Troy of all trades

Brown does it all to lead Patriots to Super Bowl

NEW ORLEANS -- He stands 5-foot-10, maybe, and weighs in the neighborhood of 190, depending on when he's had his most recent meal. But everybody knows he's hands down the biggest reason the New England Patriots have crashed this year's Super Bowl party.

If you guessed that the MVP of the Patriots' storybook season goes by the initials T.B., you'd be right. But if you assumed that meant quarterback Tom Brady is the man behind all the magic in New England, you're as far off as a Kris Brown field goal try.

"If there's a more valuable player in the league to his team than Troy Brown, I don't know who it would be," Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe said Sunday, minutes after Brown's monstrous AFC Championship Game performance almost single-handedly advanced New England to Super Bowl XXXVI.

"Without Troy Brown, I don't know what our record would be this year, but we would certainly not be standing where we are right now. I would say he's by far the most valuable player on our team, and has been all year."

In a city known for its confluence of three rivers, the Patriots' soft-spoken ninth-year receiver killed the Pittsburgh Steelers in three different ways Sunday. His eight catches for 121 yards were both game highs. But remarkably, Brown's biggest contributions to New England's 24-17 victory came in special-teams roles.

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His 55-yard up-the-gut punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter put the game's first points on the scoreboard and set the tone for the Patriots' stunning upset of the AFC's top seed.

Then Brown capped his one-man show with a best supporting role on the game's pivotal play, scooping up a blocked Kris Brown 34-yard field goal attempt and returning it 11 yards, before astutely lateraling the ball to teammate Antwan Harris. When Harris went the remaining 49 yards for a touchdown and a 21-3 early third-quarter lead, New England had all the points it would need for victory.

It was as simple as one, two, three, and count the Steelers out.

"He accounted for most of the points," Pittsburgh's chatty strong safety Lee Flowers said amid the gloom of the Steelers locker room. "The punt return was definitely a highlight-reel punt return. The field goal block. The guy is a heck of an athlete. He is a special player. As long as New England has that No. 80 over there, they are going to be successful. Whoever they play in the Super Bowl, they better key that guy. No. 80 is the real deal."

Far too late, the Steelers found out what Brown's teammates have known all season. The Patriots' entire go-hung squad takes its cue from the selfless Brown and his whatever-it-takes attitude. A Pro Bowl receiver who finished with 101 catches and 1,199 yards risking life and limb on special teams? No big deal, says Brown.

Can you imagine Randy Moss sending the same message? Not even with a telegraph machine.

"You don't ever forget where you came from," said Brown, who like the infinitely more famous Moss played collegiately at Marshall University. "Special teams kept me around a long time, and it's something I've always been good at.

"I always feel like if you've got a player who's good on special teams, you've got to have him on the field. Find a way to get him on the field and help your team win games. That's a vital part."

The Patriots have found every opportunity they could think of this season to keep Brown on the field. Besides his career-best receiving exploits, Brown has rushed 11 times for 91 yards, led New England with 29 punt returns for a 14.3 average and two touchdowns (three including Sunday's), and ran back one kickoff for 13 yards.

He probably also collected the kicking tees after practice, but they don't keep statistics on that so we'll never know.

"He is the MVP of our team," Patriots strong safety Lawyer Milloy, who in New England is something of a, well, clubhouse lawyer. "He's what made our team go. He's the stature of what the Patriots are all about. As long as we have him back there, we have a chance to score points. Without Troy, we would not be here."

Which is somewhat ironic given that the last time the Patriots were here, Brown was missing. He sat out New England's 35-21 loss to Green Bay in New Orleans in Super Bowl XXXI with a hernia. It was the only game Brown missed all season. Five years later, Brown, a former eighth-round pick has a second shot to play on the game's grandest stage.

"It's a great feeling to be able to get back," said Brown, 30, who has played his entire career in New England. "Because they don't come too easy. It's definitely a sweet feeling to be able to get back. Barring any injuries in practice this week, I'll finally fulfill a dream, to play in the Super Bowl."

Long overshawdowed in New England by fellow Patriots receiver Terry Glenn, whose season was virtually wiped out by a series of team and league suspensions, Brown posted his career year in 2001. Despite being hailed as a overwhelmingly deserving first-time Pro Bowl candidate, Brown was initially snubbed in the AFC voting. Later, he was added to the conference's four-man receiving contingent as an injury replacement.

Overlooked, and then belatedly appreciated. For Brown, it's a familiar pattern.

"It took a lot of patience," Brown said of his career path. "It's hard when you know you could get in there and play, but the situation doesn't always work out the way you want it to work out. Like I said, special teams, they kept me around long enough to get this opportunity."

Brown's perseverance has been on display every Patriots game day this season. Well, except for the one still to come. If they call him MVP after that one, he won't mind a bit. They almost always hang that kind of tag on a winner.

"Whatever my teammates think about me is the most important thing," Brown said of all the MVP talk. "I don't care what anybody else says outside of our locker room. If you can earn the respect of your teammates and they put their trust in you, that's all that matters to me."

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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