Mike Vrabel reveals unlikely source of discovery for his pass-catching skills

BOSTON -- Mike Vrabel is a Patriot Hall of Famer. It's an honor that's long overdue.

A critical contributor to three Super Bowl-winning teams in the early years of the 21st century, Vrabel was a mainstay on Bill Belichick's defense who also moonlighted as a goal-line tight end for Tom Brady. Vrabel sacked the quarterback 56 times during his Patriots career, and he also hauled in 10 receptions, all of which were touchdowns.

With Vrabel speaking to the media this week after getting the call from Robert Kraft, one reporter asked how the linebacker got the opportunity to turn into a pass-catcher.

Interestingly enough, Vrabel has Drew Bledsoe to thank for all of those touchdown passes from Brady.

"I think probably [former offensive coordinator] Charlie Weis and Drew. I used to warm up with Drew, just go out before the game, a couple hours before, goof around, run routes," Vrabel said. "I didn't want to sit at my locker if I got there early, so I wanted to do something. And I said, well, you know, let's go out and catch balls for the quarterback. So I would mess around with Drew and then I think he might've said, 'Hey,' to Charlie, 'This guy could probably actually do something.' And it never materialized. Then I think maybe the next year, they might've said, 'Hey, give this a try. Learn the plays.'"

Vrabel wasn't privy to the actual conversation in the coaches' room that led to him getting a shot on offense, but he made sure to give credit where it was due for the origin.

"My first touchdown was in San Diego, and we lost. So nobody really talked about it, and then it kind of just materialized from there," he said. "But probably Charlie Weis and Drew probably came up with the idea."

Vrabel caught eight regular-season passes during his Patriots career plus two in the playoffs -- one in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Panthers and one in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles. Unsurprisingly, Vrabel named the Super Bowl touchdowns as his favorite ones, even if one of them wasn't exactly pretty.

"Oh, probably -- I mean, the ones in the Super Bowl," Vrabel said. "The Super Bowl one, where just everything's a fog and blur and all of a sudden through a bunch of helmets and hands, Tom managed to find the football and get it through. ... [Against Philadelphia] well, you get tackled and it looks ridiculous until you realize that I got held and tackled, but it looks like I'm trying to catch a beach ball. I'm falling down. So I don't think that one wins the aesthetics award, but that one was being able to fight through the penalty."