Daily Globe (Newspaper) - February 7, 2005, Ironwood, Michigan Do you have sports Call Larry Holcombe at or email to THE DAILY GLOBE MONDAY FEBRUARY 7 2005 9 Patriot Act Dynasty By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sporls Writer JACKSONVILLE Fla The whole tiling must have seemed routine to the New England confetti fluttering across the field fireworks brightening the night sky a carefully choreographed championship trophy presentation Downright ordinary right? Hardly The Patriots became a full-fledged dynasty with their third Super Bowl tory in four years beating the phia Eagles Sunday night New England claimed a spot alongside the Green Bay Packers of the 1980s the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 70s the San Francisco 49ers of the 80s the Dallas Cowboys of the 90s A team for the decade A team for the ages We're champions now That's ty Rodney Harrison said 1 don't know about dynasty Trust us Rodney this group fits the in every respect New land becomes just the seventh franchise to claim back-to-back titles The boys are the only other team to win the championship three times over a year period Typically the Patriots didn't leave themselves much room All three of their Super Bowls have been decided by three points the previous two on field goals by Adam Vinatieri By com- parison only two of the first 35 Super Bowls were within field goal range at the end But what they lack in style the ots more than make up with their steely determination to do whatever it fakes to win When the Eagles jumped to a lead New England responded with a touchdown of its own late in the first half When Philadelphia tied the game at 14 late in the third quarter the Patriots marched right down the field for Corey Dillon's touchdown And in a ting bit of synergy Vinatieri booted a yard field goal with remaining that provided the margin of Donovan McNabb threw a touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with remaining but the Patriots recovered the onside kick and ran off all but the final 46 seconds When Harrison picked off McNabb's last pass at the Philly 28 it was time to party Sure the celebration is virtually impossible to distinguish from one year to the next but that didn't lessen the Patriots remarkable specially in the era of salary caps and free agency This is the best offensive le Matt Light said We have more heart than anyone in the world This is I love this confetti The Eagles got a huge lift from Terrell Owens who defied his doctor to play in his first Super Bowl Just weeks after surgery had nine catches for 122 yards Not bad for a guy who was ing with two screws and a metal plate in his right ankle He's amazing to he able to come out there and do what he Harrison said You could tell he was still hurting a little bit but he played tremendous But Owens was outshined by New England's Deion Branch who claimed the MVP award with 11 catches tying a Super Bowl record for 133 yards It wasn't a flawless game by any means McNabb for 397 yards threw three inter- was sacked four times and had a fumble overturned by replay Tom Brady botched a handoff with Kevin Faulk leading to a fumble deep in Philly territory For the most part though the ots followed a familiar routine run the ball 28 carries 112 limit takes in the passing game Brady was for 236 yards with no tions and rely heavily on their defense the Eagles managed just 45 yards on the The loss extended Philly's ing championship The city's last football title came in 1960 The last title of any kind came 22 years ago when the VGers won the NBA I was proud of the coach Andy Reid said But we came up just short too many turnovers and against such a tough football team you can't do that Associated Press New England Patriots Tedy Bruschi celebrates after intercepting a fourth-quarter pass intended for Philadelphia Eagles Smith during Super Bowl XXXIX in sonville Fla Sunday Now it's time to start sorting out the historical significance of ots Super Bowl title They have won nine straight postseason games ing Vince Lombardi's Green Bay teams And coach improved bis playoff record to the great McNabb caught a break when a quarter interception in the end zone was nullified by a defensive penalty But he wasted the second chance throwing another errant pass that Harrison picked off near the goal line After Harrison's second interception suspect that coach would have a deep admiration for how your team played NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue told after the game The Patriots had a bumpy road to their latest championship and in many ways the Super Bowl mirrored those struggles But ns always New England found a way to persevere Maybe it's their For the second year in a row linebacker Mike Vrabel caught a touchdown pass He's got five receptions in his career nil TDs Even