Rodney Harrison tells a great Mike Vrabel story from Patriots' glory days

BOSTON -- There figures to be a hint of nostalgia in the air in New England over the next couple of weeks, with Tom Brady coming back to Foxboro for the first of what will likely be many ceremonies honoring his legendary career.

In that spirit, a tidbit from a member of the Patriots' first dynasty is sure to evoke some positive memories in the region.

In a feature story about Mike Vrabel written by Kevin Clark at The Ringer (great story, go read it), one of Vrabel's players in Tennessee spoke about how Vrabel will occasionally brag that back in his playing days, he would take his normal practice reps with the starting defense before stepping in to play on the scout team defense against the starting offense.

That particular bit of information is not new, as we have known for years that Vrabel loved competing against Brady and Co. in practice. But the way Vrabel's zeal for practicing with the backups was described by Rodney Harrison helps explain who Vrabel is -- and partly why those early-2000s teams were so successful.

"He loved practicing on the scout team. He loved it. Loved it!" Harrison told Clark. "He didn't care if he had to be Ed Reed, the free safety, Ray Lewis, middle linebacker, or one of the great defensive ends, he would play that role."

That praise coming from Harrison is particularly poignant, as Harrison himself practiced so hard that it rubbed a lot of Patriots the wrong way when he showed up in 2003. (The two are likely to be reunited this fall, when Vrabel visits Foxboro for his induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Harrison was inducted in 2019.)

"I was a great practice player and I'm like, 'Look at this dude. He's out running special teams, starting defense, nickel, goal line, and he's playing scout team defense. That is phenomenal,'" Harrison said of Vrabel. "He's running R3 [position] on kickoff running down and it's 90 degrees, full speed, juking guys, tagging off on the runner inside the 20, and he's celebrating like he had three sacks. It was just so important to him."

Certainly, Vrabel was always different. That little peek behind the dynastic curtain helps detail one particular aspect of that reality.