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Former Patriots Faulk, Light Excited To Be Honorary Captains

BOSTON (CBS) - Former Patriots running back Kevin Faulk and left tackle Matt Light will be back on the field for Sunday's AFC Championship game, trying to will New England to a victory.

But Light won't be blocking for Tom Brady, and Faulk won't be hauling in those third-down passes from #12. Instead, they'll try to do it as honorary captains.

"As a fan, I've never seen anything but a win at Gillette," Light proclaimed on Friday.

Both Light and Faulk, who were key contributors to the Patriots three Super Bowl championship teams, announced their retirements in 2012 and were honored with special halftime ceremonies during the regular season.

Now, they're honored to be back once again, this time as honorary captains.

"To have the opportunity to do this, and know the guys that have done it in the past like Ty (Law), (Tedy) Bruschi and Drew (Bledsoe), it's an honor," said Faulk. "You never think about what's going to happen at the end when you're playing football. I never thought I was going to play 13 years in the NFL, and to accomplish the accomplishments that we accomplished as a football team, and to see this organization still on that same path after so many years, it just speaks volume to that organization, the players, the coaches, just everybody around. Once again I'd like to say thank you for the opportunity to Mr. Kraft and the Patriots' organization."

"To have the Kraft family honor us in this way, to share this special moment at this time of the year when everybody is amped up, it's truly a blessing," said Light. "And as Kevin said, the time that I've spent here, the time that Kevin spent here, you look back on it and you say as an organization, as a coaching staff and as the guys you play with, as all those things were combined to form what we experienced, it doesn't get any better. And we really appreciate it, and we're really looking forward to it."

Light, Faulk On Being Honorary Captains: 

Listen: Matt Light On Toucher & Rich

Light and Faulk each played in six AFC Championship games, winning fiveof them, and their former coach is happy they'll be around for another.

"It's always great to see them," Bill Belichick said on Friday. "It's great to have a living memory, a very vivid one, of guys who contributed an awful lot to this franchise, both on and off the field, both as players and the leadership roles in particular that those two guys have had. You can go on with the Troy Browns and there's a long list, but those two in particular had great careers here. It was a privilege for me to coach both of them."

Light and Faulk will be out with the team captains for the coin toss, though the Patriots have a pretty good feeling what they'll do should they win the toss. Still, Light will go over a few ideas with Belichick before they make their march out to mid-field.

"This is a big game and we need to take this seriously," said Light. "We are looking forward to that talk. We'll coach him up and if guys have suggestions we'll take them."

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Tune in to the AFC Championship game at 6:30pm on Sunday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, WBZ-TV, or LISTEN LIVE on CBSBoston.com! Pregame coverage begins on WBZ with Patriots GameDay at 11:30am, and at 3pm on 98.5 with Patriots Preview. Following the game, tune in to three hours of coverage on the Sports Hub, and to Patriots 5th Quarter over on myTV38.

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