February 3, 2002: The New England Patriots' Underdog Win

February 3, 2002, 20 years ago: Super Bowl XXXVI is played at the Superdome in New Orleans. Remember when the New England Patriots were considered plucky underdogs, and their opponents were arrogant swellheads? Never again.

The Patriots were founded as the Boston Patriots in 1960, with the American Football League. In 1963, they won the AFL Eastern Division title, but got clobbered by the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship Game. They bounced around from stadium to stadium, playing at Boston University's Nickerson Field, Boston College's Alumni Stadium, Harvard Stadium and Fenway Park.

In 1971, their 2nd season after the NFL merged with the AFL, they moved to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts, a little closer to downtown Providence, Rhode Island than to downtown Boston. To tap into a regional identity -- something the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins never found it necessary to do -- they changed their name to the New England Patriots.

In 1976, after 9 seasons seasons finishing .500 or less, they went 11-3, and won the AFC's Wild Card Playoff berth. But they lost the Divisional Playoff to the Oakland Raiders, in controversial fashion. In 1978, they won the AFC East, but lost the Divisional Playoff to the Houston Oilers. In 1982, they made the Playoffs, but lost to the Miami Dolphins in the 1st Round.

In the 1985 season, they did something no other NFL team had done: They won 3 Playoff games on the road to advance to the Super Bowl. (Only 1 team has done it since: The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers.) They beat the New York Jets at the Meadowlands, the now-moved Raiders at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl. But they got slaughtered by the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.

 

After a Division title and a Divisional Playoff loss to the Denver Broncos in the 1986 season, the Pats collapsed, falling into mediocrity on the field and disgrace off it. New ownership hired Bill Parcells to rebuild the team. He got them into the Playoffs in 1994, losing to the Cleveland Browns. In 1996, he got them to an AFC East title, and into Super Bowl XXXI, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers. This was followed by another Division title in 1997, and another Playoff berth in 1998.

In 2000, Bill Belichick was named head coach. He had been Parcells' defensive coordinator with the Patriots, and with both New York teams, the Giants and the Jets. But as a head coach, he had already failed with the Browns. But in just his 2nd season at the helm, he got them to 11-5 and the AFC East title.

The key game was the 2nd of the year. Mo Lewis of the Jets injured quarterback Drew Bledsoe on a tackle. In came Tom Brady, drafted in the 6th round, and not hyped much. After a 5-5 start, the Pats won their last 6 regular season games.

The Divisional Playoff was the last game played at Foxboro Stadium, as what became Gillette Stadium was being built next-door. In a blizzard, the "Tuck Rule" helped the Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders, 16-13, on an overtime field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The following week, they won away to the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning them a berth in Super Bowl XXXVI.

They would play the St. Louis Rams, whose passing attack, led by Kurt Warner, was known as "The Greatest Show On Turf." They had won the Super Bowl just 2 years earlier. They were 14-2, their only losses being by 3 at home to the New Orleans Saints, and by 7 at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They had beaten the Packers in the Divisional Round and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.

They were talking big. They were talking dynasty. They were favored by 14 points, and they were talking like a team that deserved to be.

Boston had won 6 World Series, although none since 1918; 5 Stanley Cups, although none since 1972; and a record 16 NBA Championships, although none since 1986. The city had never won one in football. This was their chance to do so. Since the Celtics' 1986 title, Boston teams had gone 0-7 in finals, including the Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XXXI. New England needed a win.

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This is what the world was like on February 3, 2002, 20 years ago:

America was still shaken from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many people thought it was good that a team called the Patriots was in the Super Bowl.

The Patriots had Ty Law. The Rams had Kurt Warner, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace and Aeneas Williams. The New York Giants had Michael Strahan and, for that one season, Morten Andersen. The New York Jets had Curtis Martin and Kevin Mawae.

