On Sunday afternoon, the Patriots came out victorious in blizzard conditions in Colorado – defeating the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game to reach the franchise’s 12th Super Bowl.
After jumping out to a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, New England held the score throughout the rest of the game as quickly falling snow wreaked havoc on the offensive side of the ball.
The Patriots prevailed, marking their return to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2018 season – when New England won their sixth title in Super Bowl LIII.
But the celebration that followed was tinged with expectations from Vrabel, with the coach and former Patriots star player issuing a warning to his team.
As pass rusher Milton Williams told reporters (via Jori Epstein), Vrabel informed his players, ‘No curfew tonight. But the bus leaving at 8 in the morning – so if you ain’t on it, you ain’t playing in the Bowl.’
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel warned his players to reign in their AFC Championship celebrations
Patriots star pass rusher Milton Williams told reporters that the head coach told his team there’d be no curfew, but to be on the 8:00am bus or else ‘you ain’t playing in the Bowl’
When asked if he was serious, Williams replied ‘Oh yeah, I ain’t playing.’ Interpret that as ‘I ain’t kidding’ and not that he missed the bus.
Vrabel has the chance to make history as the first person in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach with the same team. He won Super Bowl XXXVI, Super Bowl XXXVIII and Super Bowl XXXIX as a linebacker with the Patriots.
Even though he was a linebacker, Vrabel famously caught a touchdown pass from Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII to beat the Carolina Panthers and win the Patriots’ second of six championships.
He’d become the third player to win a title as a head coach and as a player for any team – joining Tom Flores (Super Bowl IV playing for the Chiefs, Super Bowls XV and XVIII as head coach of the Raiders) and Mike Ditka (Super Bowl VI playing for the Cowboys, Super Bowl XX as head coach of the Bears).
Vrabel could become the first person in the history of the NFL to win a Super Bowl as a player and head coach of the same team. He won the first three titles in the Patriots’ history.
Both Flores and Ditka won Super Bowls as assistant coaches as well (Flores in Super Bowl XI with the Raiders, Ditka in Super Bowl XII with the Cowboys) something Vrabel has not done.
Super Bowl LX is set to be a re-match for the Patriots and Seahawks after their thrilling clash eleven years ago in Super Bowl XLIX, considered to be one of the greatest ever played.
The Patriots won the game with an interception on the one-yard line in one of the most controversial play calls in NFL history.