The fans of Foxboro football have spoken, and one of the defensive pillars of the first half of New England’s double-dynastic run will be the newest member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
Mike Vrabel, a three-time Super Bowl champion member of the Patriots, was elected to the Patriots Hall of Fame Wednesday and will be awarded his red jacket and take his place among teammates like Tedy Bruschi, Vince Wilfork, Matt Light and Willie McGinest, among others, in the Pats Hall. Vrabel, who played eight highly productive and successful seasons with the Pats from 2001-2008, was a key piece of the defense that missed the playoffs just twice in that span and went to the AFC Championship five times. Not too shabby for a castoff free agent from the Pittsburgh Steelers who landed with the right team at the right time.
Vrabel’s combination of size, intelligence, toughness, leadership and savvy made him a dominating presence along the Pats defensive line, as well as on the practice field and in the locker room. In the record-setting 2007 season, Vrabel had his finest campaign, finishing as an All-Pro defender and in fifth place for DPOY with 12.5 sacks and 77 tackles. He had one more year in New England before being dealt to Kansas City as part of the Matt Cassel trade in 2009.
More than just a great football player and athlete (think back to his many TD catches while on the Pats), Vrabel is a great mind, as well, as he was known for being like a coach on the field. He was also one of the defensive players who chirped frequently at Tom Brady and was known to give coach Bill Beichick a few words on occasion, too. Vrabel, an Ohio State graduate, was thought by many to be prime coaching material — an arena he entered into successfully after his playing days in Kansas City drew to a close in 2010. He worked at Ohio State and then with the Houston Texans’ defense before becoming head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2018. Perhaps now a Vrabel induction and ceremony will allow fans to flush away the memory of Vrabel’s Titans defeating the Pats in the 2019 AFC Wild Card Game, 20-13, in Foxboro — Tom Brady’s final game as a Patriot. If not flush away then at least create a new, more positive memory of one of their favorite players of the dynasty, who they loved for almost a decade and have now welcomed to local recognition and immortality.
With his success and sharp wit, this should make for one memorable induction and speech for Vrabel in Foxboro.