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Home , Adam Vinatieri, Bill Belichick, Drew Henson, Spygate (NFL), Super Bowl XXXVIII

The Greatest Players in History

Inside- Pg. 2 ’s Lifetime Pg. 4 ’s NFL career

The Patriots have had many great players such as Adam Vinatieri and Tom Brady. The following articles will tell you about them and how they are very confident and diligent. Brady and Vinatieri worked hard and exceeded expectations to become such great athletes.

Volume 1 | Issue 1 Tom Brady’s Lifetime 7.25.17 Written by Calvin Reid

The Patriots have had many great players in history including Tom Brady. “Things don’t correct themselves, you’ve got Tom Brady to go out there and work Early Life hard to correct them” Brady grew up in San Mateo, California, playing sports such as baseball and -Tom Brady football. His family had season tickets to the 49ers, so he watched and the 49ers play in San Francisco. His idol was Joe Montana.

High School

Tom Brady went to Junipero Serra High School, where he played football and baseball. He earned athletic scholarships from Michigan University and University of California (CAL). He went to Michigan.

College

At Michigan, he was at third-string behind Scott Driesbach and . He was red-shirted* his first year. After two years, when Griese graduated, Brady became the first-string quarterback. In 1999, the press was hyped about “the best athlete ever recruited” by Michigan (Gatto, 2005). As a result, Brady had to split his snaps with Drew Henson. When the BIG 10 games came, Brady was the starter. The team went 10-2 and Tom Brady led the team to an Orange bowl championship.

Time in the NFL

Tom Brady was selected in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft by the Patriots, mostly due to having to share time with Drew Henson at Michigan U. On September 23, 2001, was taken out after suffering a serious injury in the chest. As a result, Brady went in and drove the team down for a . Brady then went 11-3 that season and won the . In 2007, the Patriots were caught videotaping opponent’s signals and was fined $500,000. Regardless, the Patriot ended up going to the super bowl that year. In 2015, the Wells Report investigated the use of underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game where they beat the Colts 45-7. After many appeals and reinstatements, Brady gave in and was suspended for four games in the 2016 season. 2

Tom Brady about to throw the football

Achievements

• 5 super bowl wins (tied most ever for a player) (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI) • 4 super bowl MVP awards • 7 super bowl appearances (most ever) • 12 pro bowls (tied most in Patriots history with John Hannah) • In 2011, threw for 5,235 yards (third most in a season)

*Red-shirted: When a player is red-shirted it means that the player practices but does not play in games so the player improve performance but does not lose a year of eligibility.

ADAM VINATIERI’S NFL CAREER VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2 By Calvin Reid

7.25.17

Time with the Patriots

Adam Vinatieri is an excellent kicker in the NFL who encountered many events in his life. He exceeded expectations and had a lot of persistence.

In 1996, Adam Vinatieri signed with the Patriots. The coach of the Patriots was . Parcells taught Vinatieri the importance of teamwork and doing your job.

During the 2001-02 post-season, Vinatieri made three clutch field goals. The first one came with 30 seconds left in the Conference championship game vs. the Raiders. They were down 13-10. Then, Vinatieri nailed a kick in the snow. In overtime, Vinatieri won the game with a 23-yard kick. In the Super Bowl two weeks later, he kicked a game- winning field goal with seven seconds left. He had another Super Bowl- winning kick in Super Bowl XXXVIII, after he earlier missed a field goal and had one blocked.

Time with the Colts

In 2006, Adam Vinatieri became a free agent after coach Bill Belichick let him go. Vinatieri ended up signing with the Colts. In Indianapolis, influenced Vinatieri to be more diligent. Even though he was on the Colts, he felt somber to see his old team besmirched when Spygate was discovered in 2007.

A few seasons later, Vinatieri was going for a perfect season. However, in the last game, Pat McAfee, his holder, held the laces on the football the wrong way. As a result, he missed the field goal, which ruined his perfect season. Even though he was disappointed, he made the next kick that clinched the win. This shows that Vinatieri has a lot of mental toughness. 2 Achievements and Obstacles

Throughout Vinatieri’s career he had many obstacles and achievements. He had to overcome two meniscus surgeries, and one labrum surgery plus, a pars fracture in the back, and a broken finger. He also had to adjust to 7 coaches, 6 holders, 6 snappers and a bunch of fill- ins.

He overcame these challenges to get these achievements. For example, he played 313 regular season games and 30 postseason games. He had 1,000 points with two teams. This is more than 2,300 points, which is third behind Gary Anderson and Morten Anderson with 2,434 points and 2,544 points respectively. He also has won four Super Bowls and has an 84.3 field goal percentage and 98.4 extra point percentage. Also, Vinatieri holds the record for the most consecutive field goals, with a total of 44 field goals. In conclusion, Vinatieri has had an incredible football career.

3 About the Columnist Calvin Reid is a 10-year-old writer from Brookline, MA. He is transitioning from Heath School to Dexter in the fall of 2017. In his spare time, he plays sports such as football and baseball; he has played baseball since he was 4 years old. He likes the Patriots, Red Sox, and all New England sports teams. He likes the sports players: Koji Uehara, Malcom Butler, and Tom Brady. One of his hobbies is collecting things such as baseball and football cards.

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