Congrats to Vrabel on a great career! He was a special player with the kind of attitude that could get under the skin of anyone, including his teammate Tedy Bruschi as Bru talked about in his book. But one of my favorite Vrabs stories was what he had to say to Philip Rivers during the 2006 AFCDG (yes, I was there). He pointed at Rivers and said “you’ll never be Drew Brees, you know it, (and then pointing to the fans) and they know it”.

Classic.

Despite the glowing comments from BB today…

“During his Patriots career, there was no player more respected for his football intellect and revered for his leadership by his teammates than Mike. "He was elected a team captain by his peers and is a player who I think everyone knew was destined to become a coach after his NFL playing career was over.

"Mike Vrabel is as well-suited for coaching as any player I have ever coached. He has a tremendous feel for people, players, coaches and what his team needs regardless of the situation. He is outstanding in his knowledge of the game, which contributed to his excellence as a player. I have no doubt Mike will develop tough, intelligent, fundamentally sound winners.”

I still think it is one of the great Patriots unknowns as to why Vrabel was traded to Kansas City basically as a throw in with Cassel. Did BB think he’d just lost his touch? He was just one season removed from a career high in sacks. Strange. Not sure what to make of it.