The New England Patriots are going to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory throughout the 2016 season. The Patriots are releasing “weekly features” until the culmination “on Dec. 4 with a special reunion of the 2001 team during a halftime ceremony of the Patriots game against the Los Angeles Rams at Gillette Stadium,” as Bernd wrote this morning.
"The Super Bowl XXXVI win over the Rams was the first championship for our team and will always hold a very special place in our hearts,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said via Patriots.com. “The victory made everyone that ever wore a Patriots uniform or rooted for the Patriots on the bleachers at Foxboro Stadium feel proud to be a fan. I know I am looking forward to reliving some of those great memories throughout the 2016 season.”
And I can’t wait to rub the Super Bowl trophy in the face of the Rams, Kraft thought to himself, probably.
The first feature is a video titled “Preseason Expectations,” which features a panel discussion with host Bob Socci, and a cast of four local writers in Mike Reiss, Bryan Morry, Ron Borges, and Tom Curran, to learn how they felt about the Patriots heading into the 2001 season.
“We’re talking about a team that was completely overhauling,” Curran reflected. “We’re not talking about indoor renovation, it was a knockdown rebuild. So even the players who were really acquired in that offseason were bargain basement types.”
“They were not a good football team,” Curran added.
It’s worth a look.
I really hope the Patriots show clips of all the greatest moments against the Rams in the Super Bowl during halftime of week 13 against Los Angeles.