Patriot Games: Always follow the leader
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When Pepper Johnson joined the New York Giants as a rookie in 1986, the locker room was ruled by two of his defensive teammates, Harry Carson and George Martin. They were given free rein to run things by Bill Parcells, coach of that Super Bowl-winning team.
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Half an hour after the Patriots had won their third championship ring, after the fireworks had been set off and the confetti had settled, after he'd been named the most valuable player, Deion Branch still had his gloves on. You never know when Tom Brady might fling another ball his way.
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ATHENS, Sep 1 (IPS) - The old wisdom that you win something by just  playing the game could hardly have  been more true than for the  Iraqi, Palestinian and Afghan teams at the Olympics.
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Patriots fans have come to expect the unexpected with the team's offensive attack. Some weeks it is a receiver-laden spread formation with a focus on passing. Other weeks it is multiple tight ends and a power running approach. Sometimes the change is on a play-to-play basis.
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PITTSBURGH -- These Patriot playoff wins are like Ray Charles songs, Nantucket sunsets, and hot fudge sundaes. Each one is better than the last.
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Make Leadership Not Too Salty, Not Too Bland
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From the Patriotsâ first possession, it was clear the Giantsâ intention was to batter Tom Brady every chance they had. For much of the game, they succeeded.
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The New England Patriots are more than a winning football team in our midst. They are a true role model for coaches and players everywhere in every sport.
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Like any New England Patriots fan, Larry Studebaker wants his team to stomp the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl tomorrow. But as he watches the game, the Mattapan computer network engineer also will be rooting for three players in particular: wide receivers Deion Branch and David Givens, and quarterback Tom Brady.
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - They had done a passable job of ignoring the issue, shunting any sense of perfection with a claim of ignorance. Or a studied refusal to be a part of the questioning and the hype and the excitement that surrounds a team gunning for history. The Patriots knew they were on the path. Everyone knew they were ...
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Tom Coughlin can play it good and safe Saturday night. Or he can send a message to his team that he believes it can do what no one else in the N.F.L. has done: beat the Patriots.
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Mike Nolan stays on message with a consistency that has even surpassed the Bush administration at this point. Come to think of it, the San Francisco 49ers' coach's public discourse sometimes sounds an awful lot like a presidential briefing.
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Remember this amazing run of Patriots prominence. In decades to come, those who rewrite sports history are bound to tell the story with such poetic license that the record will have to be set straight.
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FOXBOROUGH -- It seems to happen every Sunday. That's the one thing opponents of the New England Patriots can count on these days. Something will happen.
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FOXBOROUGH -- History never felt quite this ho-hum. For weeks, cautious Patriots players downplayed their run at the record book, insisting their systematic construction of a winning streak dating back to October of 2003 was of little or no consequence. We were chastised for forecasting the possibilities and discouraged from attaching significance to a milestone that would not produce a ...
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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The spy games between the New York Jets and New England Patriots began last season.
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Even while they are at the center of a spying storm, the New England Patriots stay calm. The Patriots followed a week of distractions in which their coach and organization was fined and will lose a draft pick or two by routing the San Diego Chargers 38-14 on Sunday night. It never was close.