packers Patriots on a superstition, which has been a

(04:59):
defeat the Greens. Like those weren't very competitive super bowls.
Like I like to look back on Patriots Packers and
think like, like, yeah, they kept it close a little bit,
Like honestly, was that ever? Really in doubt? Not that
I remembered, Like those were the last two decades apart
that I had experienced, like why should this one be different?

(05:20):
And remember we championships weren't like that normal of a
thing here. We were more accustomed to, like brace yourself
for the misery. Paul Perillo, Patriots Football Weekly. And I
thought the Rams were the better team. I figured indoors
is gonna be awfully hard to slow them down. That
was in November night game outdoors. That and even then,

(05:42):
I think Kurt Warner threw for over four hundred yards
in that game and really racked up a lot of offense.
And I thought the Rams easily could have had more
than twenty four points a matter of fact, they kneeled
on the ball inside the ten to close the game out,
and I thought, indoors, this is gonna be a really
tall task. Tommy current Metro West Daily News. No, it
was a full culmination to see the Patriots were a

(06:04):
polished pack of violence dispensing individuals, and you saw it
throughout that season. Look, secondaries were tough, but by the
early two thousands they weren't that tough. To Bucky Jones
for instance, Otis Smith for another instance. We're not even

(06:24):
talking about Maloya and Law or of Rabel. These guys
were just mean football players when challenged, and happy to
use their physicality, fight for pleasant you name it. And
I truly felt that they would have a chance. Not
I felt they they'd be able to beat the Rams,
And I said it most of the week to anybody

(06:45):
who'll listen. But again, thirty three years old, the Metro
West Daily News. But I was a full on believer.
I mean I had seen it happen. I had seen
the development since July. I had seen the transformation of Brady.
I had seen that, you know, the team itself had
completely bought in so one of those if they played

(07:05):
ten times, I don't know if the Rams would win nine.
They probably win six or seven. But Belichick was built
for this stuff. It's not about any individual, it's about teams. Well,
you know, that's the thing that has carried them. He's
gonna make a guy who played back in the old
days when that was the way it was, like, you
feel good to see it does. And of course the
fact that Bill Belichick worked so hard to implement that

(07:30):
within the team and get them to believe that and
think that way. Mike reas that point in two thousand
to two thousand and two, even though it's the two
thousand and one season. So I'm five years out of
college and I've got a die hard fan of my dad.
So we watched it as fans with another family that

(07:51):
we would go to the games with when I wasn't
attending games, and literally, like everyone else, like a fan
on the edge of my seat the whole time, never
comfortable that of what was going to happen. And when
you're covering it, you got to be professional. But I
will tell you, looking back on it, I was a
fan that day because I wanted that to happen for

(08:14):
the franchise. You know, there's something special about the first
time Rob Ryan linebackers coach cut to the Super Bowl.
Teddy Bruski is this, I'm doing dorm check, all right,
and it's yeah, two days maybe we're at the Super
Bowl and I go to you know, wait, you know,
knock on the door, make sure Teddy's in, and he

(08:35):
has no bed in the room. It's like a broom
closet that he's living in. All right. Well, he's traded
his room to a kid that never dressed for the games,
just because you know, he appreciated all his hard work,
and he had his back so he was so tight
in his back. He's like, I don't need a good
room anyway. I'm just gonna lay on the floor. But

(08:57):
literally had no TV in his room. He just laying
on the floor in the smallest room I'd ever seen
in my life. And I'm like, look at this guy.
And this guy turned it out in the soup. And
that was Teddy Bruski maybe two yards of the forty
one who made the tackle. You know, we're playing one
linebacker defense and Teddy's making all those plays one on

(09:18):
one against fall I mean, and he handled the running game,
you know, by himself. I mean He was just incredible.
But that's that's the type of commitment these players had
for each other and for the team. And then you know,
people don't know that about Bruski, but he's one of
the best teammates. You know, you ever saw Pepper Johnson's

(09:38):
linebackers coach, what's the greatest soul on turn having seen.
Was a physical team we hope to be. We had
to play one of our most physical games to to
decide to wear them down and give them something that
um that they weren't used to and now we weren't

(09:59):
going to We weren't going to back down. That's one
of the things that the Patriots feel on defensive have
to be very aggressive. I really hit these Ram receiver.
Patriots chose to be announced as a team and a
head turning shifts that had been with them since the
opening game when the Bengals began rattling off starters names
before anyone could get out of the tunnel. Lawyer malloy safety.
It was a deal where in the NFL at the time,

(10:22):
you know, individually you had you know, you got announced,
so they would they would say, okay, defense is getting
you getting getting announced this week or whatever. So office,
you know, goes out first and defensively you go out. Um,
there's a time where you know, they they call and say, okay,
you know, team, you have two minutes get ready or whatever.
So you know, they did that and we, uh, we

(10:43):
started to go towards the towards the tunnel, and we
already heard our you know, the the you know whoever
was getting caught out. We already heard heard the names
being announced. So we're all looking around like, what the
hell you mean. We're all professionals and we you know,
a lot of guys have been in the league for
for however many years, and we're like, this is not
how I supposed to go. So we just said, let's
just go out as a team, and collectively we we

