For longtime fans of both the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, Super Bowl 53 will have a familiar ring to it — the franchises first faced off for the Lombardi Trophy in 2002 atSuper Bowl XXXVI.
It’s been 17 years since the two teams shared the biggest stage in sports, and that stunning game would see the Patriots squeeze out a 20-17 victory over the Rams to earn quarterbackTom Bradyand coach Bill Belichick their first Super Bowl title.
Nicknamed the “Greatest Show on Turf” thanks to their record-breaking offensive displays, the Rams finished the regular seasonwith a league-best 14-2 record. Warner, then 30 years old, was named MVP for the second time in three seasons and St. Louis seemed poised to reclaim their glory after winning the Super Bowl just two years prior. They were experienced, and they were fearsome.
Meanwhile, the Patriots were considered long shots to win the championship, especially considering how their season began.
St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk.STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty
The underdogs
The Pats experienced a tragedy when quarterbacks coachDick Rehbeindied from a heart attack just before the start of the season. The Patriots would go on to lose their first two games, losses that were even more crushing because quarterbackDrew Bledsoe had his season ended due to a torn blood vesselsustained after a hard hit in their second game.
The Patriots would have to turn to their 24-year-old backup quarterback, Brady, in the hopes he could salvage their season — even if he had only completed a single pass the season before.
At that point, no one had suspected Brady would even become a starting quarterback.
Brady joined the Patriots when the team selected him as the 199th pick in the sixth round of the 2000 draft.
“He did not have the prototypical NFL body,” said Don Banks ofSports Illustratedat the time.“He came out kinda skinny [and] they didn’t think he was strong enough.”
But also according toSports Illustrated, Rehbein, the Pats quarterbacks coach, had been so enthused with the potential he saw in the young quarterback prior to his selection in the NFL Draft that he told his wife, “20 years from now, people will know the nameTom Brady.”
Two seasons later, Brady helped lead the Patriots to an 11-5 record in the regular season and to the championship game.
But one of those losses came at the hands of the Rams, who visited Foxborough and beat the Patriots 24-17. Heading into the Super Bowl, many analysts figured the result would be the same.
New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady.JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty
The game
WithSuper Bowl XXXVIunderway in New Orleans, the Rams made a 50-yard field goal to jump to an early 3-0 lead. Neither team would score the rest of the quarter.
Against the odds, Brady and the Patriots were holding their own.
New England would finish off the third quarter with a field goal, giving the “underdogs” a commanding 17-3 lead over the Greatest Show on Turf.
St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner.KMazur/Getty
With the score tied 17-17 and the ball in the Patriots possession, and no timeouts left, Brady completed a series of passes to get the team to the 30-yard line with seven seconds left in the game.
After spiking it, the Patriots brought out their kicker, Adam Vinatieri, who completed a 48-yard field goal attempt and iced the game for New England, 20-17. The champions were crowned.
What was to come
The day would mark the beginning of New England’s dynasty, which has seen them win five Super Bowls in eight tries over the course of nearly two decades. All of this while under the stewardship of Brady and coachBill Belichick.
Conversely, it also saw the end of the Rams era of success and the start of a chain of events that would eventually see them relocate from St. Louis back to Los Angeles just 15 years later.
Tom Brady after winning the 2002 Super Bowl.JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty
Now, heading into Super Bowl 53, Brady and the Patriots will now find their roles reversed.
Now, only time will tell if Brady will lead the Patriots to the same outcome he did 17 years ago, or if the veteran will lose to a younger quarterback and a hungry team ready to carve themselves out a place in the history books.
Super Bowl 53will air Sunday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET. on CBS.
source: people.com
