The arrival of Tom Brady in New England during the 2000 NFL Draft represented a major change for the New England Patriots. Prior to that, they had been a team that had largely struggled from their inception, although they had a few memorable teams and years.
However, the Brady arrival signaled the start of the team's championship era. He became the starter in his second year and led the team to it's first Super Bowl, and New England would win five more before Brady left through free agency.
He is clearly the No. 1 player in team history — perhaps in NFL history — but the Patriots have their share of great players. In this piece, we look at the Top 10 players who have competed for the Patriots.
Start off with two for the defense, Nos. 10 and 9
DT Vince Wilfork checks in at No. 10 because he was a consistently effective player on the interior of the New England defensive line. Wilfork gave the Patriots 11 years at nose tackle or defensive tackle. He made the Pro Bowl five times in his career and was also a first-team All-Pro.
Wilfork was known for his ability to shut down the interior run because of his size, strength and quickness, but he was also capable of messing up the opponent's pocket with his surprising first step. He forced three fumbles and recovered four of them in 2012, and that season also saw him bat down 6 passes.
The 6-2, 325-pound Wilfork was a locker room leader for the Patriots and played on two Super Bowl winning teams.
No. 9 LB Steve Nelson was a mainstay for the New England defense between 1974 and 1987. He played brilliant defense for 14 years after he was selected in the second round of the 1974 Draft out of North Dakota State.
He did not come to New England with much fanfare, but he played the game with toughness, consistency and something of a killer instinct. Nelson was somewhat undersized at 6-2 and 230 pounds, but he was in the middle of a slew of big plays for a Patriots team that was often fighting for respectability and a possible spot in the playoffs.
He had five interceptions in the 1978 season along with four fumble recoveries and was a key performer for an 11-5 Patriots team that won the AFC East title.
A pair of big-play wideouts, Nos. 8 and 7
When it came to game-breaking speed, few receivers in Patriots history were able to match Stanley Morgan. He is the eighth-ranked player in Patriots history,
Morgan was a big-play performer for the Patriots after getting drafted in the first round out of Tennessee in 1977. He averaged 20.9 yards or more per reception in his first six seasons, and he led the league in yards per catch for three consecutive seasons from 1979 through 1981.
Morgan played 13 years in New England before closing out his career with one year in Indianapolis. He made four Pro Bowl and his best season came in 1986 when he caught 84 passes for a career-best 1,491 yards with 10 touchdowns.
Morgan, known affectionately as Stanley Steamer throughout his career, was a fine route runner with good hands. However, it was his brilliant speed that allowed him to separate from defender and do most of his damage.
The Patriots struggled to compete in their early years, but WR-PK Gino Cappelletti was one of the franchise's bright lights.
He was a mainstay with the team from its first AFL season in 1960, and got the job done as a pass catcher and a placekicker. That's an unusual occurrence in today's game, but players who competed at multiple positions in the 1960s was a fairly common occurrence.
Cappelletti caught 49 passes for 865 yards and 7 touchdowns in 1964 and he followed that up with 37-680-9 in 1965. He was the AFL Player of the Year in '64 — both AP and UPI — as he made 25 of 39 field goal attempts and all 36 of his extra point attempts.
Patriots fans also remember Cappelletti as the team's color analyst on the team's radio broadcasts for decades.
A gamebreaker and a big-play quarterback, Nos. 6 and 5
When it comes to the tight end position, there have been few players that have proved as dangerous and made as many big plays as TE Rob Gronkowski, who checks in at No. 6 on the all-time Patriots list.
He came across to football fans as something of a goofy superhero because of his fun-loving personality, but he regularly made big plays for Tom Brady throughout his career in New England from 2010 through 2018.
A remarkable athlete, Gronkowski was able to get downfield due to his speed and then use his size and strength to wall off defenders. He caught 90 passes for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2011. That was his second year with the Patriots after getting drafted out of Arizona in the second round in 2010.
Gronkowski exceeded 10 or more touchdowns three times in his career. He made the Pro Bowl five times, was an All-Pro four times and was also a part of three Patriots Super Bowl teams.
Drew Bledsoe was a brilliant quarterback for the Patriots, but his record of achievement is largely overlooked because he was followed by Brady.
Bledsoe was the No. 1 draft choice out of Washington State in 1993, and he became a starter fairly early in his rookie year.
Bledsoe combined size and strength at 6-5 and 238 pounds with a rocket arm. He was solid in year 2 as he completed 400 of 691 passes for a league-high 4,555 yards with 25 touchdown passes and 27 interceptions. That was the first of his three Pro Bowl seasons with the Patriots.
The big quarterback played nine seasons with the Patriots before moving on to the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys.
Dominant defensive leaders at No. 4 and 3
Willie McGinest spent 12 years with the Patriots and the No. 4 player in team history was superb as both a defensive end and a linebacker.
After being selected with the No. 4 pick in the 1994 Draft out of USC, McGinest learned the ropes in his rookie season before turning it on in the following year.
His 1995 season included 88 tackles, 11.0 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. He made the Pro Bowl twice in his career with the Patriots. During the 2003 season, McGinest had 67 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 1 interception that he returned for a touchdown, 4 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.
McGinest played the last three seasons of his career for the Cleveland Browns.
While Lawrence Taylor was probably the most dominant defensive player in the 1980s, Andre Tippett may have ranked second in that category.
Tippett was a second-round selection out of Iowa in the 1982 Draft. He made five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1984 through 1988, and he was a one-man wrecking crew in the backfield. He had a league-best 18.5 sacks in '84, and he followed that up with 16.5 sacks the next season.
A shoulder injury forced him to miss the 1989 season, but he played four more years after that. While he slowed down after the injury, he never failed to leave it all on the field for the Patriots throughout his career.
A superb technician at No. 2
Few player have ever displayed the efficiency of all-time great offensive guard John Hannah. He was simply a monster of a blocker who almost never made a mistake and is the second-ranked player in Patriots history.
He played for one of the most hard-core and demanding head coaches in Chuck Fairbanks, and he recognized Hannah as having near-perfect technique.
Hannah was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a seven-time first-team All-Pro. Hannah was the fourth overall selection in the 1973 Draft. He played 12 years with the Patriots and he was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
Hannah dominated from start to finish, and he gave the Patriots a sense of confidence that they could convert any short-yardage play and protect the quarterback in key situations.
The GOAT is No. 1
Brady was not a first-round draft pick and was not even close to that. He was the 199th selection in the 2000 Draft out of Michigan. The thought was he could make the team if he had a great showing in training camp or the sixth-rounder could have been placed on the practice squad.
He played in one game as a rookie and threw just three passes, but he was forced into the lineup when Drew Bledsoe suffered a lacerated kidney in his second year. Brady excelled from that point forward. He would lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl where they upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams.
He led New England to six Super Bowl titles and would win one more while closing out his career during a three-year run in Tampa Bay.
Brady was a three-time NFL MVP, a 5-time Super Bowl MVP (four of those were with the Patriots) and a member of the All-2000s team as well as All-2010s team.
No quarterback has the level of achievement that Brady has accomplished, and he is likely to maintain his position atop the rankings for multiple decades.
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