FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- This wasn't anything close to members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins popping champagne each year when their undefeated season remained unmatched, but for some players on the 2003 and 2004 New England Patriots teams, the result of Super Bowl LV amplified something meaningful to them.
Safety Rodney Harrison was one of 41 players who were part of the Patriots' back-to-back championships -- a result of a 32-29 win against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, followed by a 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
The Kansas City Chiefs had a chance to join them on Sunday, which sparked memories for some on those Patriots teams, including Harrison, who tweeted about it.
Tough to repeat , props to 2003-2004 patriots!!!
— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) February 8, 2021
Count receiver Deion Branch, who was MVP of the second Super Bowl win, in the same category.
"You know I was thinking about my brothers. Back-to-back is a special class to be in," Branch wrote in a text message to ESPN.
That the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers preserved the Patriots' standing as the last team to repeat added another New England layer to the storyline. That, of course, will extend into 2021 as Brady returns to Tampa in hopes of matching his old Patriots teams.
Just making a repeat appearance in a Super Bowl is unusual -- the Chiefs were the fourth team in the past 20 years to participate in at least two straight. However, defensive end Jarvis Green, who played for the Patriots from 2002 to '09 and has since started his own shrimp business, wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots' streak comes to an end.
"To be back-to-back champs, that's something very unique and special. It's not easy. But if anyone can do it, it's Tampa Bay because of Tom Brady," he said.
The Buccaneers are scheduled to visit the Patriots in the 2021 regular season, which figures to be one of the hottest tickets in recent New England history -- provided fans are allowed to return en mass to Gillette Stadium in the fall.
Green, 42, said he wasn't necessarily thinking about the 2003 and 2004 Patriots teams during Sunday's Super Bowl, in part because it quickly became apparent the Chiefs were in a troublesome spot. The same is true for Christian Fauria, a tight end on the Patriots' title teams who is still visible in the region as a host of a local sports-radio show.
Fauria, 49, vividly remembers walking into Gillette Stadium for the start of training camp in 2004, and how coach Bill Belichick framed the possibility of repeating.
"After we won the first one, you walked into the building and there was a little space with a board. I remember coming in and, on that board, it showed some recent Super Bowl champions and their record the next season. It wasn't good, and that included the Patriots the year after they won their first Super Bowl. It had a big impact because they were all good teams and none of them repeated. Some of them didn't even make the playoffs.
"It was a message Bill was trying to obviously tell us, that you just can't rest on what you did last year. It's so hard to go twice, because of all the challenges that exist. It was like, 'Wow!' He painted a really clear picture of how important it was to just let it go -- and how each year is independent of its own."
That helps explain why members of the 2003 and 2004 Patriots retain such pride in their accomplishment.
"We went 17-2 both years. To have 34 wins and four losses in the NFL, knowing the schedule was harder the next year, it's an honor to be in that category. Also to be playing at a high efficiency two years in a row; it's hard to be that consistent in the NFL," Green said.
"It wasn't easy. We lost a lot of guys. We had a lot of injuries. And we still came out and won the two Super Bowl trophies. It's almost like 'try to beat that!'"
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February 08, 2021 at 03:00PM
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