FOXBORO — One by one, the gamers who made it occur, the gamers who had been instrumental in preserving the Patriots’ run of championships alive and kicking throughout a second decade, have both left or retired.
On Tuesday, the Patriots celebrated one of many final remnants of the membership’s dynasty and, particularly, the wave of defensive dominance.
In a ceremony on the Patriots Hall of Fame, Devin McCourty, a three-time Super Bowl winner, bid adieu. The defensive again, who patrolled the Patriots backfield the previous 13 seasons, is headed off to retirement and a brand new set of challenges.
Meanwhile, in a chunk revealed on The Players’ Tribune, Dont’a Hightower, one other prized member of the three-ring membership, introduced his retirement after spending final 12 months on the sidelines.
While Matthew Slater (three championships) stays, together with a small group who had been a part of two championships, led by middle David Andrews and cornerback Jonathan Jones, and some extra with one, it positive looks like that chapter is closing, if not already closed.
After ending out of the playoffs two of the final three seasons, the Patriots have fallen off the pedestal. There’s a distinct really feel in Foxboro. Championships appear so distant, versus proper across the nook. It’s as a lot in regards to the quarterback query as it’s the protection.
Speaking with McCourty after the ceremony, nonetheless, he wasn’t keen to close the door so rapidly.
“I think (the run can continue). I think it just looks different. There’s different guys,” he stated. “They have a good group now, and I think it’ll continue to grow the next couple of years.”
Time will inform.
It took McCourty’s group awhile, with a 10-year “drought” between the franchise’s third and fourth titles, however the Patriots had been in a position to ring up three extra in 2014, 2016 and 2018. In all three years, McCourty’s protection dominated for lengthy stretches.
During his remarks on the ceremony, McCourty stated it was apparent when he arrived on the town, that “everything was about winning.” And if that wasn’t your philosophy, it was rapidly tailored. The Patriots had three Lombardi’s within the financial institution, and it was apparent from the gamers within the room, they needed extra. They anticipated extra, particularly with Brady nonetheless on the helm.
And they delivered.
“I’m just grateful I got an opportunity to get drafted here,” stated McCourty, a first-round select of Rutgers. “(Brother Jason) used to always make fun of me, and say, ‘You’re not a better player than me. You just got drafted where Tom Brady was, and Coach Belichick.’ And, it’s the truth. The journey I got to experience here was one of a kind.”
Will Mac Jones, Rhamondre Stevenson, Tyquan Thornton, Jack Jones, Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger and Marcus Jones get to expertise the identical? Will they get to expertise that sort of profitable?
It largely will depend on the personnel Bill Belichick drafts round his quarterback and on protection. When McCourty was drafted in 2010 within the first spherical, he arrived with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The 12 months earlier than, Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung and Sebastian Vollmer entered the image.
While the media and fan base may not have been offered on McCourty, staff proprietor Robert Kraft stated he wasn’t nervous about his high choose. Their intel advised them Devin was “the perfect Patriot,” which proved to be the case. Belichick, in the meantime, stated McCourty was “the epitome of everything a coach could ask for, a team could ask for.”
During a lot of McCourty’s 13 seasons, the locker room was stuffed with comparable gamers. His first 12 months, he realized by sitting subsequent to Kevin Faulk within the locker room.
Hightower, famous for the clutch performs he made throughout a number of Super Bowls, was one other one, and he additionally appreciates the nice fortune he had coming to New England when he did.
“I know these announcements always feel bittersweet, but I can’t think of a better story than the one I wrote in New England,” Hightower stated within the piece he wrote within the Players’ Tribune. “A decade, three Super Bowls, two Pro Bowls, and the birth of my son — all playing for one franchise. How many guys have a story like that?”
The Patriots loved an historic run largely due to Belichick, Brady, and a surrounding protection that at all times featured gamers who might ship on the massive stage.
McCourty’s goodbye participant montage was stuffed with them, with Brady, Vince Wilfork, Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan, Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Chung, Jerod Mayo and Slater all saluting their former teammate.
McCourty did admit it was exhausting at all times being in contrast with the previous championship groups. Ultimately, his groups sought to create an identification of their very own.
He believes the present group, led by Mac Jones, is combating to do the identical. And as he leaves, McCourty believes the staff is in good palms with the management within the room.
“The good and bad of being a Patriot is you get linked to every Super Bowl won by the franchise,” stated McCourty. “There aren’t too lots of the guys left which have gained Super Bowls … I by no means preferred being linked to (the previous) Super Bowl wins. We didn’t try this. But it’s a credit score to these guys, that it’s now the expectation.
“It’s a hard expectation. It’s not easy to win in this league,” he went on. “But I feel once I have a look at this staff, and the management they’ve … all of those guys have been in powerful conditions. They’re sort of battle examined for what they’ve had on this league, and what they’d in faculty and highschool. They carry that. They’ll put on that on their sleeves.
“And I think … they’re pushing to be great.”
The baton has actually been handed, and the Patriots are on to a brand new chapter. At this stage, it’s simply exhausting to imagine it is going to be one which comes near resembling the previous.
Source: www.bostonherald.com