The Patriots dynasty has been a DVD memory for years now. Sure, the Pats are still annoying football fans all over the country by winning divisions and getting to Super Bowls and building mansions, but this team is not really connected to the three Lombardi teams. It's been eight years since the last title. How could it be connected?
The players that created the Patriot Way (another annoying media-invented phrase) have almost all moved on to other teams or TV studios. There are just a few left. One less now. Matt Light, after 11 years protecting Tom Brady's neck, is retiring. That leaves just Brady and Kevin Faulk from the first Super Bowl championship team. And Faulk may not make it to the opener. Though I hope he does.
I've written odes to past players on this blog. Bruschi. Troy. Willie. Rodney. Dillon. They all played the flashy positions. Catching touchdowns. Breaking big runs. Making big sacks and picks. Light was an offensive lineman. They are only noticed when they are called for holding or when the QB is face-planted into the turf. They don't usually get the odes. But Light deserves one.
Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli took Light in the second round of the 2001 draft. Light came out of Purdue and the Big Ten with an impressive resume. He was first team All Big Ten as a senior and helped the Boilermakers win the conference crown. At the time Belichick was looking for guys to help keep veteran quarterback -- and immovable object -- Drew Bledsoe from aging a bit too fast. Light seemed like a good pick.
Except to football scribe Ron Borges. Yes, him again. Borges wrote this in the Globe the day after the Pats drafted Richard Seymour in the first round and Light in the second ... "On a day when they could had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour who had 1 1/2 sacks last year in the pass-happy SEC, and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in the draft (Robert Ferguson) and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help the team any time soon."
He actually wrote that. And he still goes on TV and acts like he knows what he is talking about. Ah, the modern-day sportswriter.
Matt Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, started 12 games in his rookie year, playing a key role in an offense that averaged more than 110 yards per game on the ground and protected a young quarterback on his way to leading the team to its first Super Bowl title ... ever. Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, helped that Pats ground game rush for a huge 133 yards against the Rams in that Super Bowl. For that, Light was named to the Football News all-rookie team.
And he was just getting started. Light became Brady's security blanket for years to come. A hairy one, but a rock-solid one. Light won two more rings and was part of the offensive line in '07 that kept giving Brady enough time to connect with Randy Moss time and time and time again. There has never been a better offense in the history of the game. That starts with the line. Two of Light's best years were the last two when everyone (including Borges I'm sure) thought he was all done. He wasn't. It seemed that every week one of the story lines going into a big game was "could Light stop this guy or that guy from killing Brady?" If you look at Brady's stats it's easy to see that much more often than not Matt Light did indeed stop the other guy. And he seemed to enjoy every minute of it, even when he was going face-to-face with a defender after the play.
That was Matt Light as a player. Always playing as hard as he could and enjoying the moment. Light's trademark shaggy beard and ever shaggier hair were outdone only by his sense of humor. In interviews and on the sidelines you could see he was the guy who kept things light (no pun intended) in the locker room and on the field. You need guys like that. You could see Brady sure appreciated having a guy like that for 11 years.
As a fan, so did I.
I've written odes to past players on this blog. Bruschi. Troy. Willie. Rodney. Dillon. They all played the flashy positions. Catching touchdowns. Breaking big runs. Making big sacks and picks. Light was an offensive lineman. They are only noticed when they are called for holding or when the QB is face-planted into the turf. They don't usually get the odes. But Light deserves one.
Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli took Light in the second round of the 2001 draft. Light came out of Purdue and the Big Ten with an impressive resume. He was first team All Big Ten as a senior and helped the Boilermakers win the conference crown. At the time Belichick was looking for guys to help keep veteran quarterback -- and immovable object -- Drew Bledsoe from aging a bit too fast. Light seemed like a good pick.
Except to football scribe Ron Borges. Yes, him again. Borges wrote this in the Globe the day after the Pats drafted Richard Seymour in the first round and Light in the second ... "On a day when they could had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour who had 1 1/2 sacks last year in the pass-happy SEC, and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in the draft (Robert Ferguson) and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help the team any time soon."
He actually wrote that. And he still goes on TV and acts like he knows what he is talking about. Ah, the modern-day sportswriter.
Matt Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, started 12 games in his rookie year, playing a key role in an offense that averaged more than 110 yards per game on the ground and protected a young quarterback on his way to leading the team to its first Super Bowl title ... ever. Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, helped that Pats ground game rush for a huge 133 yards against the Rams in that Super Bowl. For that, Light was named to the Football News all-rookie team.
And he was just getting started. Light became Brady's security blanket for years to come. A hairy one, but a rock-solid one. Light won two more rings and was part of the offensive line in '07 that kept giving Brady enough time to connect with Randy Moss time and time and time again. There has never been a better offense in the history of the game. That starts with the line. Two of Light's best years were the last two when everyone (including Borges I'm sure) thought he was all done. He wasn't. It seemed that every week one of the story lines going into a big game was "could Light stop this guy or that guy from killing Brady?" If you look at Brady's stats it's easy to see that much more often than not Matt Light did indeed stop the other guy. And he seemed to enjoy every minute of it, even when he was going face-to-face with a defender after the play.
That was Matt Light as a player. Always playing as hard as he could and enjoying the moment. Light's trademark shaggy beard and ever shaggier hair were outdone only by his sense of humor. In interviews and on the sidelines you could see he was the guy who kept things light (no pun intended) in the locker room and on the field. You need guys like that. You could see Brady sure appreciated having a guy like that for 11 years.
As a fan, so did I.
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