| Randolph Charlotin. 14th March, 2008 - 6:04 pm
 Super Bowl XXXVI. Fourth quarter. Quarterback Tom Brady has already moved the Patriots 24 yards from the 17-yard line to the 41-yard line, but there were just 29 seconds left. It’s second down and 10 when Brady dropped back and threw over the middle to wide receiver Troy Brown.
Brown caught the pass at the St. Louis 45-yard line and turned upfield. He stiff-armed a diving Adam Archuleta and gained an additional nine yards before Brown ran out of bounds.
Two plays later, Adam Vinatieri kicked the game-winning field goal, and the Patriots upset the heavily favored Rams for New England’s first Super Bowl championship.
It makes perfect sense that Brown had a hand in the biggest play of the game-winning drive. No one on that roster knew about beating the odds better than Brown, so who else would show the Pats how to at the most crucial moment?
I don’t know who coined the phrase, “The Patriot Way,” but it was as if the commandments were based on Brown: Work hard, persistence, versatility, fearlessness, never give up. It was that approach that helped Brown play 15 years with New England. For his career, he’s been Mr. Patriot.
But right now, Troy Brown is Mr. Free Agent. On Thursday, it was revealed that the Patriots will not offer Brown a contract for the 2008 season. He’s getting interest from other teams so Brown might not be done yet.
But it will be strange for New England fans if he decides to wear another team’s uniform. Brown maybe wasn’t much of a favorite among fans, but he was highly respected by those who followed the team, and they couldn’t envision Brown as anything but a Patriot.
Well, fans won’t have to imagine that scenario, but reality could dwarf their worst Troy Brown nightmare.
The Patriots’ decision isn’t all that surprising. They almost didn’t re-sign Brown last year as he was recovering from offseason knee surgery. But out of respect, he was brought back and placed on the physically unable to perform list. He played in just one game and returned six punts against Miami.
That was it. Troy couldn’t get on the field with the offense. He couldn’t be a starter with Randy Moss and Donte’ Stallworth on the outside. The slot now was manned by Wes Welker. And, Jabar Gaffney became Brady’s go-to guy to move the chains. Sure, Brown played cornerback in the past, but that was when the secondary was short-handed.
Hard to imagine the Patriots have no use for a player that was indispensable for so long. He was a 1993 eighth round draft pick out of Marshall that the Patriots cut but later brought back to play special teams and return punts.
Over time he worked his way up from being a too small receiver who lacked speed to a valuable slot target on third downs. It wasn’t glamorous, but without Brown the offense would had grounded to a halt frequently.
He didn’t make many big plays as in yards gained, but keeping drives alive are as important, if not more so. His knack for moving the chains eventually got Brown into the starting lineup, but he still was First Down Brown. In the 2001 season he broke the team record for receptions in a season; 59 of his 101 receptions were for first downs. For his career, 312 of his 557 receptions were for first downs.
Sprinkled along his career were clutch plays. Besides his Super Bowl heroics, there was the 55-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2001 AFC Championship. Later in that game, Brown recovered a blocked field goal and was aware enough to lateral to teammate Antwan Harris, who raced the rest of the 49 yards for a touchdown.
Brown came through in the 2006 Divisional game against San Diego. New England was down by eight with 6:25 left in the game when Brady was intercepted by Marlon McCree. That turnover nearly ended the game, but Brown stripped McCree of the ball during the play and the Pats recovered, giving them another chance. Five plays later, New England tied the game and eventually kicked a field goal for the win.
His list of clutch plays would go on for a while. And, maybe he will add to it, but it won’t be as a Patriot. If Troy Brown continues his career, Patriot Nation will continue to respect what he did for the franchise, but watching him on another team will give fans mixed emotions.
It’s a strange coincidence that Brown wore 80 for most of his career. Jerry Rice made that number famous as a San Francisco 49er. Like Rice, it would not feel right watching Brown play for another team.
- Randolph Charlotin can be contacted at lordrc@netzero.net |
