The Patriots’ head coach spoke with his team before the Super Bowl against the Seahawks.
The New England Patriots held a team meeting on the morning of Super Bowl LX, and head coach Mike Vrabel left his players with a simple three-word message.
Belief. Identity. Rage.
According to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Vrabel drew a reference to the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win that capped off the 2001 season. Playing the U2 song Beautiful Day, which was performed during that year’s halftime show, he reminded his players that nobody gave New England a shot against the high-flying “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams that day.
Of course, the Patriots ended up winning 20-17 in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. It was the franchise’s first championship, and Vrabel was part of it.
Twenty-four years, five more Super Bowl wins and a full-on rebuild later, the Vrabel-led Patriots are on the doorstep of adding to the team’s trophy case. To do so, however, it will have to overcome a Seattle Seahawks team that is entering the Super Bowl as 4.5-point favorties.
While not the same as the Rams being favored by two touchdowns, Vrabel’s reference still works. The 2001 team had to overcome long odds to secure a championship, and his 2025 team will have to do the same.
“I’ve always tried to use everything that I’ve been presented with through my career from the time that I started playing football,” Vrabel said earlier this week when asked about parallels between those two particular teams.
“We always talk about how you have to continue to improve as the season goes along to give yourself a chance to make the tournament, be in the playoffs and ultimately get to where we are today. But I don’t really draw too many parallels. I don’t know what happened in 2000. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened in 2024. I wasn’t here. So, I just try to focus on where I’m at, being present and doing what I feel like is best for the football team, whether that was as a player or now as a coach.”
Category: General Sports
