Pats Battle For America’s Attention

Drew Bledsoe was stopped by a tourist at a restaurant in the French Quarter. The Patriots’ quarterback said their brief chat went something like this:

Tourist: “Do you play for the Packers?”

Bledsoe: “No, the other team. Can you name the other team?”

Tourist: “Uh … um … no.”

Bledsoe related the conversation to prove a point.

“See,” he told a media throng, “we’re the anonymous team.”

He’s right. The pre-game hype for Super Bowl XXXI has been dominated by the Bill Parcells-Robert Kraft feud. When the Patriots’ coach and owner aren’t slinging mud or staging artificial love-ins, the spotlight has focused on the heavily favored Packers, who bill themselves as “The real America’s Team.”

The Patriots? Well, they’re innocent bystanders, faceless participants in the biggest game on the planet. Frankly, they’re starting to get perturbed.

“Sometimes I feel like we’re not even down here,” rookie free safety Lawyer Milloy said Thursday. “It’s like we’re tourists or something. We’re not getting any respect. Everybody is wearing green and gold.

“We’re being treated like Green Bay’s steppingstone, Green Bay’s punching bag,” he continued. “Well, let me tell you something: I’m not down here to be anybody’s punching bag.”

“It’s like we’re just here basically to help coronate the Green Bay Packers,” left offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong said.

Guard William Roberts, who played under Parcells with the Giants, said the Tuna has been hammering the underdog angle this week.

“He said we’re not supposed to show up, this is a scrimmage game for (the Packers) and we don’t have a chance,” Roberts said with a knowing smile.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE PLAYERS Green Bay Packers Head Coach: Mike Holmgren No. Player P Ht Wt Exp 4 Brett Favre QB 6-2 225 6 7 Kyle Wachholtz QB 6-4 235 R 9 Jim McMahon QB 6-1 195 15 13 Chris Jacke K 6-0 205 8 17 Craig Hentrich P 6-3 200 3 18 Doug Pederson QB 6-3 215 4 21 Craig Newsome CB 5-11 190 2 25 Dorsey Levens FB 6-1 235 3 27 Calvin Jones RB 5-11 205 3 28 Roderick Mullen CB 6-1 204 2 30 William Henderson FB 6-1 248 2 32 Travis Jervey RB 5-11 225 2 33 Doug Evans CB 6-0 190 4 34 Edgar Bennett RB 6-0 217 5 36 LeRoy Butler S 6-0 200 7 37 Tyrone Williams CB 5-11 195 R 39 Mike Prior S 6-0 208 11 40 Chris Hayes S 6-0 200 R 41 Eugene Robinson S 6-0 195 12 46 Michael Robinson CB 6-1 192 R 51 Brian Williams LB 6-1 235 2 52 Frank Winters C 6-3 295 10 54 Ron Cox LB 6-2 235 7 55 Bernardo Harris LB 6-2 243 2 56 Lamont Hollinquest LB 6-3 243 3 59 Wayne Simmons LB 6-2 248 4 62 Marco Rivera G 6-4 295 R 63 Adam Timmerman G 6-4 295 2 64 Bruce Wilkerson T 6-5 305 10 65 Lindsay Knapp G 6-6 300 4 67 Jeff Dellenbach C 6-6 300 12 68 Gary Brown T 6-4 315 3 71 Santana Dotson DT 6-5 285 5 72 Earl Dotson OT 6-3 315 4 73 Aaron Taylor G 6-4 305 3 77 John Michels T 6-7 290 R 80 Derrick Mayes WR 6-0 200 R 81 Desmond Howard WR 5-10 180 5 82 Don Beebe WR 5-11 183 8 83 Jeff Thomason TE 6-4 250 4 84 Andre Rison WR 6-1 195 8 85 Terry Mickens WR 6-0 198 3 86 Antonio Freeman WR 6-0 190 2 88 Keith Jackson TE 6-2 258 9 89 Mark Chmura TE 6-5 250 5 90 Darius Holland DT 6-4 310 2 91 Shannon Clavelle DE 6-2 287 2 92 Reggie White DE 6-5 300 12 93 Gilbert Brown NT 6-2 325 4 94 Bob Kuberski NT 6-4 295 2 95 Keith McKenzie DE 6-2 242 R 96 Sean Jones DE 6-7 283 13 98 Gabe Wilkins DE 6-4 305 3

New England Patriots Head Coach: Bill Parcells No. Player P Ht Wt Exp 4 Adam Vinatieri K 6-0 200 R 11 Drew Bledsoe QB 6-5 233 4 15 Ray Lucas WR 6-2 201 R 16 Scott Zolak QB 6-5 235 6 19 Tom Tupa P 6-4 220 8 21 Ricky Reynolds CB 5-11 190 10 22 David Meggett RB 5-7 195 8 23 Terry Ray SS 6-1 205 5 24 Ty Law CB 5-11 196 2 25 Larry Whigham SS 6-2 205 3 26 Jerome Henderson CB 5-10 188 6 27 Mike McGruder CB 5-10 178 7 28 Curtis Martin RB 5-11 203 2 30 Corwin Brown FS 6-1 200 4 31 Jimmy Hitchcock CB 5-10 188 2 32 Willie Clay FS 5-10 198 5 35 Marrio Grier FB 5-10 225 R 36 Lawyer Milloy SS 6-0 208 R 41 Keith Byars FB 6-1 255 11 45 Otis Smith CB 5-11 190 7 48 Lovett Purnell TE 6-2 250 R 52 Ted Johnson LB 6-3 240 2 53 Chris Slade LB 6-5 245 4 54 Tedy Bruschi LB 6-1 245 R 55 Willie McGinest LB 6-5 255 3 58 Marty Moore LB 6-1 244 3 59 Todd Collins LB 6-2 242 4 61 Bob Kratch G 6-3 288 8 62 Dave Richards T 6-5 315 9 63 Heath Irwin G 6-4 273 R 64 Dave Wohlabaugh C 6-3 292 2 67 Mike Gisler C 6-4 300 4 68 Max Lane T 6-6 305 3 71 Todd Rucci G 6-5 291 4 72 Devin Wyman DT 6-7 307 R 74 Chris Sullivan DE 6-4 279 R 75 Pio Sagapolutele DT 6-6 297 6 76 William Roberts G 6-5 298 13 78 Bruce Armstrong T 6-4 295 10 80 Troy Brown WR 5-9 190 4 81 Hason Graham WR 5-10 176 2 82 Vincent Brisby WR 6-2 188 4 83 Dietrich Jells WR 5-10 186 R 84 Shawn Jefferson WR 5-11 180 6 85 John Burke TE 6-3 248 3 86 Mike Bartrum TE 6-5 245 3 87 Ben Coates TE 6-5 245 6 88 Terry Glenn WR 5-10 184 R 90 Chad Eaton DT 6-5 292 1 92 Ferric Collons DE 6-6 285 3 95 Dwayne Sabb LB 6-4 248 5 96 Mike Jones DE 6-4 295 6 97 Mark Wheeler DT 6-3 285 5