By Alan Segel
NEFJ Contributor

The great thing about sports is that anyone can look at a situation involving any team and make a prediction. It is what drives conversations on talk radio and the local neighborhood pub. The New England Patriots are certainly an interesting topic this year after a 14-3 record following consecutive 4-13 seasons and two coach firings.

The fact that they are now in Santa Clara, California getting ready for Superbowl LX was beyond anybody’s expectations six short months ago. If you could speed dial Nostradamus in the 16th century, which I think is impossible, even he would be hard pressed to see what happened in the 2025 season.

This is a team that surpassed all thoughts and predictions. They were +8000 which is 80-1 to win the Superbowl. These were long odds and of course not much was expected, especially by players around the league that were entering free agency when the league year began in March.

However, Pats owner Robert Kraft hired Mike Vrabel to be his next coach and little did anyone know that a former Patriot with an infectious personality would soon attract a free agent class that would become historical.

“When I signed here it was an automatic belief after talking to Coach Vrabel about the things he wanted to accomplish and also the lineage and history of what this organization has been in the past”, tackle Morgan Moses told me.

He pointed out that a team does not need superstars to be successful. A roster needs a bond of people willing to sacrifice everything and he said that is what they absolutely have inside the locker room.

This is a very close-knit team and their talk of love for one another is very much legitimate. They have forged the bond Moses talked about and much of it has been because of the free agents.

Stefon Diggs had stops in Minnesota, Buffalo, and Houston before signing in Foxborough and is another player that bought in. He did not think about the success they have had this season back in late March when he signed, but he says it is not necessarily a surprise.

“This organization prides itself in winning and takes pride in having great coaches and good players,” Diggs told me. “I had a lot of faith in Coach Vrabes. He had a great deal of success and I knew also that Josh McDaniels (offensive coordinator) has had success. We also had a young quarterback (Drake Maye) that showed a lot of potential. I was betting on myself and my teammates who were attached to the process of winning”.

Two weeks before Diggs signed a Super Bowl Champion with the Eagles decided that One Patriot Place was a great place for his new address and for the same reasons in some respects.

“I just thought the Patriots were the next best step in my career”, said defensive tackle Milton Williams. “Obviously I got a raise but to come play for a coach who has seen the highs of this league and also to be part of this winning organization and learn from him is something I wanted to be a part of.

“I admit I did not expect us to be here so fast but it is a testament to everyone in this building. It is a testament to the work we put in and also to the closeness of our group”.

Linebacker Jack Gibbens, another free agent, signed a week after Williams and he had a leg up. He played for Mike Vrabel in Tennessee and it was that familiarity that attracted him to the Patriots.

“I knew what kind of program they would try and build here” Gibbens told me. “I knew it could be special and I wanted to be part of that”.

He went on to tell me that everyone wants to win a Super Bowl when they start a new year and of course there are only two teams that survive the grueling gauntlet of an NFL season. He would not use the word surprise when I asked him about his thoughts back then in terms of his new team’s possible success. But he did tell me that he noticed an incredible work ethic and a closeness that is very genuine.

“I just love this team and these guys”, Gibbens said. “It is fun to do what you love and to show up for work each day with the people that you love and getting to do that another week is also the culmination of something everybody has worked their lives for to get to this moment”.

Maybe the player who is most appreciative of the process is linebacker Christian Ellis. He went through the 4-13 seasons in 2023 and 2024. It obviously was not a fun two years and he was looking elsewhere; to the Raiders to be exact.

He was a restricted free agent and had a contract offer that had him mentally out the door and thinking Vegas.

“At the time I thought I was a Raider”, Ellis said to me. I did not think the Patriots would match it. We were going to be out in Las Vegas. Then I got the call from Eliot Wolf (executive VP of player personnel) who said they were matching the contract.

“My wife and I were already familiar with the team and the area, so alright God has us where he wants so we are going to take it and run with it.

“I then talked to coach “T” (defensive coordinator Terrell Williams) and Coach Vrabes and after OTA’s (organized team activities) it felt like, okay, these are my guys. But at the end of the day, looking back at it, I am not shocked anymore that we are here. I really like how Vrabes handles himself and our guys handle ourselves. The effort and work we put into this is why it is not a shock we are in the Super Bowl.”

The words of Ellis, Moses, Diggs, Williams and Gibbens are the same words and thoughts I got from all of the free agents after talking to them. They developed a bond that can’t be broken and the cliché “I would walk through a brick wall for my teammates” is certainly apropos for the 2025 Patriots.

Success breeds success and it also breeds confidence. It is certainly what is guiding this team right now. They understand they are not guaranteed anything on Sunday when Super Bowl LX kicks off. However, they know that the 48 players active at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Levi’s Stadium will fight, claw and work their way to bringing a record 7th Lombardi Trophy 3,124 miles east to One Patriot Place.