The Patriot Way? Winning Super Bowls

Under the leadership of the Kraft Family and Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots have become known not just for winning championships but for doing so with players who stay out of the headlines for illegal activities or immature behavior.  It has become known as the "Patriot Way."

Of course that reputation is not totally accurate. 

The Patriots have employed their fair share of players with resumes that were not clear of any wrong doing.  Corey Dillon and Randy Moss both came to the Patriots with a histories of not being perfect teammates but both contributed to successful teams (Dillon helped lead the Pats to a win in Super Bowl XXXIX and Moss was an All-Pro on the ill-fated 2007 team that lost in Super Bowl XLII) and although Moss left on bad terms, he was a very productive player for three years.  Even Tedy Bruschi, one of the most respected players in the team's history, admitted that he fought through alcohol problems early in his career.

The point is that no NFL team is completely void of a few players with character issues.  It is a violent game that is played by violent people and not every player has the ability to be the perfect teammate/citizen once the pads come off.

This point has to be made because of the two players the Patriots acquired yesterday, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.  Both are talented players who should help the Patriots contend for a fourth Super Bowl championship under Belichick.

Both players also have histories that, according to the theory of the "Patriot Way," are not compatable with being teammates with the likes of Tom Brady and Vince Wilfork.

Yesterday I got into the history of Haynesworth, a disruptive force on the defensive line who does not always choose to play hard or be a model teammate.  The bottom line is that if he is motivated to play, the Patriots defensive line - which also includes Wilfork and Ty Warren - will be championship caliber and if he's not, the team will cut him and lose nothing more than a 2013 5th round draft pick.

Ochocinco is a different challenge for Belichick.  He is a character in every sense of the word.  He loves to design and execute celebrations after his touchdowns.  He has his own reality show.  His Twitter is one of the most popular and read accounts on the web site.

He is a man who changed his last name from Johnson to Ochocinco because he wore #85 with the Bengals.

He is also a man capable of helping Brady repeat as the NFL MVP and of helping the Patriots win another Lombardi Trophy.

Albert Haynesworth is the same kind of man.

At the end of the day, that is what the "Patriot Way" really is all about.  Neither Haynesworth or Ochocinco - or any member of the Patriots - will be allowed to get away with being a negative force in the lockerroom (see: Moss, Randy) or being a regular in the local police stations but the Patriots are in the business of winning and yesterday they added two players who should help them achieve that goal.