though the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1981 after three straight conference championship flops their sparkling season ended in disappointment before a sea of mostly green jerseys in the crowd of We were too sloppy to Owens said It was great to get back but we made too many mistakes We could have won hurts Brady didn't stand out like he did while winning the MVP award at his first two Super Bowls but he threw two TD passes Branch stepped in to fill the void making off with a new car and an additional piece of hardware It doesn't matter who gets Branch said McNabb looked ordinary even tish at times Maybe it was the four sacks the persistent pressure and the lack of help from the running game He threw three touchdown passes but also made some crucial blunders In a precursor of what was to come and defensive coordinator Romeo Cren- nel Bofh are leaving for head coaching Weis at Notre Dame Crennel with the Cleveland Browns He grabbed me and Romeo at the end of the game and said Hey it's Weis said What a ride it's been One for the ages Super Bowl Stats 0 7 T 10 0 7 Second Quarter 6 pass l-m 9 55 4 pass iron Third Quarter I pass ran Vila1 eri 1 1 1 0 pass Im Akers Fourth First SatiM Lost Trr a of HE 21 331 219 35 217 Phi 24 369 524 4.53 3.35 2623 STATISTICS Pass Brady M Errand Branch Graham Owns 22 6 Lews Parry Associated Press New England Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch selected most valuable player of Super Bowl XXXIX is seen in action during the first half of the Patriots win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Stadium in Jacksonville Fla Marino Young will shine together in Canton By DARRY WILNER AP Football Writer JACKSONVILLE Fla AP Dan Marino and Steve Young made it a great day for quarter- backs when both were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marino the most prolific er in NFL history and Young whose accuracy and speed made him one of football's most tile QBs were joined Saturday by Benny Friedman an quarterback and Fritz Pollard received at least 80 cent of the votes from the panel of sports writers and ers Friedman and Pollard were nominated by the senior tee and chosen by the full panel Induction ceremonies will be Aug 7 in Canton Ohio It's an incredible Marino said It's humbling to think of growing up wanting to be a professional football player Let's overrun Canton with Dolphins fans I invite you all to Canton and to have some fun When Marino left the Miami Dolphins after the 1999 season ho had NFL bests of com- passes yards and 420 touchdowns His record of 48 TD passes in a son was recently broken by ton Manning Although he never won a Super Bowl Marino was the 1984 league MVP made three All-Pro teams and nine Pro Bowls When Marino retired he owned 21 NFL marks including most seasons with yards or more passing moat yards passing in one season in 84 the only year ho won a con- ference and most games with 300 yards or more passing Young the first left-handed quarterback elected won the 1995 Super Bowl with San Francisco and was the most valuable player in 1992 and 94 A clever runner Associated Press Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino right congratulates former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young after the two were elected into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in Jacksonville Fla Saturday with a strong arm and great vision Young made seven Pro Bowls and was a three-time Pro He held the highest passer rating in league history 96.8 when he retired in 99 He also set the highest ing of 112.8 which Manning also broke this season Not many Hall of Famers come out of Greenwich Young said with a took a unique rond starting with being left-handed 1 had a college coach LaVell Edwards who took a chance on a wild crazy handed running quarterback from Connecticut Pollard not only was the first black head coach in the NFL in 1921 but a superb player too A running back he led the Akron Pros to the fledgling 1920 championship with an undefeated record He later organized the go Brown Bombers an dent team of black players that barnstormed the country from Friedman played for four teams from and was one of the early great quarter- backs A contemporary of Red Grange he also was a strong draw at the box office Giants owner Tim chased the Detroit Wolverines for whom Friedman played in 1928 not only to get him in New York's lineup but to fill the stands We both appreciate and honor the people who played in another Young said speaking for Marino as well You're talking about having a passion for the game We're here on the backs of so many other players is important Fritz lard and what lie meant for the game There's a foundation there we arc to join with Irvin and Harry son the other two did not get the required votes for induction