(11:05):
decided to do that for the rest of the season.
I noticed that once again, do you know, the Patriots
did what they've done since the first game of the season.
They did not come out individually for introductions. The whole
Patriots team was announced, but not player by player, and
that's something they started in after the Cincinnati game. And
it's just another sign of the team cohesiveness and the

(11:28):
camaraderie among these guys that it's not about any individual,
It's about team and now ladies and choosing to be
introduced as a teams. As the Patriots were coming out
of the tunnel as a team, ram Rickey Prole made

(11:49):
a sideline prognostication that would ultimately come true, just not
for a Saint Louis Rams. Joe Andrew offensive lineman, my
oldest brother, kept on saying to the whole playoffs, you
know you're going to Zooper Bowl. It's destiny. It's you're

(12:10):
going there. I'm telling you you're going there. It's destiny.
You guys are going to Patriots right, winning blue team
after this last year, you know, it's it's it's meaningful.
You know this has happened for the Patriots. They're here,
they belong here, and you know they're just had been
an exciting year for professional football in New England. Mike Vrabel, linebacker,

(12:33):
I think it's so new for all of us, you know,
I think going out as a team and just the
whole They're not having a week off in between the
Super Bowl and you know, just going out there and
getting the lead and competing and executing the game plan
and you know, coming back and giving ourselves a chance
to win the game like we did at the end,
all right, set to go, hadn't been a terry to

(12:54):
kick it off from here in New Orleans and he
approaches the ball in super Bowl six is underway end
m Paul Perillo. As soon as the game started, as
soon as like the first two series either way, and
you could see the physicality the Patriots are playing with.
You knew it was going to be a dog fight.
And the kind of game that unfolded you could see
right from the start. The Patriots showed extreme physicality with

(13:15):
the Rams. The weather in an early storm, as the
Rams still found success moving the ball. The defense, which
was stellar on third down all game, surrendered just a
field goal in the opening quarter, fifty three yard fifty
yard field goal that rather by Wilkins, the third longest
in Super Bowl history, and it was a third fifty

(13:38):
plush yard field goal in balls. They get some help
early in the second when kicker Jeff Wilkins missed another
field goal attempt from fifty two yards. They snapped the
ball down. They kick up on the way and it
is no good, no good, fifty two yard field goal attempt,
No good. Pay Fitch defense holes while Tom Brady and
the Patriots offense struggled to find any rhythm. Ready takes

(13:59):
the direction, now rolls to his right, still rolling to
the right, still rolling to the right, fires down the
field is incomplete. Fourth down in the Patriots the force
to punk, but by the mid second quarter the physical
punishment from the Patriots defenders began to add up. He
is hit and stacked up tack the fifty yard line,
short of the first down. Bobby Hamilton and Teddy Bruce Ki.
Suddenly a forced bad throw by Kurt Warner was heading

(14:21):
in the other direction. Hodgens the fullback lines up in
the left slot on the left wing and in motion
to the near side. Right comes Bruce and Warner goes
back to thrown. Here's the pledge by Mike Gravel, the
package coop by Tai Law Carty twenty five to twenty
fifty time Thy Law picks it up and takes it
to the house turn the Patriot take the lead for

(14:44):
they twenty nine ago. The first time Thaye Law cornerback
make a play like that impact play in the Super
Bowl to where that changed, that changed everything, you know
that particular place. So now we get we always had
a chance. We always had hold within our sales, but
now that really like see minute, like when we were

(15:06):
about to win this thing, you know what I mean.
And and I still killed the credit to Mike Rabel
because that is the type of innocence I'm used to dive,
and I'm used to doing it. I'm used to coming
up with, you know, picks that is, you know, pretty
hard to come up with those easy ones is to
be one of you drop. You know, Mike Rabel, he
made Kirk throw an errand throw and it was coming.

(15:28):
I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. I'm sitting there
really thinking in that split second if I dropped this,
you know, I was like, man, I'm gonna I'm gonna
catch this like I'm catching the baby out there, you
know what I mean. It's like, man, I am not
dropping this because but that's still this type of stuff
that you drop it once I got into my hands
and called it and like I said, that was just
as much rabels, uh, you know, interception and play as

(15:50):
it was mine. Hey, who was in his face? Kurt?
I think it was God didn't clean and it was
right on Kurt Warren and made him throw the ball
much sooner than he wants to and he just lighted
up there, isaaid Bruce did not have a chance to
turn around to find the ball, and there was ty

(16:11):
Law with the intersection at just nothing but green space
in front of him, trotting down the sidelines for US
go ahead touchdown. Kind the Patriots out on top of
Damian Woody offensive linemen. You know again you go back
to the game, you know, regular season game where we
lost to him. We just wanted to be physical up
front with him. Um, you know, we kind of wanted

(16:32):
to use the things that do they do well against them.
We ran a lot of balls and we just ran
right at him. You know, that was our biggest thing
and the most important thing is we you know, we
preached not turn the ball over because they were still
explosive to offense, and when when we had those opportunities,