The Baltimore Ravens had Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, Rod Woodson and Shannon Sharpe. The Chicago Bears had Brian Urlacher. The Dallas Cowboys had Emmitt Smith and Larry Allen. The Denver Broncos had Terrell Davis. The Green Bay Packers had Brett Favre. The Indianapolis Colts had Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison. The Kansas City Chiefs had Tony Gonzalez and Will Shields.

The Miami Dolphins had Jason Taylor. The Minnesota Vikings had Cris Carter and Randy Moss. The New Orleans Saints had Willie Roaf. The Oakland Raiders had Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Charles Woodson. The Philadelphia Eagles had Brian Dawkins. The Pittsburgh Steelers had Jerome Bettis and Alan Faneca.

The San Diego Chargers had LaDainian Tomlinson and Junior Seau. The San Francisco 49ers had Terrell Owens. The Seattle Seahawks had John Randle, Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Randall McDaniel and John Lynch. The Tennessee Titans had Bruce Matthews. And the Washington Redskins had Bruce Smith.

All of those players are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Drew Brees was a rookie with the Chargers. Eli Manning, Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers were in college. Matt Ryan, Clay Matthews, Ndamukong Suh, Colin Kaepernick, Matthew Stafford and Richard Sherman were in high school.

 

Russell Wilson and Nick Foles were 13 years old; Cam Newton and Rob Gronkowski were 12; Jimmy Garoppolo was 10; Odell Beckham Jr. and Johnny Manziel were 9; Michael Thomas and Dak Prescott were 8; Baker Mayfield, Joey Bosa and Patrick Mahomes were 6; Juju Smith-Schuster, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson were 5; Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray were 4; Tua Tagovailoa was 3; and Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith were 2.

The Houston Texans have begun play. The Oakland Raiders have moved again, to Las Vegas. The Rams and the Chargers have both moved back to Los Angeles. Those teams, the Patriots, both New York teams, the Seahawks, the Bears, the Eagles, the Colts, the Cowboys, the 49ers, the Vikings, the Detroit Lions, the Arizona Cardinals and the Atlanta Falcons have all opened new stadiums.

The Patriots had not yet won a Super Bowl. Nor had the Buccaneers, the Saints, the Seahawks, the Eagles, or the Colts since moving to Indianapolis. The Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the Saints, the Carolina Panthers, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Colts since moving to Indianapolis had never even been in one. The Eagles had won an NFL Championship, but not since 1960.

All of those facts are no longer true.

Bill Belichick is still the head coach of the Patriots. The new head coach of the New York Giants, Brian Daboll, was one of Belichick's assistants on the Patriots' staff. Robert Saleh of the Jets was playing at Northern Michigan University.

Lindy Ruff of the Devils was the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was the head coach of the Nashville Predators. Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks was an assistant coach for them. Gerard Gallant of the Rangers was an assistant coach for the minor-league Louisville Panthers. Buck Showalter of the Mets was a studio analyst for ESPN.

Aaron Boone of the Yankees was playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Steve Nash of the Nets was playing for the Dallas Mavericks. Sandy Brondello of the Liberty was playing for the WNBA's Miami Sol. And the managers of the New York Tri-State Area's MLS teams were playing in their native countries: Ronny Deila of NYCFC for Odds BK in Norway, and Gerhard Struber of the Red Bulls for LASK in Austria.

The defending World Champions were the Baltimore Ravens, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Colorado Avalanche. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Lennox Lewis.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America, Greece, Italy, Canada, Britain, Russia, Brazil, Korea, Japan, and now, twice, in China. The World Cup has now been held in Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

The idea that two people of the same gender could get married, and have all the legal benefits of marriage, was absurd. But then, so was the idea that corporations were "people" and entitled to the rights thereof.

The President of the United States was George W. Bush. His father George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, their wives, and the widow of Lyndon Johnson were still alive. Barack Obama was in the Illinois State Senate. Joe Biden was running for his 6th term in the U.S. Senate from Delaware. Kamala Harris was an Assistant District Attorney in Alameda County, California. And Donald Trump was a laughingstock, in both professional and private life.

