The New England Patriots are focused on chasing their seventh Lombardi Trophy on Sunday in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks, so none of their players or coaches attended Thursday night’s NFL Honors ceremony, despite several being nominated for prestigious awards.
Among those nominees was Patriots first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, who was up for NFL Coach of the Year. And after leading New England to a 14–3 regular season, an AFC East title, and a Super Bowl berth, Vrabel took home the honor — a result that came as little surprise.
“Congratulations first to all the amazing award winners. You’re the reason our game is so special,” Vrabel said in his acceptance speech. “It’s an honor to be recognized among the great coaches in our league — especially Kyle, Liam, Ben, and of course Mike. Ultimately, my name will go on this award, but it belongs to a building, it belongs to a staff, and it belongs to the men in the locker room who believed when they couldn’t always see it.
“We did this together, and I’ll always be grateful to be your coach.”
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The Patriots shared a video of several players reacting to Vrabel winning the honor, including star quarterback Drake Maye, who has excelled under Vrabel’s leadership in his second season after being selected No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL draft.
“Coach, I just want to thank you for changing this year — changing this franchise, changing this organization,” Maye said. “There’s nobody we’d rather play for. I know a lot of people in that locker room feel the same way.”
The Patriots finished 4-13 a year ago. This offseason, the organization made the difficult decision to move on from Jerod Mayo after just one season and hire Vrabel — a move that has quickly proven to be a gold mine, with New England now just one win away from a Lombardi Trophy.
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