(16:52):
we had to take advantage in capitalize and to me,
that was that was the whole key. But the defense
wasn't done in the first half, forcing another punt and
then another turnover back to throw is worn around first
and ten fires over the middle of his plot. A
rookie Prowlin draw and the Patriots recover it back at
the forty five that has picked up at midfield. Heading
to the right is Terrell Buckley gown of the forty

(17:14):
yard line of the Rams thirty nine pro fumble them
all after he was hit, Terrell Buckley picked it up
and returned it to the ram forty yard line. The
offense would not miss out on the chance to capitalize
again on a Ram's mistake. Brady drops back to throw
looks fire's right touchdown David Pap touchdown. David Pap eight

(17:35):
yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady. What I tell you?
Thirty one seconds to go and a half and the
Pats score their second touchdown. Love a second quarter and
the England fans who are here in New Orleans, I
enjoy this one right now. Patriots took an unlikely fourteen
three lead into the locker room at the half, while
inside the stadium, a memorable tribute to the victims of

(17:56):
nine to eleven and a performance by YouTube produced one
of the most emotional half time performances in Super Bowl history.
Nick Fitzie Stevens, Patriots fan and personality, just think back
for a second how emotional it was at halftime The
You two Show with the banners dropping from the Superdome
ceiling with the names of everyone that had perished at

(18:17):
nine to eleven at the World Trade Center. Think back
to that game with the Pats running out onto the
field and the flyovers and all the spirit, like we
were so unified as a country, unified as a region,
unified as a fan base. Like everyone, don't forget, folks,
everyone's been rooting against us for the past fifteen almost
twenty years. But back there was a time when people
actually rooted for the Patriots. That was the team people

(18:39):
wanted to win. The Rams were about to become a
dynasty and dominate for years. Mike Greece, I mean sometimes
those games had the worst when you get ahead early
and you're like holding on and and I have to
tell you, I mean, like, okay, so here we are
looking back like all these championships of the last twenty years,

(18:59):
Like I'm sorry, Like our mindset was not conditioned to
think at championships. It was to think a heartbreak as
a kid, like it was Bill Buckner for me, Like,
and you almost don't want to watch That's where I
was on that game. I almost didn't want to watch it.
This felt like like, hey, this might be the only
time we're gonna be here. You know, this is like

(19:21):
lightning in a bottle, Like I don't know if I
can deal with the heartbreak. Oh but then you get
then you're reeling me in because you got up early. Okay,
all right, all right, And then it was like, oh
my god, you gotta be kidding me. We're holding on,
We're holding on. With the chess match continues here at
the Superdome. The back and forth would continue into the

(19:42):
third quarter, with the team's trading three punts to start
the session. Then the defense struck again, forcing a third
turnover that would result in critical points. Factor throw is
Warner fires pick off by the Fiat Ray of the
fifty forty five forty one five one down inside the
forty fo oh this fifth of the past interception At

(20:03):
another Patriots takeaway, the Patriots offense would pick up just
fourteen yards, but enough for a thirty seven yard field
goal from Adam Vinitari that extended the lead to seventeen three.
Just before the start of the fourth quarter. Snap ball down,
kick is up all the way and she's good. Thirty
seven yards for Adam Vinetari. So the Patriots get three
out of the turnover, and now with a minute in

(20:26):
eighteen left to play. Here in the third quarter, the
Patriots increased their lead over these heavily favored Saint Louis
Rams to seventeen to three. Jermaine Wiggins tight end. I
think we were at one point, we might have been
up like seventeenth three. I don't remember what it was,
but we were up by like at least ten points
at one point, and you're winning the game, and you're

(20:48):
like thinking to yourself, like you're looking at the school boilet.
So wait a second, we gonna win a Super Bowl? Here?
Am I gonna be able to say, like like I
couldn't even like comprehend or understand what that meant? Down
fourteen points with time running out, the Rams offense came
to life. In just ten plays. The Rams moved the
ball from their own twenty three to the Patriots three.
With the Patriots defense once again stiffening inside the red

(21:09):
zone on third down, forcing the Rams to go for
it on fourth down. Wandered back the throw, looking left,
all being chased. Now rolling into the right, He's got
a wide up an alley. He's trying to run for
a touchdown. And he years down and fumble it all
and it picked up in the Patriot tie lord the
twenty five thirty thirty five, forty forty five mid field.
Hit his clock, Bucky Jones, He's gonna go all the way.

