SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As blue and green confetti rained from the sky and Seahawks players celebrated their Super Bowl victory on the enemy territory of Levi’s Stadium field, Patriots players sat, exhausted and dejected, in a cramped visitors’ locker room.
But they weren’t shellshocked at losing Super Bowl LX. A Patriots loss in the Bill Belichick dynasty era would feel calamitous. The silence in the locker room would be deafening. But Mike Vrabel is a different type of leader. There were some tears shed, but it was clear that Vrabel still chose to inspire them in his postseason speech.
Immediately after the game, as Vrabel was being carted to his post-game podium, he smiled at the group of reporters and waved “Hi.”
“I think he’s an image of the players,” right guard Mike Onwenu said. “I was feeling the same way, like, yeah, I’m hurt, but they’re not gonna take my joy. I deserve to be here. Everyone in this locker room deserves to be here. So at the end of the day, yeah, we hurt, but I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”
When reporters walked into the locker room following the 29-13 loss, wide receiver Stefon Diggs sat at his locker, still in his full uniform.
Starting right tackle Morgan Moses sat facing rookie tackle Will Campbell, talking to him, comforting him and lifting him up after a difficult performance.
“I told him I’ve never seen a rookie come in and play the way he played at left tackle,” Moses said. “The sky’s the limit for him, man. He has the opportunity to look back and rest a little bit and get himself back working out. For a rookie to go out there and play left tackle all the way to the Super Bowl and do an amazing job and still have room to grow, he’s the guy.”
What else was he saying to the rookie tackle?
“I said, ‘Don’t feel sorry for me.’ It’s an unbelievable journey for me, not only for me but my kids,” said Moses, a 12-year NFL veteran who just played in his first Super Bowl. “They got to gain an uncle in Will. They got to gain friends in the locker room. I think that’s the beauty of it all. You don’t know what you’re walking into in a new locker room, but it turns out to be the best thing you’ve ever had. I told the guys to cherish these moments, because these are moments that you’ll never forget.”
Campbell declined to speak to reporters after the game.
Veteran safety Jaylinn Hawkins agreed to speak to reporters, but before he was ready to address the media, he turned to his right and told his lockermates, rookie safety Craig Woodson and linebacker Marte Mapu, how much they meant to him.
“At the end of the day, it’s deeper than ball,” Hawkins said. “And to get to this point, we’ve been through so much, and they’re two players that are obviously young in their career. But not only are they both balling, but they have bright futures. I was once in their shoes, and I see a lot of them, a lot that’s unique, and they’re special, and they’re very mature and just incredible players and people.”
Woodson, one of the Patriots’ top players in Super Bowl LX, appreciated the message.
“It means a lot. He’s played a lot of ball,” Woodson said. “He knows how to deal with tough heartbreaks like this when it comes to the game of football. He’s somebody we can lean on.”
Patriots players have applauded the job Vrabel has done all year in getting players to bond. That was on full display even after Sunday’s loss.
The Patriots got accustomed to losing last season under Jerod Mayo. And while postgame scenes never turned into full-on finger-pointing sessions, there was a sense of frustration if the defense was making stops, but the offense couldn’t produce points.
The Patriots haven’t lost enough this season to get to that point. But there was nothing but respect shown between the two units, even after the Super Bowl loss.
“We riding behind him, win or loss,” Woodson said of QB Drake Maye, who struggled Sunday. “So regardless, if out of game goes, that’s the QB1. Man, we gonna rally behind him. He got all our love, support. This is just the beginning. I got full trust in him.”
When most of the players had dressed and left the stadium, including linebacker Jahlani Tavai with his left arm in a sling, Vrabel walked through the locker room and beelined to a group of reporters.
After a 29-13 loss in the most important game of the year that likely left Vrabel steaming, he thanked them for their coverage this season in an act of recognition that was unnecessary but appreciated.
Most of the Patriots’ roster is under contract next year and set to return, but it will still be a new team. Vrabel will need new messaging, and he’ll need new ways to inspire his players. But one thing will not change: He’ll still be an image of the players, and they’ll still be an image of him.
Vrabel cares about people, and he underscored the importance of his players valuing their teammates. And it showed when veteran players, who have never come close to winning a Super Bowl before, comforted their younger teammates before they thought about themselves.