Sentimentality is for fans - and I will miss Troy Brown a lot
Troy Brown has left the stadium. Or, rather, the New England Patriots have kicked him out by not exercising an option to keep him. Back in the days, when our team drafted Chris Canty and had Lucky Tebucky line up at corner, it made a lot of sense to second guess personnel decisions, but now, in the Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli era, it’s just dumb to do that. So I won’t.
Instead, I would like to thank Brown for his 12 years of super-excellent service for us worshippers of the Flying Elvis. This kid, he got a little bit better every year until he peaked in 2001, pretty much carrying the Patriots passing game to New England’s first Super Bowl triumph. In a piece I wrote prior to that game, I predicted a Patriots victory, with the reasoning:
The Patriots have their own wild card in Troy Brown. Game after game, the experienced Brown does exactly what needs to be done to give the Patriots a chance to win. I think he will do that against the Rams, too.
My guess? New England 20, Saint Louis 19.
Don’t call me a genius, I just banked on Brown, and sure enough, there he was, making a key catch on the drive that set up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal.
In the same article I called Brown the Patriots’ “by far best player,” which I strongly believe he was in 2001, when he snagged a career-high 101 passes. It was more than just a whole bunch of catches, however, it was a whole bunch of catches that made a difference.
Keep in mind that there wasn’t much besides Brown on offense that year. We had nobody at tight-end, nothing much in the backfield, and really no receiver to complement Brown. Every game he took the field as the marked man, and he still made all those catches. Pretty good for a guy who isn’t freakishly fast or can’t out-jump double coverage. Brown just a found a seam, or hauled in the pass underneath and made just enough of a move to create just enough space to gain just enough yards to keep the drive alive.
Not that he couldn’t make bona fide big plays, like the 60-yarder from David Patten against Indianapolis Colts.
He faded a little after 2001, but then proved once again that he’s New England’s Mr. Football by productively - 3 interceptions - playing defensive back in 2004. In hindsight, that was just sick.
And through it all he played with class and acted with restraint.
Outstanding. Just outstanding.