(21:30):
Penny marker down on the field on the far side.
Penalty marker on the field on the far side, Kwebucky
Jones just went about ninety five yards with a fumble recovery.
But there's a penalty flag on the field, so I
hold everything, Paul Perillo. So we're outside in the auxiliary
press box, which at the Superdome at the time, you

(21:50):
just in a in a section of the stands. That's
just media, you know, when the place is going berserkus
Tebucky Jones is running down the sideline. They were a
ton of Patriots fans there, and he's coming down the
sideline and he's running and I'm just I just stood
up and I had my two hands over my head
with the number one sign up and I'm jumping up
and down. I'm not ashamed to admit it. This is

(22:12):
my team was going to win the Super Bowl. And
I didn't care that I was a member of the media.
I didn't care who wanted to look at me and
you know, give me the stink eye. It didn't matter
to me. And then I realized the flag was there,
and some drunk like ended up dumping up one of
those pad O'Brian hurricanes all over me. So not only
did I lose my professionalism in the spur of the moment,

(22:35):
the flag takes it back. So my team hasn't won now,
and I was sticky the whole rest of the game.
So it's first and goal to go inside the two
yard line for the Rams. So what was euphoria for
Patriots fans? It's wiped out by a penalty flag with
the ninety seven yard pick six called back. The Rams
would score just two plays later, cutting the Patriots lead

(22:56):
to seventeen ten with just over nine minutes to play.
Shocking and gold at the patch two quarterback sneak touchdown,
Kurt Warner walked into the end zone untouched, with the
Patriots offense putting up back to back three and ouns.
The Rams would get one more chance just after the
two minute warning. Dangerous Saint Louis Rams offense will get
the ball back again here one more shot anyway, but

(23:16):
Patriots defense really has risen in these later stages to
come up with some big plays, and it would take
just three plays capping off a furious comeback the quickly
and unceremoniously erased a near perfect game from the Patriots
to that point. The Warner takes the snap, stands in
the pocket, steps up, dumps it over the middle of
his clock there at the fifty yard line by Hakeem

(23:36):
Hung on the right sideline and goes out of bounds
inside the forty at the Patriot thirty seven yard line.
They let him get some extra yardage out of that.
Back to passes, Kurt Warner dumps it out to the
right of Yo Murphy at the thirty five thirty and
out of bounds at the Patriot twenty six. So the
Rams now are killing them with a short passing game
for their speedy wide receiver. Back to passes warn it

(23:58):
looks fires left, it is wide up. They're sorry for
five cups down sort Louis. With the game tied at
seventeen and just one twenty one left, Tom Brady took
over at the Patriots seventeen yard line. It's seventeen seventeen.
While my first thing as I go up to Charlie
and I say, what are we doing? And he says
we're going. So I said, all right, what's the first play?

(24:18):
And Charlie says to me, as I'm sure Bill setting
his here, he'd better take care of that ball. So
Charlie yells at me. He says, hey, take care of
that ball. And Drew was kind of standing next to
me and he kind of just shuffle in front of
that and he says that go out there and sling it.
Scott Poli, everyone talks about blueprints, Well, there's a blueprint

(24:39):
out there on a lot of teams, but if the
players don't execute, it doesn't mean anything. And that's what
had to happen that day against the Rams. And there
was a terrific game plan in place. The players executed
it incredibly well. I mean, the defense was amazing. You know,
that last drive was exactly you know. It was all
those high percentage throws to chunk down the field and

(24:59):
get down the field, and and it just seemed the
players never stopped to think. They're like, Okay, we know
what to do in this situation. We know what to
do in this circumstance, and they did it. Damian Woody.
You know, we're playing the greatest show on turf. Let's
go win it in the biggest stage that possibly could be.
And again, when your quarterback is projecting the type of

(25:22):
energy that permeates throughout the huddle, it just makes it.
It's just the confidence. This grows easy further. And that
was that's how Tom you know, actually he was like, Man,
let's go, let's go do this, go win this thing.
You didn't say that in those type of words, but
in more colorful words, but basically that was it, like,
let's go win this damn game. Joe andrewsy see a

(25:43):
picture of Drew saying to Time on the sidelines, you know,
go out there and let's go out there and do
this thing. Let's go out there and singing, singing this thing,
and Time getting in the huddle and having that poise
and the leadership. But she still has to this day
and looks at everybody. He's not by in his fingernails
as a rookie quarterback or second year or whatever, and
face to be a rookie and nervous and not ready.

(26:07):
He got out there in that total and looked at everybody,
looked at other ten guys and said here, let's go
down and let's go do this thing. Paul Perillo. You
know Brady avoiding the sack on the very first play
in almost a fumble. Brady takes the direct snap, stands
up in the pocket, starts to run with it, throws
over the middle. It is caught there after the twenty
one yard line. Jr. Redman somehow getting out of bounds

(26:28):
after a modest game that if he stays inbounds probably
ends the drive. Brady takes the direct snap, stands in
the pocket, dumps it off to the left, complete the Jr.
Redmond thirty thirty five to the forty and I furst
down to the near sideline and out of bounds. Troy
Brown has always doing the right thing. Brady takes the
direct snap, stands in the pocket, steps up, fires down

(26:49):
the field clot Troy ran at the party beast to
the left of the thirty seven yard line. It goes
out of bounds, stopping the clock at the ram thirty
six with twenty one seconds to go. Don't forget our buddy,
Jermaine Wiggins caught a path us in that drive too,
direct snap to Tom looks, fires over the middle, cut
by Jermaine Wiggins down to the thirty yard line of
Saint Louis Nick Fitzie Stevens. But first chance, he got

