Branch an unlikely hero
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – He walked into a tent outside Alltel Stadium to talk about “this MVP thing.” But Deion Branch got sidetracked and sounded almost as if he was declining the biggest award of his career. With cameras from around the world on him, Branch tried to get out of the spotlight. If these were Branch’s 15 minutes of fame, he spent about 13 talking about teammates Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Roosevelt Colvin and Rodney Harrison.
If Branch had a vote for the Super Bowl XXXIX Most Valuable Player Award, it would have gone to one of those four teammates. Branch didn’t have a vote, and he was the overwhelming choice in a combined media and fan vote.
“It didn’t make any difference who won the MVP,” Branch said.
In a week when wide receivers were the talk of the town, Branch ended up overshadowing Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens and Freddie Mitchell in a 24-21 New England victory. Branch tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions (for 133 yards). The record was set by Cincinnati’s Dan Ross in Super Bowl XVI and equaled by San Francisco’s Jerry Rice in Super Bowl XXIII.
Not a bad outing for a player who had 454 receiving yards during an injury-filled season he almost didn’t get to finish. Branch missed seven games, and the Patriots considered ending his season by giving him a spot on the injured-reserve list.
“I’m thankful that coach (Bill) Belichick and the staff didn’t put me on IR,” Branch said. “They had the faith in me that I could come back and contribute. If I was on IR, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Branch, who some teams considered too small to be an effective receiver when he came into the league in 2002, also topped the 100-yard receiving mark in New England’s Super Bowl victory against Carolina last year.
Although the Patriots like to spread the ball around to a deep receiving corps, Branch ended up gaining more than half of New England’s receiving yards. He benefited from a game plan in which Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis used lots of four- and five-receiver sets to force the Eagles to use their six-defensive back package.
“It was game planning,” Branch said. “It’s not like we were coming into this game looking to throw me the ball 13 or 14 times.”
Quarterback Tom Brady completed 23 of 33 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns and said it was easy getting the ball to Branch.
“We missed him for most of the year,” Brady said. “He’s a very dynamic player. He can do it all. I was looking to find him and he was getting open and doing some great things out there.”
After New England’s offense was quiet for most of the first half, Branch was the centerpiece of a touchdown drive to open the third quarter. On a nine-play, 69-yard drive, Branch caught four passes for 71 yards (a running play for negative yardage is why Branch’s total was more than the actual drive distance). Branch’s most important catch was a 21-yarder with 11:24 left in the third quarter. On that play, he was pushed out of bounds at the 2. On the next play, Brady threw to Mike Vrabel for a touchdown.
“Deion was unbelievable today,” said New England receiver David Givens, who had three catches for 19 yards and a touchdown. “He always had it in him, and he’s been doing big things for us.”