The Governor of the State of New York was George Pataki, the Mayor of the City of New York was Michael Bloomberg, and the Governor of New Jersey was Jim McGreevey. The Mayor of Boston was Tom Menino, and the Mayor of St. Louis was Francis Slay.

The current holders of those offices? Kathy Hochul was a member of the Town Board in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg, New York; Eric Adams was a New York police detective; Phil Murphy was head of Goldman Sachs' Investments Management Division; Michelle Wu was in high school in the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Illinois; and Tishaura Jones was an executive trainee at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

There were still living veterans of World War I, the Mexican Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Baltic and Irish Wars of Independence. There were still living survivors of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the General Slocum fire of 1904, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and the sinkings of the Titanic in 1912 and the Lusitania in 1915.

The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, had just been named Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chretien. The Prime Minister of Britain was Tony Blair. The British monarch was Queen Elizabeth II. (That hasn't changed.) The holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. There have since been 4 Presidents of the United States, 5 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

Major novels of 2002 included The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg. "Prosperity gospel" televangelist Rick Warren published The Purpose Driven Life. Apparently, the purpose driving his life is to con people into believing that God wants them to give him money. There had been 4 Harry Potter books, and 3 A Song of Ice and Fire books. But no one had yet heard of Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen.

Major films of the Winter of 2002 included Snow Dogs, A Walk to Remember, Big Fat Liar, Collateral Damage, Monster's Ball, Britney Spears' film debut Crossroads, Aaliyah's last film Queen of the Damned, John Q for which Denzel Washington should have won the Oscar that year, the remake of Rollerball, and the James Caviezel version of The Count of Monte Cristo. "U Got It Bad" by Usher was the Number 1 song in the country.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.55 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 34 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.36, a cup of coffee $2.05, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $6.47, a movie ticket $5.81, a new car $21,866, and a new house $227,600. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the preceding Friday at 9,907.26.

There were cell phones, but "smart" phones were not yet widely known, let alone owned. The top home video game system was the Xbox. There was, as yet, no iPhone, no iPad, no Skype, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Pinterest, no Instagram, and no TikTok.

In the Winter of 2002, the Euro is officially introduced as paper and coin currency, after having been in use as credit since 1999. The civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola ended. Juanita Jordan filed for divorce from Michael.

President Bush delivered the State of the Union Address, in which he said that Iran, Iraq and North Korea have formed "an axis of evil." This is later revealed to be a lie. He also signed a national security council directive, establishing the goals and objectives for going to war with Iraq. Meanwhile, 5 months after 9/11, Osama bin Laden was still at large. And American journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by al-Qaeda -- in Pakistan.

Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, and Peggy Lee, and Brazilian soccer legend Edvaldo Izidio Neto, a.k.a. Vavá, died. Asher Angel, and Jalen Green, and Jordan Addison were born.

That's what the world was like on February 3, 2002, 20 years ago, when the New England Patriots' dynasty began.

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The Rams' offensive starters were introduced first. Then the Patriots were introduced, collectively rather than individually. Trying to show that they were a team, rather than a collection of stars. Little did we know that one of them would become the biggest football star of their generation.

The Rams scored first, a 50-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins. But in the 2nd quarter, the Patriots were really pressuring Kurt Warner. And after a 3rd-down incompletion, I saw a look in Warner's eyes. I'd previously seen that look in the eyes of Dan Marino, Tony Eason, John Elway, Jim Kelly, Neil O'Donnell and Kerry Collins. It was the look of a quarterback who knew he was going to lose the Super Bowl. And the Rams were still winning at this point. They were forced to try another long field goal attempt by Wilkins, this time from 52 yards out. It was long enough, but wide left.

On their next drive, Warner was intercepted by Ty Law, who took it in 47 yards to give the Pats a 7-3 lead. A Warner pass to Ricky Proehl was turned into a fumble by Antwan Harris, and Terrell Buckley recovered it. Brady took over, and in the last minute of the half, threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to David Patten. It was 14-3 New England.