(27:10):
to kill a dynasty Tom Brady touchdown. Tom the Dynasty
Killer got it done that final drive. Troy Brown. Oh
my god, Jermaine Wiggins have like ten catches in the
Super Bowl, Wiggy Jermaine Wiggins. And like here it is.
I'm looking at Mike. I'm about to win a Super Bowl.
You know. I'm a kid that's used to play and
tackle football at this Allegiance Boys Club. Right now it

(27:30):
is a down at Shore Plaza, and now it is
I'm getting ready to, you know, potentially win a Super Bowl.
And I'm in it and I'm playing and I'm pot
of it. With seven seconds to play in Super Bowl
thirty six, Adam Vina Terry lined up to attempt a
forty eight yard field goal for the win. Ken Walder
will hold, Lonnie Paxton will snap from the far hash
mark angle to the left for Adam Gonna Terry. Forty

(27:53):
eight yard field goal attempt set to go, snap ball down,
kick up, kick is on the way, and it is good.
It's good. It's good. A minitary pimps a forty steak
yard build and the game is over as A Patrios
are Super Bowl chaconds A Patrios are Super Bowl champions.

(28:16):
The best team of the believe had a minitary forty
eight yards baby Mike Grease kill and his call, Oh
what a Finnish, what a finished the girl? Oh my god,
like forever we'll have that call right and so beautifully done.

(28:40):
And then just like the player's high stepping in celebration
like that, like the joyous nature of it across the field,
Lawyer and Bill like, I mean, I can pick. We're
talking about it, We're not watching it, like, but I
can see it in my head. Beautiful, we are the champions.

(29:03):
Are the chapampions. Antoine Smith running back. I think I'm
about thirty yards behind the ball, so I'm back there
so I can see it and ask the kick is
in the air. I'm kind of suffling on the field
looking at it to make sure that it goes through.
And when it went through, I just it was just

(29:24):
as well. Emotions first, the first day I can think
of it, just to rout out there on the field,
and you know that moment was captured me just running
out there high stepping, throwing my arms in the air
like yeah, we are world champs. We didn't won the
Super Bowl. The third time is the charm and the
Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. Scott Pioli. I

(29:44):
remember being in the press box and I was standing,
and we were in the old you know in New Orleans,
in the Dome, and they had in the coach's boxes
these really really steep staircases that laid down to the
chiefs where the coaches would sit up against the glass,
you know, to observe the field. So there wasn't enough room,

(30:05):
so once again I had to stand. I was standing
behind Ernie Adams and I was on the steep part
of the steps, and right behind me and kind of
through the side of me was Bears and Jerry him.
And when the ball was kicked, I remember we all
had to lean forward because it was such a cramped space,
but we had to lean forward in order to see
it and look to our right. And when the ball

(30:27):
went through the upright I kind of stumbled, and at
the same time I stumbled, Bears hit me on the back,
which pushed me down the stairs, and I tumbled down
the stairs and slammed it left of Ernie Adams who
was looking out the glass, and at the same time
he was raising his hand, I slammed into him and
knocked into him. So Ernie was the first person I

(30:49):
got to hug after that, after that Super Bowl, and
it was just one of those moments. I can still
visualize that moment of leaning, leaning, falling, tumbling out the
stairs and falling into the back of Ernie. It was
a great moment. Joe Andrewsy I remember standing there and
you know, hugging all the teammates and then go right

(31:10):
to the sidelines and looking from my family and having
my family go all around and you know, bringing them
on the field of me and celebrating because they're you
know how, families are a part of that trophy as
much as myself and my teammates, coaches and their families,
because like I said earlier, it's a long ruling season.
The ram fans just done. The Patriot fans are in

(31:32):
jubil asia. Matt Chatham linebacker and special teamer. A lot
of sort of the you know how it was all formed.
Stuff is is around offensive football, But that was such
an incredibly talented and dominant by the by the end
of that season defense that we were playing with and
as well as a special teams group. I mean, we

(31:53):
can't overlook that part. We did a great job of
holding down at a super dangerous rams return groups and
booth Or took return and punt returned that they were
exceptional with that us. You know, we all stop to
talk about the greatest show on turf, but they were.
They were dangerous deal position team and we kept that
element out of that game as well. Charlie Weis Well,
probably one of my favorite, one of my favorite two

(32:16):
moments in my Patriot career happened started before the game,
but happened after the game. So if you recall before
that year you had to go to the Super Bowl,
you had to get to the venue way early because
of the security. So before the game, I walk over

(32:37):
to the wall where my wife and son were and
I'm talking to them, and the security guards standing right
there the very high wall, and I'm talking to them
and I said, okay, now, after when we win this game,
you meet me right here and I'm gonna lift you
over the wall to bring you down on the field

(32:58):
so you don't have to go down to the end
zone and going down no steps over there. So the
security guard looked at me and said, coach, come on,
win the game. And I looked at him and said,
you remember I said that, So when I'm taking them
over the wall, I don't want to hear any crack
from you. So the game's over. We kicked the field goal.
Everyone goes running on the field. I never went on

(33:20):
the field at that time. I went right to the
wall and I go to the wall, and my wife
and son met me there, and my wife was starting
to hand my son over the wall, and the security
guard started to say something. I looked at him and said,
Chris Berman. The last six eight minutes, we go down

(33:40):
to the field because we do primetime from the field,
and I was standing with Steve Young behind the goallpost
when Adam got a Terry kicked his forty eight yard
winning field goal. It landed about three yards per months.
We looked at the ball pound we knew it was good.
Before the ref put their hands up. We looked at
each other and oh, my god, perfect kick. Perfect kick.

