Super Bowl 36 is what started it all. After suffering a championship drought since 1986 this game opened the door to a ridiculous 11 titles in 18 years. The Pats entered this game as 14 point dogs and faced the high powered “greatest show on turf.” An unknown second-year backup quarterback named Thomas Edward Brady would lead a game-winning drive with no timeouts to create one of the most memorable moments in Super Bowl history. We all remember the Vinatieri game-winning kick, John Madden telling them to play for overtime, and even Drew Bledsoe pumping up Tom Brady in the tunnel before the game, so I decided to re-watch the game and bring to light some of the moments that have been forgotten from this fateful game.
The Patriots were introduced as a team. Forget about all of the Tom Brady and Julian Edelman pump-up videos, this is the original moment that made me want to run through a wall for Coach Belichick. Until this moment teams selected either their offense or defense to be introduced individually before the game (I think a team should have announced their special teams unit ). The Rams chose to show off the greatest show on turf and introduce Warner, Faulk, Holt, and Bruce. In a move that would come to represent the foundation of the “Patriots way” the team came out as one and anyone would be crazy to think the Patriots would not win this game after this moment. From this moment on all teams have come out as one.
Otis Smith had a hell of a game.
The early age of the Pat’s dynasty is defined by their defense. The 2001/02 team has some huge names including Ty Law, Willie Mcginest, Richard Seymour, Lawyer Milloy, and my favorite all-time Patriot Teddy Bruschi. When re-watching this game (the entire game is on YouTube, it’s a great way to spend a Sunday with only the Pro Bowl on) it is impossible not to notice Otis Smith flying all over the field laying the wood against the Ram’s receivers. Otis Smith was 36 years old during this game!!!! Smith matched up against Torey Holt and held the star receiver to 49 yards and punished him with physical hits everytime he touched the ball. The veteran corner finished the game with 7 tackles and a forgotten interception. He should have taken the pic to the house but with no Rams in front to stop him he ran into Richard Seymour.
Mike Vrabel would have been flagged for roughing the passer if this was 2019
When watching this game there are many moments where you can say this would have been a flag in 2019 but this particular moment occurred on the biggest play of the game. Just like Chris Jones “mauled” Brady in the 2019 AFC championship Vrabel gives Kurt Warner a shot to the helmet forcing him to throw the ball into the waiting arms of Ty Law. If Law doesn’t bring this interception back for 6 it would been quite the uphill battle for the Pats to have pulled this one off.
Antoine Harris forced a key fumble that lead to Brady’s only touchdown.
Besides from a couple of early slant routes to Mr. Patriot Troy Brown the Pat’s offense was stagnant at best during the first half of this game. As the Rams drove to end the first half Harris stuck Ricky Proehl to jar the ball loose which leads to a David Patten Touch Down. The Pat’s plan was to hit the talented Ram’s receivers early and often. This strategy, which would have lead to a multitude of flags in today’s game, allowed New England to keep St. Louis from getting into an offensive rhythm.
The Ram’s Kick returner was Yo Murphy. Now, this is not and moment and has very little to do with the actual game but I think anytime someone is named Yo it is worth mentioning. Other famous people to be named yo: YoYo Ma, Yosemite Sam, and Yogi Bear.
Antowain Smith was a freight train The Patriots have always rolled out a running back by committee. However, in this game, Smith with 18 carriers received the majority of the workload. For a fun trip down memory lane, Kevin Faulk had 2 carriers, Mark Edwards had 2, and J.R. Redmond had 1. Smith rushed for 92 yards but what jumped out at me was how hard the 6-2 230 pounds running back ran the ball. Smith falls into the category of lesser remembered Patriots during the Belichick but had an impressive 1100 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns during the 2001/02 season.
So with the game one week from today, the famous images from the original Patriots Rams Super Bowl will inevitably flood our screens. I hope you enjoyed remembering some of these lesser discussed but no lesser important memories from the game.
CrossRoads 