Best of Troy Brown

That's cold. And not right.

Charlie Chaplin as he saw hs career nearing its end wrote,"For it is the glamour of the LIMELIGHT from which age must pass as youth enters..."

A sad day in the History of the Patriots (there've been plently recently too). Offer him the Vet min and see how it shakes out in camp/preseason. Troy is probaly our second best slot receiver, third best CB, second best kicker....etc. What a shame.

It's pretty hard. Having to do what is best for the team, and honoring the quintessential Patriot is nearly impossible unless the organization just keeps him around.

For a player to start and end his career with one team, he has to eventually accept a backup role when he could start somewhere else and retire when another team would probably sign him if he wanted to keep playing.

Whatever Troy chooses to do, I wish him the best, and he will always be a Patriot to me.

The courtesy to Brown was done in 2007. That's enough. If he wants to pull a Dwight Evans and play one final season somewhere else, the Patriots, their fans, and even Brown should have no problem with it.

No mention of the lateral to Antwain Harris after the blocked punt, resulting in the 2nd special teams touchdown in the team's playoff history?

Troy Brown. You will be missed.

Great work, Mike. Thanks for all of the off-season updates.

To me, Troy Brown represents everything that being a New England Patriot is all about. He's always had a "never say die" attitude, and his sacrifices for the betterment of the team are legendary (playing CB comes to mind...). He's tough, he's a team guy, and exactly what you'd want in a football player. I sincerely hope the Pats retire #80 when it's all said and done, even if Troy signs elsewhere.

Long live the legacy of #80. He will never be forgotten.

thank you troy see u in that great patriots place in the sky.

Godspeed Troy Brown.

Troy is the best clutch receiver the Pats have had. Earlier in his career during the Bledsoe years he would come off the bench on 3rd down, and always get open for enough yards to make the 1st down. How he did not pull a muscle or get injured just coming in like that on 3rd down still blows my mind. Best of luck to him!

Its funny though. Brown, 36, is expendable, yet Tedy "Pesky" Bruschii at age 35 is not. Tedy has taken much more physical abuse than Troy ever did, is a liability in pass coverage, and yes makes a lot of tackles, but after 5 yards have been gained. Yet Tedy gets a 2 year contract ( albeit for vet min ) and Troy gets the boot. The Pats still haven't brought in a young middle LB, and based on the past 8 years won't in the draft. Funny that they can re-vamp their receiving corps and dump oldies but goodies, but not do the same at LB. Here's to Tedy finding the fountain of youth ( and probably Seau too ) and the Pats finding someone on defense who can make a game changing play, because we know it isn't coming from Tedy, Seau, Vrabel, Hobbs, Wilfork, Seymour, or Warren, and the jury is still out on AD and Rodney.

Mike,

What about the strip after the interception in the divisional round against San Diego in last year's playoffs? Had the Pats gone on to the Super Bowl that year, that play would've gone down as one of the greatest in Pats history.

Gonna miss Troy,

ScubaOwl,
ScubaOwl.com

The play that exemplifies Troy Brown to me and is worth mentioning is the strip against San Diego in the playoffs last year (2006 season, 2007 playoffs)

Brady throws the pick the season is over... But Troy comes in makes the strip, the Pats get the ball back the season is still alive. My favorite part is Troy walking away from the play like nothing happened.

If he wants to play there is no reason that he shouldn't keep playing. Look at the 3,4 and 5 receivers on most teams. There's no reason that a guy with his skill set can't keep laying, even if he has lost a step. I'd be willing to bet that a year without playing has done his body some good.

Hi Marc and Scuba Owl. Great points on those two plays. They should definitely be in there.
--Mike

"Its funny though. Brown, 36, is expendable, yet Tedy "Pesky" Bruschii at age 35 is not. Tedy has taken much more physical abuse than Troy ever did, is a liability in pass coverage, and yes makes a lot of tackles, but after 5 yards have been gained. "

I understand where you are coming from, however Bruschi can and will be much more vital to the play of the defense than Brown would be to the Patriots offense. We don't even know how well Brown is now after his injury and the Pats are working with a very slim salary cap margin at this point.

No one is sure what the Patriots will be doing come draft day, but you never know. Randy Moss? No one saw that coming. Anyone could be acquired or Belichick may go against his instinct and go for an LB. We'll just have to see.

Lastly, Belichick himself described the LB as a glue which holds the defense together. Bruschi and Seau are mini-coaches when they are on the field. They are great mentors to the younger guys and I'm sure they still have the play making abilities by being able to read what's happening pre-snap and relaying it to the rest of the defense.

Very sad day for Pats fans.He was allways there when they needed him.Run the ball, catch the ball, be the decoy, he did it all. We will miss you Troy.Maybe they could use a Coach/Player on the bench.

Love Troy Brown. To me he represents the essence of smart Patriot football.
Fondly remember his almost single-handed destruction of the Steelers in the Jan 02 AFC Championship game. I can still see Cowher's face. The San Diego strip play that brought us back to life in the 07 playoffs... I can still see the scowl on Marty's face. All the clutch catches that guy made, they should give him a parade.