(34:04):
I mean, gil, that was right down the pipe, I
mean it just dissected that goal posts beautiful, beautiful high
good end over end kick, a beautiful kick once again
under tremendous pressure, had a minitary comes through history will
say that other than the Jets, Nameth and maybe the

(34:25):
Chiefs the next year to you know, super Bowl four,
these are those are the biggest and the Patriots those
are the three biggest underdogs to win a Super Bowl
and remain that way. So it they lit a candle
that became the Olympic torch that two thousand and one team,
um twenty years it stayed lit. Rob Bryant, We'll tell

(34:46):
you what I think that was the Uh, it was
the It was the greatest game that I've ever been
a part of, you know, the Super Bowl, but the
but the journey to get there was was really impressive
because you know, our team wasn't very good. We were
five and eleven the year before, but we were probably
worse than our record, and you know, I can remember thinking, man,

(35:07):
we're never gonna get there. This team is not very good.
We had a terrible start to the season, but our
guys kept hanging in there and kept battling and kept fighting. Well,
New England, you have the best football team in the
world right now, the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Twenty years later, the Patriots first Super Bowl championship still

(35:28):
echoes through the decades. A championship that started dynasty might
be easy to forget with five banners on top of it,
but it was more than just the first title. It
was the start of a special team, an organization that
would dominate professional football in unprecedented ways, something not lost
on those who lived in Mike Vrabel, Well, I just
think that it's every year is a new year, and

(35:49):
you bring in twenty six new free agents and some stick,
some retire, some don't make it. But you know, every
year you're gonna turn a roster over, and you got
to build a team, and you start over every single year.
That team was five and eleven and building like it.
So he fought in guys that he wanted, and you know,
also about playing the best football late, you know, which

(36:10):
is what we did. We played our best football at
the end of the season and we gave we put
ourselves in a position to be successful down the stretch.
Antoine Smith, I just looked back at it and look
at that team, because you know, that year we had
a lot of free agents to come in from other
teams that you know that wasn't a longer one of

(36:32):
the other places, and we all just took it upon ourselves.
You know that we can still play this game. And
to know that that first team, that old one team,
is the team that just really kicked off the dynasteve
in New England. And to me that I was a
part in starting that went in the first two with them.

(36:55):
You know, I take I take great satisfaction and great
gratitude and that Joe Andrew people say all the time,
and you know, you guys started it. You guys, you know,
kicked it off everybody else and it's because of you guys.
And my kids are spoiled and you know many things
like that. I said, uh, and that's a good thing.
It's good to have them spoiled and to have them

(37:16):
cheer for a great team and you know, be able
to root and not be uh, you know, not ashamed,
but your cheer for your your team, your love of
the game. The fans of New England have been waiting
forty two years for this thing, so you know, for

(37:38):
that being said, and it's amazing on what they've done
for twenty years. And you know build uh, you know,
a mastermind and having a great quarterback in Tom truly
helped Paul Perillo. Yeah, the two thousand and one team,
to me was not the most talented team they've had,
but it had as much hard as any team. Um
and I think that characteristic is really moved forward with

(38:01):
the organization and the names have changed in a lot
of places. But you've seen so many games and they
don't always win them, but so many games where you know,
it's the middle of the third quarter and the Patriots
are dead and buried, And you've seen NFL games with
other teams and the game is over for most of
those other teams, but it was never It's never been
over for the Patriots. The Craft family is happy to

(38:24):
be associated with coaches and team players who put team first.
As the way they came out of the tunnel tonight.
The whole idea of being you know, announced as a
as a team instead of individually, is it corny? Yeah?
It was corny. Do we make more of it than
it really was? Yeah? We did. But at the same time,

(38:45):
I think it was meaningful. I think it spoke volumes
over how Bill Belichick and the Patriots Robert kraft On
down felt like you need to do these things in
order to win. If you do these things, could be
a successful program. And I think that all started with
the twenty one team. There is the way the Patriots

(39:06):
wanted to be introduced as a team. That's what Bill
Belichick's ever so important. We're a team, and they came
out of the tunnel as a team, and they played
as a team, no question about that, Tom e Current.
It just shows you the seeds of success being planted
that went forward in terms of selflessness, in terms of enjoyment,

(39:29):
in terms of enjoying the work, and it really the
Brady Belichick relationship was able to germinate because of all
the things they had in common. At that point. Brady
had been spurned by Michigan and had to win his
way through, you know, and did so. Belichick, spurned by

(39:50):
the Browns, had to walk through, crawl over glass to
get this job again. They both were unbelievably desperate to
succeed and step out of shadows of people, whether it's
Bled Sow or whether it's Bill Parcels just proving, proving, proving, proving,
always proving yourself and then saying let's prove ourselves again.
I think it's just a great job, our players and

