Dein erstes Forum » In honor of the NFL’s 100th anniversary

Youth Andre Tippett Jerseys , the league and NFL Network put together a 26-member panel of experts — one that includes New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick — to pick an All-Time Team. So far, 88 of its members have already been revealed and six of them have ties to the Patriots. On Friday, during the fourth episode of the show, two more players joined them: tight end Rob Gronkowski and guard John Hannah.TE Rob GronkowskiWhen he stepped away from football earlier this year, Rob Gronkowski ended a journey that began when the Patriots drafted him in 2010. After hearing his name called in round two, the Arizona product developed into one of the most dominant players the tight end position has ever seen: over his nine seasons in New England, Gronkowski earned three Super Bowl rings, four first-team All-Pro nominations, and set numerous NFL records.“Rob was kind of a shot in the dark,” said Bill Belichick about the future Hall of Famer during NFL Network’s All-Time Team show. “He came up on his pre-draft visit, had a bad visit. We put him in a room, came back, he was asleep on the floor, didn’t make a very good impression,” Belichick said. “You know, we brought him in, we were getting ready to have a meeting with the coaches and go through and then he fell asleep on the floor — like ‘oh boy!’ We got a slow start there.”“Went to Arizona, didn’t do much as a freshman, had a decent year as a sophomore, caught 30 passes Andre Tippett Jerseys Stitched , and then misses junior year with a back surgery, and then came out early for the draft. So, there wasn’t much to go on. We traded up for him and we just bet that he would come through, and he certainly did big time,” continued Belichick about a player that appeared in 115 regular season and 16 playoff games for the Patriots.“He was a tremendous blocker,” continued Belichick when breaking down what the 30-year-old brought to the Patriots during his active career. “He’s a great kid. Whatever his public persona is on the dance floor or at a party, in the building there is no better teammate, he works extremely hard. He had a great catch-radius for kind of as stiff as he is, he could balls on the shoelaces, he could get them over his head, and he could get them behind him.”OG John HannahLike Gronkowski, John Hannah is widely regarded as the greatest player his position has ever seen. A first-round draft pick by the Patriots in 1973, he went on to be named first-team All-Pro seven times and become a member of the NFL’s team of the decades for both the 1970s and the 1980s. Appearing in 183 regular season and seven playoff games for the Patriots, Hannah was an intimidating presence as both a pass protector and run blocker.The latter showed in the 70s: In 1976, Hannah helped New England average 210.6 rushing yards over the course of the 14-game regular season — a franchise mark that still stands today. Two years later, after the NFL had switched to a 16-game regular season format, he and the rest of the Patriots’ offensive line paved the way for an NFL record 3,165 rushing yards. The number still stands undisputed today and will likely never be broken again.“In 1972, he was the SEC champion in both the shot-put and the discus, so that gives you some idea of his explosiveness and power Youth Tedy Bruschi Jerseys ,” Bill Belichick said during NFL Network’s All-Time Team show. “He was literally at the point of attack on every play: when they ran to the right then he was the puller [...] if they ran to the left they ran behind him. A strong punch in pass protection. Good use of hands, and this is an explosive guy.”“This guy is really looking to hit somebody. John was just looking for contact. And you could see his height, he really used it to his advantage: he got under defenders, played with great leverage and explosion. He wiped some guys out — wiped them out consistently,” continued Belichick about the Patriots and Pro Football Hall of Famer, who stepped away from the game after 13 seasons — all of which spent in New England.For more information on the other Patriots to make the NFL’s All-Time Team, please click here:Bill BelichickLB Junior SeauCB Mike HayesK Adam Vinatieri ATLANTA (AP) — Yes, it's time for another story about the Patriots trying to accomplish something nobody has done since the 1972 Dolphins.But not THAT story.Eleven years after falling one win short of matching Miami's undefeated season, New England is attempting to become the first team since those famed Dolphins to follow a loss in the Super Bowl with a championship the very next year. Not quite as glamorous. But in some respects, every bit as difficult."When we got back to camp, Don Shula made us watch that game every day for like a week," said Mercury Morris, the outspoken running back who mostly sat the bench during Miami's humbling 24-3 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. "He told us, ‘See how sick you feel now? Just think of how sick and sorry you'll be if you don't go redeem yourself.'"With their win over the Dolphins, the Cowboys became the first team to come away with the title a year after a Super Bowl loss. (They had fallen 16-13 to Baltimore in Super Bowl V). Then, sparked by their own humbling defeat, the Dolphins did the same thing — and went 17-0 along the way.Neither feat has been repeated in 46 years since, although the Patriots came oh-so-close to perfection in the 2007 season, losing the Super Bowl to the Giants to finish 18-1."It made us very aware of what we had to do better than the year before," Dolphins punter Larry Seiple said of the loss at Tulane Stadium Tedy Bruschi Jerseys Stitched , where Miami managed only 185 yards. "It kind of inspired us to stay together as a team and get back there."As it turns out, easier said than done.Over the years, other teams have had their chances.The 1980s Denver Broncos went to three Super Bowls over four seasons and lost all of them badly — to the point that John Elway conceded to wondering whether it was worth all the fuss fighting to get back, year after year.In the 1990s, the Buffalo Bills made four straight Super Bowls and lost every one.But they are the exceptions.Most teams that lose the Super Bowl don't come close the next season, and that trend has increased since the advent of free agency, when turning over a third of the roster — even for the most successful teams — is becoming the norm.Over the past 20 seasons, nine Super Bowl losers have failed to even make the playoffs the next year. Another four made the playoffs but lost their first game. Not a single one has returned to the Super Bowl. Until this season."The biggest issue to me was feeling like we were going to right a wrong from that last season," said Kurt Warner, whose Rams fell off the map after their 20-17 Super Bowl loss to New England in 2002 that marked the start of the Patriots dynasty. "Anytime you allow one season to carry over into another, I think you're going to have problems."New England has rebounded from last year's Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Making their ninth Super Bowl appearance since the start of the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era, the Patriots seem to come up with new ways every year to reimagine what's possible."I think, honestly, after what happened last year in the Super Bowl, guys are hungry," linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. "And I feel like we got humbled. We're not taking things for granted."Neither did the Dolphins.And though they ended up undefeated, that wasn't the main mission when they started that season. They were motivated by a lopsided loss in the biggest game the season before."It was an embarrassing performance," Morris said. "It was a specific source of redemption. Because pride is one thing. But to redeem yourself from something is another. There's more value in the concept of redemption than there is in being great."