FOXBORO, Mass. — While this week will feature plenty of attention on the 10-year anniversary of the Patriots' victory against the Raiders in the Snow Bowl, the Pats will commemorate another milestone, too.
The Patriots will have four captains from the 1996 team that won the AFC Championship and lost to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI. They announced Monday that former wide receiver Troy Brown would be one of the captains, and they'll unveil a new captain Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
It can be easy to look past this season as the 15-year anniversary of the first team owner Robert Kraft took to the Super Bowl. After all, it's the 10-year anniversary of the historic 2001 campaign that has featured a host of memories for the franchise. Thursday, of course, will mark the 10-year anniversary of the Snow Bowl.
Brown played for both teams, and he's excited about the Patriots' decision to honor the group from 1996.
"To me, really getting to come back and representing the '96 team this time around, first of all, is a great gesture from Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots to have us come back and do that," Brown said. "It will be fun for me to go out there and do the coin toss with them again. Hopefully we lose it, too, like they've been doing all year. It's a special time. It's hard for me to believe so many years have passed by so fast. And reflecting back on '96, you think about all the failures you had, all the great times you've had in all the other wins and stuff. It's taking me back. I think about all the guys I went to war with out there in those games and sweated with out there. It will be a special time for us, and it will be great to see some of the guys come back to enjoy this game this weekend."
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