(40:11):
our coaches on preparation all week. And you know, this
team beat the number one seed in the AFC in Pittsburgh,
beat the number one seed in the NFC here in
Saint Louis. All the credits got to go to the
players and the coaches. And if we're playing next week,
we'll probably be the underdogs. It's been remarkable. And what
I think is cool about this organization is how Shakespearean

(40:32):
it's been since nineteen ninety three, really, you know, whether
it's the hiring of Parcels, the drafting of bled So,
to the resigning of Parcels, to Craft buying the team
and then having Pete carrollin who eventually becomes the guy
in twenty fourteen and bled So, all of it, and

(40:56):
it continues now. It continues now into this year with
Brady and Tampa Bay and Belichick here and the team
trying to reboot, and the guy they've got to perhaps
succeed Brady ultimately is a Brady clone. It's just it's
been unbelievably laden and layered with incredible storylines, and it's
just been a privilege. And I'm lucky. I know that

(41:18):
lucky as hell Mike Greece. We hear Bill talk about,
you know, being part of a team means sometimes or
mental toughness means sometimes doing what's best for the team
when it's not the best thing for you. Like that.
I think that's rooted in this two thousand and one team.
Team is like the three phases. We still do it.

(41:38):
We're in twenty twenty one and we still talk about
offense and defense and we'll just overlook special teams despite
like so much evidence as to how you can build
a culture of a team through the kicking game, or
how the kicking game can cost you games or win

(41:59):
you games. Like still to this day, Adam Venetary boomed
it through from forty eight yards Next man Up, Like
we talk about that all the time, right, Like that's
the ultimate next man up Tom for true, Right, That's
what the Patriots had been about over the last twenty years.
So we saw a lot of that, you know in
that team, Rob Ryan, it was crazy, but but our

(42:22):
team to win nine straight games just because they believed
in the place, they believed in the plan, they believed
in each other. I mean that never goes away. He
always striving as a coach to coach that again, and
that's they don't see that very often, Like you just
don't do it. The uh, the commitment to each other,

(42:43):
the commitment to a belief in a system, was truly rare,
and uh, you know that's why you see like some
of some of the guys aren't in the Hall of
Fame yet. Well, their numbers weren't great. Well, there's no
these guys were teammates, man like William get Us, Steady Bruski,
those guys. You're not gonna have those guys in your
Hall of Fame, Like wait, what Like these they put

(43:06):
the team first. But again, these players, there's a lot
of other people that don't believe in them, but they
believe in themselves and that's really all that matters. You know,
they know they can play with anybody. Pepper Johnson, I'm
blessed and I'm blessed that I was a part of
the Giants um first Super Bowl win and I was

(43:26):
a part of the New England Patriots first Supper Bowl win.
Um my first year in the NFL, we won a
Supper Bowl and UM that that reconfirmed what Coach Belichick
was trying to emphasize in the structure of what he wanted,

(43:47):
and we had an offensive situation where it didn't matter
who was under center, that we was going to keep
the focus and figure out different ways to play together,
to make the offense and defense compliment each other and
special teams compliment each other in win ball games that

(44:09):
play well. So way the teams whenever we've had our
backs against while we've responded all year, and the last
week in Pittsburgh, Drew comes in and throws the touchdown
passes um you know, all your Oakland game, Adam kicks
the game winner. Just uh, it's it's awesome that all
the Patriot fans here veryr Tampy till all of us,
Jermaine Wiggins, that brotherhood is is you know in this

(44:32):
organization to be part of I was a Super Bowl champ.
I was part of, you know, you know, contributing to
helping you know, this dynasty and you know, as it
still continues and you still got guys like you know
that have come through and play, guys like Gronk and
Edelman and just some of the other players, the mccordy mccordy's,

(44:52):
and to be like, you know, I understand that what
you guys are going through and I understand I'm like
pot of that brotherhood. It's like it's something unique, you know,
especially for me, a kid who didn't expect none of that,
and to be part of it and still be around it.
It's it's I said, I have to pinch myself all
the time, the fact that our players and coaches at

(45:13):
this time in our country, when people are banding together
and for a higher cause, can feel a special spirit
of America. We're proud to be a symbol of that
in a small way. Damian Woody, Yeah, you know what. It's.
Um always said that playing in an industilure part of

(45:33):
a fraternity, a small fraternity, but when you win a
Super Bowl, you're part of a special fraternity within a fraternity,
because not everybody could say that they were champions. And
all I've always say during those years, those champion deals,
early years, championship years, all the grind and the sweat

(45:56):
and the doubt and everything that went went through it
to feel that confetti come down on your head in
multiple times, confetti being shot under the air, pink confetti
out of I'm kind of confetti machine here on the sidelines.
It's not a better feeling in the World David Patton,
wide receiver. This man, I've never been around a better

(46:19):
football mind. He wasn't He wasn't much for personality. And
how it is not that he doesn't have personality, because
Bill has a great personality. He's just so focused, he's
so he's so dedicated to his responsibility. If we could
all take a page out of his book in terms
of focus and commitment, much of us, many of us

(46:41):
will be so much better off. And a lot of
times that gets misconstrued as not having a lot of personality.
People thought you were crazy when you gave up a
number one draft choice for this man right here. Coach
Bill Belichick, it must make you feel proud to know
that you have a head coach that respects you, a
lot of cares about you and finally say that dream
come true. Well, the best deal I ever made scouting

(47:04):
this guy. Once you make it to the NFL, if
you're privileged and you're blessed to be a part of
a championship team, it's going to be almost impossible to
try to recreate that in another field. And I've been
searching and seeking for that since the day that I've retired.

