Patriot Pride: My Life in the New England Dynasty

Patriot Pride: My Life in the New England Dynasty

Spotlighting a New England sports icon, this autobiography chronicles the extraordinary life and career of Troy Brown, the talented athlete who played 15 seasons with the New England Patriots. Brown demonstrates how his grit, hustle, and hard work endeared him to a generation of football fans. Brown's past is explored, relating how he made it through college and into the pros despite being given up on several times. His years with the Patriots are documented in detail, covering what it was like to play for Coach Belichick, why Tom Brady has been so successful, and the secrets behind his three Super Bowl wins. Traveling from his younger years in South Carolina through his college career in West Virginia and to the pinnacle of the NFL, this inspirational, rags-to-riches sports memoir will entertain, inform, and inspire football fans of all stripes, especially the hundreds of thousands of fans who support the Patriots—one of the most successful franchises in the league. This new paperback edition features an additional afterword on the Patriots' unforgettable 2016 championship season and Super Bowl LI victory. Troy Brown played for the New England Patriots for 15 seasons as a wide receiver, defensive back, and punt returner. He retired from the NFL after the 2007 season. A graduate of Marshall University, Brown currently works for Comcast SportsNet New England. Mike Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997. He is a reporter and analyst for ESPNBoston.com. Mike is a lifelong New Englander and lives with his family in suburban Boston. Patriot Pride My Life in the New England Dynasty By Troy Brown, Mike Reiss Triumph Books LLC Copyright © 2017 Troy Brown and Mike Reiss All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62937-521-2 Contents FOREWORD by Tom Brady, INTRODUCTION, 1. Modest Beginnings in Blackville, South Carolina, 2. From Junior College to Marshall, Improbably So, 3. The NFL Dream Almost Dies, 4. A Not-So-Super Experience, 5. Stop Picking on Our First-Round Draft Choice!, 6. A Career Breakthrough in Year 8, 7. An Unforgettable 2001 Season, 8. Life at the Top Isn't Easy, 9. "Bingo! I've Got Bingo!", 10. "Defense? You Want Me to Play Defense?", 11. Nearly a Saint, 12. Elation and Despair in the '06 Playoffs, 13. A Behind-the-Scenes View of a Near-Perfect Season, 14. It's Hard to Walk Away From the Game You Love, 15. In His Own Words: Life After Football, 16. Patriots Hall of Famer, AFTERWORD by Troy Brown, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, PHOTO Gallery, CHAPTER 1 Modest Beginnings in Blackville, South Carolina Those were the times when he would think back to Blackville and say to himself, "Every little crumb, every little thing, just appreciate it." This is where the journey began: Blackville, South Carolina. To call it a modest beginning would be an understatement. In a town of about 2,000 residents, Troy's home was an itsy-bitsy ranch with a few walls that divided the space into multiple rooms to provide some form of privacy. But considering how many people were packed into the home, there was really no privacy at all. No closets, either. Everyone's clothes and belongings were stored in footlockers at the foot of the bed and those footlockers made for nice stools to sit on, too. In football, they'd call this the bunch formation. Everyone packed in tight. The leader of the house was Troy's grandmother, who in many ways was the best coach he ever had. Troy would later play for two of the all-time great football coaches in Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, but there was no one like Grandma Wilhamenia. She had nine children, the second oldest of whom was Troy's mother. All of them, and their kids, lived together in the small home. So Grandma Wilhamenia not only raised her own kids, she basically raised her grandchildren too. She was Troy's first true role model. Life wasn't easy for the family in Blackville, South Carolina, at the time. To make sure they had this modest roof over their head, they worked in the fields — the vast acreage around the house that had animals such as chickens running around the backyard — in exchange for shelter. Part of the work included picking cotton. No, there weren't video games to be played. There were basically four rooms in the house — one for the girls, one for the boys, with a wooden swinging door separating them. Things were more cramped in the boys' room, with six of them there at one point before some left for the military. The three girls had a bit more space, but not much more. Grandma Wilhamenia's room was on the other side, which also served as the family room. A small kitchen and washroom was behind that. The bathroom was in the backyard — an outhouse 20 to 30 yards from the home. One time, during a storm, it blew away. That turned out to be a good thing because the new outhouse had two bowls, depending on what you had to do. Talk about luxury. Friends described Troy's home as "Little House on the Prairie." Looking out the front door, one cou