Did you know a herd of goats is technically called a tribe or a trip?
A better name might be called Patriots.
WEEI’s Patriots All-Brady Era Team, announced Monday afternoon, is led by three certified football G.O.A.T.s in the quarterback himself, Tom Brady, as well as head coach Bill Belichick and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
But those are just three of the impressive members of the squad of players selected from the last two decades of dynastic dominance in New England football led by TB12.
The 31-member team from the longest-running, most dominant dynasty in NFL history is broken down to 11 offensive players (including a Flex spot in this modern fantasy football world!), 12 defensive players (New England’s history of being multiple on defense with 3-4 and 4-3 looks called for four defensive linemen and four linebackers), a kicker, a punter, a returner, a special teams player, a head coach and both offensive and defensive coordinators. The final spot was a choice between Super Bowl-winning, WEEI tight end personalities Christian Fauria and Jermaine Wiggins.
The All-Brady Era Team was voted on by a 23-person panel made up of WEEI personalities, staff, Patriots analysts/reporters and former players.
Looking at the voting results, many of the selections were relatively easy, with nine members – Belichick, Brady, Gronkowski, Logan Mankins, Devin McCourty, Willie McGinest, Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Tedy Bruschi – all earning unanimous honors.
Maybe more notable, were some of the guys who didn’t get the unanimous nod. For example, two voters took Stephen Gostkowski – New England’s all-time points leader – over Adam Vinatieri, a likely future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who jumpstarted the dynasty with his clutch kicks, including in the Snow Bowl.
Vinatieri was actually part of a large group of nearly-unanimous selections. He, along with tackle Matt Light, special teamer Matthew Slater, punter Ryan Allen, cornerback Stephon Gilmore, safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Dont’a Hightower and linebacker Mike Vrabel, were among those on the team that were selected on at least 20 of 23 ballots. The Patriots Hall of Famer Light was left off just a single ballot, a voter who interestingly tabbed Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer as more worthy.
The wide receiver position was a spot of some pretty interesting voting notes. Voters were asked to select a WR1, a WR2 and could slot a third receiver in the Flex position (RB/TE/WR) if they so desired. Moss was the WR1 on 18 ballots and the Flex guy on one other, meaning four voters did not have the record-setting, offense-altering receiver on their list at all. Apparently Moss’ 50 touchdowns – including an NFL-record 23 for the 16-0 Patriots in 2007 – among his 259 catches for 3.904 yards over three-plus seasons in New England weren’t enough to impressive that group.
Wes Welker was a unique case-study in the voting as well. The man who redefined the slot position in the NFL upon his arrival in New England with Moss in 2007 earned three votes as WR1, six for WR2 and seven for Flex. By comparison, his successor in the slot, Julian Edelman, took two votes for WR1, 12 at WR2 and six as the Flex.
That means Edelman, whose resume is buoyed by clutch postseason play, earned more total votes (20) than both Moss (19) and Welker (16). The only other wide receivers to get votes were Troy Brown (six) and Super Bowl XXXIX MVP Deion Branch (2).
The rest of the offensive voting was relatively clear-cut. Corey Dillon took the running back spot with 13 votes, well ahead of Kevin Faulk (5), James White (4) and Antowain Smith (1). White (4) and Dillon (1) also got votes at the Flex spot.
Along the line, the near-unanimous Light and Solder (13) took the tackle slots, with Vollmer next in line at nine votes. Dan Koppen (12) beat out current team captain David Andrews (7) and Damien Woody (4) at center.
While Mankins was the obvious choice for one guard spot, the other interior line nod was a heated race with a bit of a recency bias as current franchise-tagged guard Joe Thuney’s seven votes just beat out Joe Andruzzi (6) and Stephen Neal (5).
The defensive side of the Patriots All-Brady Era Team had a lot of consensus in the voting, even if Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Ty Law (18) was curiously left off of five ballots. After Gilmore (21) and Law, one-year Patriot Darrelle Revis was next with four votes, Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler got just two votes and Asante Samuel’s five-year Pro Bowl career in Foxborough earned him just a single vote.
McCourty and Harrison ran away with the safety spots, garnering 43 of the 46 total votes at the position, with Lawyer Milloy (2) and Patrick Chung (1) trailing well behind.
The linebacker position was almost as equally clear-cut with the unanimous Bruschi leading the way followed by Mike Vrabel and Dont’a Hightower getting 20 votes apiece. Jerod Mayo took the fourth spot with his 16 votes, 11 more than Roman Phifer (5). Jamie Collins (4), Ted Johnson (2), Kyle Van Noy (1) and Rosevelt Colvin (1) also received votes.
Along the defensive line, the three Patriots first-round picks in McGinest, Seymour and Wilfork were unanimous, while the fourth spot went to another first-round pick in current Cardinals star pass rusher Chandler Jones (13). Jones relatively easily beat out Rob Ninkovich (8) as well as Trey Flowers (2).
While Slater (20) and Allen (20) ran away with the special teams and punter jobs, respectively, there was a tighter race for the return role. Edelman (12) topped Brown (9), while both Faulk and Ellis Hobbs each got a single vote.
Though Belichick has had strong pool of coordinators over his career – including seven who’ve left for head coaching jobs – the voting was pretty clear. Incumbent Josh McDaniels beat out his former boss and mentor Charlie Weis 19 to votes to just four. Meanwhile, Romeo Crennel, coordinator from 2001-2004, easily got the defensive coordinator nod with 18 votes compared to just four for Matt Patricia and one for Brian Flores.
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