(47:26):
But what I will say, no matter how difficult this
walk is, no matter how difficult ministry is, It's what
I've experienced playing with the New England Patriots, being a
part of that leadership staff, being a part of that team.
No matter what degree of success I I reach off

(47:48):
the field or outside of football, no matter how low
it goes, I'm always a champion. Joey McIntire new kids
on the block. In my mind, they look like a
high school football team, you know, rough around the edges.
You know, they had those old old uniforms, Like, yeah,
I get it, they weren't it didn't you know, none

(48:08):
of them look like Steve Grogan, But I mean they
just like that rag tag you know, just throw the
pads on and get out there and get dirty and
get mean and and they just kind of won't stop.
You know. They had more heart than anything else at
that point. And yeah, that's how I look at him.

(48:30):
You know. As as as time went on, they got
more refined and you know, more maybe more talented, and
more technique and cleaner and sleeker. But um, you know,
they came up, you know, the rough and tumbable way.
Nick Fitzie Stevens, It's almost impossible to describe how impactful

(48:52):
the two thousand and one Patriots season was on my life.
How many things happened that would resonate for the next
two decades. There was so many holy ship how many
holy ship moments can you have in one season? And then,
of course, and then like two thousand and one season,
the Pats were so good. The two thousand and one
Patriots season brought me basically the first Boston sports championship

(49:14):
I could appreciate in my adult life or whatever resembles
my adult life, and then just set the next twenty
years of my life in motion. Other championships, maybe Wilder
or could have yielded more fruits, but that one, the
two thousand and one Patriots championship, means more to me
because of what it meant for the rest of my

(49:35):
life than any other team's championship ever. Chris Berman, what
you saw were the seeds of all the Patriot Championship teams. Offensively, yes,
it was calm, but there was always an unbelievable and
a lot of ways undefensible at least for first downs
to pick up slot receiver. So Troy Brown, we got

(49:59):
Worth Well, we got Julian Edelman, that's a hallmark for
the two decades of the Patriots brilliant. They are a
team that valued special teams then and now. They were
a team that played unbelievably coach defense. Witnessed to play
by Malcolm Butler against the Seahawks on the goal line.

(50:23):
You know, here's a play they kind of run. They
coached at Nobody does that. So the Seeds looking back
were of all the Patriots two decades of brilliance, they
had probably all their other teams were more talented than
this one overall, although this had some unbelievable talent. Needles

(50:43):
to say, they had corners, they had a shutdown all
the way through. Here's Taie Law, here's Asante Samuel, you know,
and here's later on Reevers and now the Gilmore like
you could go on and see that was important. And
they had a boat staff that all were got it
and they rarely beat themselves. That was the case at

(51:06):
O one, and that was the case two decades later.
So there are lots of things that you can string
together from the Patriots of one. It's still my favorite
championship team in Pro football. And as cliche as this
sounds that it was this collective that was the sum

(51:29):
was truly better than the parts, and gosh, we still
had some really really good parts. And to me, it
represents still to this day, everything that I fell in
love with about football, about people that sacrifice themselves, their
own personal their own personal desires for this greater good.

(51:57):
And there were a lot of people that made a
lot of sacrifices, including the people became as free agents,
including there were a lot of people that gave of
themselves and that entire season, there were moments when the
offense won games for us, there was time that the
defense did, and then there were times that special teams did.
And what that represents to me that team that season

(52:19):
was truly one of the greatest teams and one of
the closest teams that I've ever been a part of.
And again, because they represented everything, they became champions. We
are all Patriots, and tonight the Patriots are world champions.
This has been two thousand and one a Super Bowl

(52:40):
sound odyssey produced by Patriots dot COM's Mike do So
an audio engineer Matt Morrell. We wish to thank all
of our guests for sharing their memories from an unforgettable
season and providing a fresh perspective on the Patriots first championship,
with a special dedication going to wide receiver David Patton,
who tragically lost his life during production of the podcast.
David was a beloved member from the early days of

(53:00):
the Patriots dynasty, one who will always be remembered as
a record setting player and winner of multiple championships. Finally,
thank you to you, our listeners and members of Patriots
Nations who have passionately supported their team since long before
they were winning championships. We hope you enjoyed reliving the
thrilling ride with all of its twists and turns two
decades later. Thank you for listening. Can't get enough Patriots

(53:21):
two thousand and one content. Relive the historic year by
following the Patriots time Machine. Follow along on Twitter and
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