After an emotional halftime show by U2, the 3rd quarter was comparatively dull. But Otis Smith intercepted Warner to set up a 37-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

This was before social media: We had Internet chat rooms and message boards, but no Facebook or Twitter. Still, there seemed to be a feeling around the country that, the longer the Patriots held the lead over the heavily favored Rams, the more surprised they got. Not me: I was getting less and less surprised. The Patriots had dominated the game. Even while they were down 3-0, they looked like the better team.

Then came the kind of comeback that would, over the next 20 years, come to be expected from the Patriots and (and, later, or) Brady. The kind that, if it was the Patriots (and/or Brady), would make you wonder if they were cheating again. At this point, we had no reason to suspect the Patriots (and/or Brady) of cheating. In hindsight, maybe they were, but it stopped working.

The Rams got to the Patriots' 3-yard line. On 4th & goal, needing 2 touchdowns in the last 10 minutes, they decided to go for it. Warner couldn't find anyone open, and was hit by Roman Phifer, and fumbled. Tebucky Jones picked it up, and took it back 97 yards for a touchdown. But the main reason no one was open was that Willie McGinest had committed a holding penalty on Marshall Faulk, preventing him from becoming an eligible receiver. The Rams got a new set of downs, and Warner scored on a quarterback sneak. The Rams were within 17-10 with 9:31.

With 1:51 left, the Rams had one more drive, starting on their own 45. Warner threw 18 yards to Az-Zahir Hakim, 11 to Yo Murphy, and 26 yards to Proehl for a touchdown. With 1:30 left in regulation, it was 17-17.

The question now was, How would the less experience Patriots respond to blowing a 2-touchdown 4th quarter lead, with no timeouts left? The answer turned out to be, "Very well." Brady got the Patriots a little closer, a little closer, and a little closer. The key play was a 23-yard pass to Troy Brown. With 7 seconds left, they were in position for Vinatieri to kick a 48-yard field goal.

Three weeks earlier, in the cold, snow and wind of Foxboro Stadium, Vinatieri had made a game-winning field goal in overtime. This time, he was inside the Superdome, with no weather at all. If he failed, it was overtime. If he succeeded, he was a New England hero forever.

The kick was perfect. Final score: New England 20, St. Louis 17. The Patriots were World Champions for the 1st time. And, except in the St. Louis area, hardly anybody begrudged them this. They were the plucky underdogs that everybody could like.

Just like the University of Miami football team was in the 1984 Orange Bowl. Just like the Duke basketball team was in the 1991 Final Four. Just like the Atlanta Braves were in the 1991 baseball postseason. Just like Manchester United was in the 1992-93 Premier League season. Just like the Yankees were in the 1996 baseball postseason. Just like the Boston Red Sox were in the 2004 baseball postseason. Things change.

Brady was named the game's Most Valuable Player. As had been custom since Super Bowl XXI, the Super Bowl MVP was invited to do an "I'm going to Disney World!" commercial and participate in a parade at Walt Disney World. First, Brady had to get Belichick's permission to miss the team flight back home, and instead fly from New Orleans to Orlando.

Belichick looked at Brady as if he'd just heard the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. As if he was going to tell Brady, "No, practice is tomorrow in Foxborough, at 9 AM." Finally, he said, "Of course, you can go. How many times do you win the Super Bowl?"

If they only knew.

When the Patriots got back to Boston, there was a celebration at City Hall. And Larry Izzo, a backup linebacker who didn't have much more to do with the win than Mayor Tom Menino did, picked up the Vince Lombardi Trophy, held it up, and started a chant, which the crowd picked up: "Yankees suck! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!"

Seeing this, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "I guarantee you: If the Giants win the Super Bowl, nobody is going to be saying, 'Boston sucks!'"

Six years later, when the New York Giants took on an 18-0 Patriots team in Super Bowl XLII, and won, Shaughnessy was proven wrong.