The New England Patriots are in Minneapolis looking to win their sixth Super Bowl, which would tie an NFL record. We have come to expect these annual pilgrimages to Super Sunday under the football trinity of team owner Robert Kraft, Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
It wasn’t always this way. Last time the Patriots played the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl was Feb. 6, 2005. The 24-21 win was the third championship in four seasons for this trio, but the concept of a football dynasty in Foxborough was still somewhat new to all of us.
Looking back at that game is a reminder at how much has changed – and what has stayed the same – for New England.
The Patriots took the field for Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville knowing that coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel would be leaving the organization to take head coaching jobs. Weis had already agreed to take over the program at Notre Dame, where he would last exactly five years. Crennel would soon be named head coach of the Cleveland Browns, where he was fired after the 2008 season. Cleveland went 10-6 under Crennell in 2007. The Browns haven’t had a winning season since, going 38-122 over the last 10 years.
On the field in Jacksonville in 2005, just moments after another dramatic Super Bowl victory, Kraft told me “it’s sad for me to see this break up.” He knew replacing both coordinators wouldn’t be easy.
“We’ll have a real challenge next year,” said Kraft amid the confetti and celebration.
They’ll face a similar challenge after Sunday’s game, with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia expected to leave for head coaching jobs elsewhere. In the 2004 season McDaniels was working with Brady for the first time as quarterbacks coach while Patricia was in his first year with the organization as a coaching assistant.
The Patriots have proved adept at filling in personnel on the sideline, and on the field. It’s not like this is the same group of players winning titles year after year. There is only one remaining player from the championship win over the Eagles 13 years ago: Brady.
It all comes back to the trinity. The owner, the coach and the quarterback.
Even as rumors swirl that there is tension between them, they continue to lead the Patriots to lofty places that no other team has gone. Like eight Super Bowl appearances in 17 years.
The Pats have won five Super Bowls in that span, with Brady being named game’s MVP in four of them. The lone exception was the win over the Eagles, and Deion Branch isn’t walking through that door anytime soon.
As the cast has changed, the core of the Patriots remains the same. And the bar has risen each year. NFL championships were stunning to us in 2005; they’re expected in 2018. There is no doubt that Kraft has built one of the greatest organizations in sports history. He couldn’t have done it without Belichick on the sideline and Brady over center.
After the win in 2005, Kraft joked that the Fox Network should thank the team for its thrilling wins. “We got great ratings,” he told me.
He had no idea just how high those ratings would get. Winning has become second nature for the Patriots. These days, we’re only shocked when they lose a game.
Tom Caron is a studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.
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