Patriots Erasing Heroes of the Past – NFL Football

The NFL’s stranglehold on the American sports scene starts and ends with it history.

Whether its tales of two sided players in leather helmets playing for free, to football dynasties that spanned a decade.

Franchises relish in their “walls of fame” and “rings of honor”, and often their throwback jerseys outsell the players who take the field for them now.

So it may come as a shock to learn the New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is erasing all the historical reminders from the Patriots last decade of success from the walls of Gillette Stadium.

Images of Tedy Bruschi, Troy Brown and other patriot hall of famers are being scrubbed fro the stadium in an effort to encourage newer Patriots to forget the winning past of the franchise and focus on building a legacy of their own.

It’s a bold move considering that the Bruschi, Vrabel, Harrison era ended only a few short years ago, and how tightly most franchises hang onto their past successes for so long.

The Patriots looked far removed from their team dynamic of their three Super Bowls in four seasons over the last few years, and are in desperate need of a shake up in personnel after a season that saw them play very un-patriot like.

As perennial contenders, the Pats saw their Super Bowl winning odds slip this year to 12 – 1, good enough for fifth overall in the NFL, but down from their usual front running spot.

These odds put them tied with their division rivals the New York Jets in the AFC East, an unfamiliar position for a team that has won this division six of the last seven seasons.

The hope is that the batch of newer, younger Patriots will strive to establish their own Patriots identity, instead of coasting on the achievements of ex Patriot players.

The scrub down came just a day before veterans were due to report to training camp, a move that was clearly intended to draw some attention.