FanHouse TroyBrown

I'm one of the 10 people in the world that has yet to make a purchase on eBay, mainly because I have no use for a potato chip that looks like Jesus (that's what people sell on eBay, right?). However, if I had an extra $50,000 burning a hole in pocket, I probably would have jumped at the chance to own a piece of NFL history, as a member of the Super Bowl XXXVI champion New England Patriots recently auctioned his ring on eBay. It received no bids.

According to USA Today's NFL blog, The Huddle, the ring belonged to a player who was on all three Super Bowl-winning Patriots teams.

When the Patriots told Troy Brown he wasn't in the team's plans for 2008, the veteran wideout said that he wasn't interested in signing with a team that had New England on their schedule. That seemed like a good way to ensure a new squad was interested in him as a player and not just in picking his brain. Something must have changed Brown's mind, though, because he's visiting a team that plays the Pats twice this and every season. Making matters worse for Patriot fans, that team is Eric Mangini's Jets.

From a purely football standpoint it's difficult to ascertain what the Jets interest in Brown might be. He only played in one game last year and, at 36, is pretty close to the end of the road. The off-field reasons are obvious, though. It would irk the Pats and their fans and it would also send a message to Laveranues Coles about the kind of player the team would like to have. Brown passed up the chance to make more money to stay with the Patriots more than once while Coles, who skipped today's first workout, has told teammates he'll see them in July, at the earliest, because the Jets won't give him more cash.

Of course, generating interest from the Jets might help Brown land back with the only team he's ever played for. The prospect of losing an iconic player to their division rivals could help prod Bill Belichick to bring Brown back for one more year.

Troy Brown has had an improbable 15-year career with the Patriots. Not much was expected of the former eighth-round pick out of Marshall, but he's been arguably one of the franchise's most consistent players.

According to the Boston Herald, New England has informed Brown that he's not in the team's plans for 2008. Given how infrequently he was used last season, coupled with the surplus of wide receivers on the roster, this isn't totally surprising.

But event though Brown will be 37 when the '08 season opens, he's still drawing interest from around the league. Presumably because he can still play, but also -- and this sounds like a cliche but I really believe it to be true in Brown's case -- because he'd be a good locker room presence.

The Browns and Lions already have called. One of Brown's stipulations is that he join a team not scheduled to play the Patriots, ruling out the Jets and Dolphins, who are also believed to have expressed interest.

If Brown remains unsigned in a month or two, the Patriots could revisit signing him. But as things stand now, his days in New England are over.

Cleveland makes sense with former Patriots defensive coordinator, Romeo Crennel, now the Browns head coach. Plus, it's an extremely young team, one that could benefit from Brown on the roster. Whatever happens -- and whatever you think of the Pats -- there's no disputing that Brown is one of the classiest guys in the league. And his career has surpassed just about everybody's expectations.

For all the talk about players leaving New England in droves, the over-30 set not only apparently love playing for Bill Belichick, but they refuse to retire. Ever. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi is coming back for at least one more season, and Junior Seau might do the same.

And Troy Brown, originally taken in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL draft -- 197 picks after Drew Bledsoe -- wants to return in 2008 too.

Troy Brown's playing days may not be over just yet. A source close to the veteran wide receiver said Brown hasn't made a decision about whether he'll try to return for a 16th season, and that an announcement is not expected soon.

"He feels great. He feels he can still play and still contribute," said the source. "Obviously, he would have liked to have played more than that one game he played. I don't think he's decided whether he's playing or not playing. A lot depends on what the Patriots do."

I suppose that's one way to prolong your career: play in one game a season. Brown was coming off knee surgery last off-season, missed all of training and was on the PUP list through Week 12. He saw action in the Dec. 23 win over the Dolphins where he returned six punts for 55 yards. The highlight (according to the Boston Globe's Chris Gasper, anyway): Brown, who turns 37 in July, misjudged a punt in that game and it hit off his facemask for a turnover.

(If you don't know why you are here, please go back to the launch page for What Kind of Pats Hater Are You?)

If ego and hubris offend you, Belichick supplies plenty of ammo. And yeah, it's easy to dislike someone with those qualities. Yet if he isn't a part of our lives; why does he bother us so?

Because he rails against the sanctities of something we hold far more sacred than our own lives: the NFL. Not only does he cheat, he'd cheat if you were right there watching him do it. While he was at it, he'd run up the score, send out Rodney Harrison to shank your favorite team's quarterback, and then key their bus.

But it's his ego probably helps to make him such a great coach.

So, yeah, your hatred of the Patriots is completely justified. Be proud. But the point's moot. You can hate as much as you want, your opinion certainly doesn't matter to him. Nor to the NFL, which is going to keep making insane money off his success. But you can still hope that somehow, some way, someone will dent the guy's ego.

Judgment: You are an Utterly Inconsequential Patriots Hater.

And if you're a rational person, you're OK with that. Hatred, like a small wager, can make the game more interesting.

(Do you want to start over? Then go back to the beginning)

(If you don't know why you are here, please go back to the launch page for What Kind of Pats Hater Are You?)

You seem to think Tom Brady is just really lucky to be in a situation that makes him look good. You wish.

