NFL history: The Mount Rushmore of every NFL franchise
By Randy Gurzi
New England Patriots: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Adam Vinatieri, Julian Edelman
No team has as much hardware as the New England Patriots do. They recently won their sixth Super Bowl and unlike the team they’re tied with — the Pittsburgh Steelers — all these titles came with the same head coach and quarterback. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have been incredibly successful over a 19-year period.
Their first title together came in 2001, which was the season that Brady stepped in as an unknown backup to Drew Bledsoe. The rest is history, as all he has done since taking the job is win. For his career, Brady is now 207-60 with an insane 517-to-171 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Belichick has been the Patriots coach since 2000, the same season Brady was selected in the sixth round. He too knows nothing but wins. After a 5-11 first season with the Patriots, he has never had another losing season.
New England’s 9-7 mark following it first Lombardi trophy is the only time they haven’t had double-digit wins under his watch. Belichick even managed an 11-win season with Matt Cassel one year following a torn ACL to Brady in 2008. Overall, he boasts a record of 225-79 and is 30-10 in the playoffs.
Their first couple of wins came by incredibly narrow margins with Adam Vinatieri knocking in a game-winner from 48-yards out over the favored St. Louis Rams as time expired in their first Super Bowl victory. He did the same in Super Bowl XXXVII with just four seconds on the clock over the Carolina Panthers.
For the final spot, we have Julian Edelman. There was a debate going on during their latest title run as to whether Edelman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame or not. While the answer to that has yet to be decided, he does deserve to be praised for what he’s done for the Patriots.
The most reliable target for Brady over the past five seasons, Edelman is money when the game gets close. His clutch receptions have led to countless game-winning drives and he deserves praise for that.