MaybeTroy will hang around and wait for a November Patriots callup, but don't you think that with the Patriots' present CB situation that they should seriously entertain
the notion of Brown replacing Gay in their Nickel? Who better understands the tricks that the slot receiver tries to pull to make that 3rd and 7?

I thought it couldn't get worse after February 3rd. I was wrong. Nothing could compound that football misery like the sight of Troy in another team's uni.

I remember that catch against the Giants in '97 and thats what made you my favorite player. You are always Mr. Patriot Troy.......

Timmy - Seau made a huge play in the championship game, and Bruschi led the team in tackles this year. The pats have stocked up at wide reciever, and that's alot easier to do in this league than at LB, if you haven't noticed. The Pats still have the draft and are considering an offer for Seward, and they still have Adalius Thomas - that's not a bad linebacking core, just a pretty old one overall, but they're getting younger there.

I liked Troy's catch in overtime against the Dolphins in 2003, in Miami, where they hadn't won in 13 years. He avoided a last-gasp tackle, got his legs up and ran in the touchdown off a beautiful Brady pass, something like an 80-yard play. This was after the Pats argued w/ the refs about whether they had called heads or tails; they felt they were gypped on the coin toss and the ref got it wrong, and then the Dolphins got within field goal range. This was also the year the Marlins won the world series, and because the field had dirt on it due to the MLB playoffs, (in part), Mare missed the chip-shot field goal and the Pats threw the bomb to Troy when they got the ball back. Loved that play, one of my all time faves and one of the most exciting Pats wins.

My Troy comments are posted under the Welker blog...just because somebody else did so, and I followed up there...

Gino Cappeletti. John Hannah. Steve Grogan. Steve Nelson. Tedy Bruschi. Troy Brown.

Thanks to those earlier who remembered the Chargers strip, Miami overtime TD, but especially the pick-up and subsequent lateral of Pittsburgh blocked punt - my personal favorite Patriot replay, with the great call by Gil.

And how about Troy's catch to set-up the Vinatieri's winning field goal? While Wiggins gains another 5-ish yards on the next play, Adam's kick would no doubt have been good from Troy's previous out of bounds mark. (re-check your SB XXXVI DVD's and notice Troy's eyes open wide when he realizes the play's called for him)

Not such a sad day, simply inevitable. Name the time and place to honor 3rd Down Troy Brown and I WILL BE THERE.

I'm remembering a play and I'm really pulling this one out of deep parts of my mind, so the details are very fuzzy. In fact, it may not have been Troy Brown, but I'm pretty sure it was, and I don't remember who the Patriots were playing. I think it was the 1995 seson, but I'm not really sure about that, either.
The pass was caught, the WR got nailed and fumbled the ball, which landed at his feet. He kicked it up to an offensive lineman who carried it another ten or so yards. One of the best "heads-up" plays I've ever seen. Any one remember this? Was it indeed Troy?

I knew the Patroits can be COLD hearted but Brown has been there the longest of any of them he deservers to stay w/ the team until he wants to retire He has earned it Brown has always given the Patriots 110% effert He deserves to stay and anyone that lets him go when he isn't ready is nothing but a Cold hearted BIT++ LET TROY BROWN STAY W/ THE ONE TEAM THAT HE HAS BEEN W/ FOR 15 YRS LET HIM FINISH IS CAREER W/ THE PATS DON'T BE COLD

Thank you Troy and your wonderful family who shared you with us.
When that Hall of Fame opens I hope they ask you to cut the ribbon.
You are the embodiment of the true meaning of The Patriot Way.
PS
Are those sons of yours ready for some football?

For those of you who think Brown 'deserves' to stay, please keep in mind the league minimum for a 15 year veteran is approximately one million dollars. Do you really think the Patriots should spend a million on a player who under the best of circumstances will be the fifth receiver and/or emergency cornerback?

If you thinkabout Troy was completely overlooked in the 2001 MVP voting. Think about.

The Patriots starting quarterback (Bledsoe) goes down and is replaced with a 2nd year QB with no career starts.

Terry Glenn was their #1 receiver but had a meltdown finishing with 14 rec & 204 yards.

Troy was the #3 receiver behind David Patten.

Troy became Bradys go to guy. Where would the Patriots have been in 2001 without Troy Brow stepping up from a #3 receiver to the #1 receiver with a totally green quarterback? They would not have made the playoffs. Where was that production have been without Troy??

Kurt Warner was the Player of the Year, but as far as Most Valuable it was Troy Brown.

Warner had Faulk, Bruce and Holt to support him whereas Troy helped to carry Brady in 2001.

It sounds crazy but in reality its true, but yet receivers never get any credit anyway.

If the Patriots finish 1 million under the cap should the Patriots pay or should Kraft bankroll the million??

Thanks troy

troy has been MY fave pat since he arrived in 93' I will miss him and hope he still lives here in new england he belongs here TDnorthbank 4life