In the six years before Brady took over the starter job, Drew Bledsoe led the Patriots to a 59-53 record, one Super Bowl appearance (a loss to the Packers). In the six years since, New England is 86-26 with three Super Bowl titles and a game away from another.

Brady has won with Troy Brown and Antowain Smith, Deion Branch and Corey Dillon, and in two weeks, we could add Laurence Maroney and Randy Moss to the list. The one constant over that time: Brady. Sure, Bill Belichick has been around too, but he wouldn't be headed to Canton if he didn't stumble across the kid out of Michigan that nobody wanted. Just ask the Cleveland Browns.

Judgment: You are a Bitter, Delusional, Blinded-By-Hate Patriots Hater.

B.D.B.B.H.P.H.s are often chronic drug users. If this is you, please seek help. Even if you're not on the drugs, you should save yourself the heartbreak and find something else to do during the NFL season. I hear handball is the sport of the future...

(Do you want to start over? Then go back to the beginning)

Fifteen years. That's how long wide receiver Troy Brown has been with the Patriots. And now that his career is winding down, he hopes to be on the active roster for what could be his final regular-season home game at Gillette Stadium. And although Brown says he "feels great," his biggest contribution might not come on the field, but in the classroom:

"He's a smart guy," fellow receiver Donte Stallworth said when Brown was activated last month. "That's one thing that he brings to the table - his intelligence from this being his 99th year in the NFL. Troy's been in, I think, four or five Super Bowls. He's been in this game a long time and he knows how to play. Anytime you get a guy like that, you try to soak up some information from him, so that's definitely something that he brings to the table and into our meeting rooms -intelligence and experience."

Ninety-nine years in the NFL. Nice. Brown says he understands if he's not activated tomorrow, but it sure would be a nice sendoff for the team leader in career receptions (557), postseason receptions (58), single-season receptions (101), and the only player in New England history to record a catch and a pick in the same game. I think that's something even Donnie Wahlberg can get behind.

Usually, losing a dominating rush linebacker would be a concern for a team preparing for the postseason. But we're talking about the New England Patriots, an outfit that somehow managed to win its first seven games without the services of one of the league's best defensive linemen, Richard Seymour.

Whatever, Rosevelt Colvin has been placed on injured reserve, which means he's done for 2007. Colvin left Sunday night's game against the Eagles with a foot injury and never returned. Unlike the defensive line, though, the Patriots will have to do some rearranging to compensate for Colvin's absence:

Colvin's injury figures to have a significant trickle-down effect on the linebacking corps. At outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment opposite Mike Vrabel, Colvin was responsible for rushing the passer and setting a sturdy edge to limit running plays from getting to the outside. After he was hurt, the Patriots moved Adalius Thomas from inside to outside linebacker, and inserted Junior Seau next to Tedy Bruschi inside.

As the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss notes, Seau is 38 and Bruschi is 34, and it's not clear if either is a full-time player at this stage in their careers. Chad Brown was re-signed to replace Colvin and he, along with Pierre Woods and Eric Alexander, could also figure in the mix.

Or now that Troy Brown has been named to the 53-man roster, maybe he'll see some time too. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me.

Last month, I wondered what JOAT Troy Brown's fate might be with the team. He opened the season on the physically unable to perform list, and now it looks like the Patriots will have 21 days to decide his fate. At this point, he might have a better shot at making the team as a defensive back than wide receiver.

But 2006 second-rounder, wideout Chad Jackson, won't have to worry about such things. Jackson also opened the season on the PUP list, but was activated to the 53-man roster last week. There was some speculation that the injured/underachieving receiver might land on the IR.

Now he'll join Randy Moss, Donte' Stallworth, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, and Kelley Washington. Easily one of the best receiver corps money can buy. But just like Brown, Jackson will likely find it difficult to see the field. It's not about this season, though; with all the off-season acquisitions, Jackson can now be groomed for the future.

The youngest player on the roster at 22, Jackson has seemingly benefited from the presence of Moss this year. At 6 feet 1 inch, 215 pounds, Jackson brings size and speed to the group, which has sorted itself out with Moss, Welker, and Stallworth earning the most playing time.

That's right, Randy Moss: making the world better one person at a time. Save an injury, Jackson can learn by watching in '07, and hopefully get into the mix next season. As for Brown's fate, well, that's less certain.

During the Patriots' latest win -- a relatively close affair against the Browns -- I wondered what Troy Brown was up to. I hadn't seen him all season, but remembered that he wanted to stay in New England, and it seemed like head coach Bill Belichick wanted to keep him around for a 35th season.

Well, here's the answer: Brown (who's only been in the league for 15 seasons) opened up 2007 on the physically unable to perform list. Landing on the PUP means a player can't be activated until after the team's sixth game. There's no guarantee Brown sees the field again, though:

At any time after week six - which is next Monday - but before week nine, the Patriots can elect to open a 21-day window to get Brown (or Richard Seymour, Chad Jackson or Eddie Jackson, the other three players on the list) onto the practice field. By the end of that three-week period, the team will either activate the players onto the 53-man roster or place them on season-ending injured reserve.

I was curious where New England was going to put all those wideouts they signed or traded for this off-season. They released Reche Caldwell, went into '07 with Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Daunte' Stallworth, Kelley Washington, and Jabar Gaffney, and stowed the rest on the PUP list.