Socci: Vince Wilfork's Patriots Legacy Intact, No Matter What Future Holds
FOXBORO (CBS) -- When Vince Wilfork made his statement to the Twitterverse early Thursday morning, announcing that the Patriots will not exercise his 2015 option, thus allowing him to explore free agency, my initial thoughts included the recollection of a late-night scene in January.
An hour or so removed from a playoff win at Gillette Stadium on the road to Super Bowl XLIX, it was time for Wilfork and his family to go. Walking with wife Bianca and their kids through the tunnel leading from the locker room, he was wearing a letterman's-style jacket.
If memory serves, it featured a wide red body with white sleeves and a large logo -- none other than Pat Patriot himself. Other players come and go in dark shades of designer overcoats, I thought, yet here's Big Vince proudly sporting the team colors.
After playing his heart out on the field, he wore it on his sleeve on the way home.
That's where Wilfork was headed on the night of the AFC Championship rout of Indianapolis, when he drove up to an overturned Jeep Wrangler along Route 1. Wilfork stopped, got out of his car and pulled a woman out of her's.
"I wanted to help," he said in a soft voice the following afternoon. "Anybody would do the same thing."
Reality is, not everybody would. And certainly not everyone who could would keep it to themselves the way Wilfork did when he returned to Gillette for a team meeting the morning after. Only later, when media began asking questions did other Patriots learn of Wilfork's actions.
"You're not really surprised with a guy like Vince," his fellow co-captain Matthew Slater said. "He's been a pillar here in this franchise and a character guy, and really when you get to know the man, he's all about giving back. He has such a big heart, and he cares about the people in this community."
On Thursday, Wilfork spoke to those people through words attached to a tweet. He offered thanks while seemingly saying, "So long."
Due a large roster bonus and representing a huge cap charge if still with the Patriots on Tuesday, Wilfork can soon shop around on the open market. Of course, there remains a slim possibility the 325-pound defensive tackle winds up where he started in 2004 as New England's top draft choice (21st overall) out of the University of Miami.
At 33 and a year removed from an Achilles tear, Wilfork will join several other high-profile interior defenders in free agency, during a period when playing time for so-called 'base' personnel is significantly diminished around the league. If the welcome mat isn't green enough elsewhere, 'goodbye' might give way to 'hello again.'
Still, Wilfork's large body of work has much to offer. Coming off his Week 4, season-ending injury in 2013, he returned under a restructured deal and, remarkably, reached every incentive in 2014 by playing more than 70 percent of the Pats' defensive snaps.
By filling a role based mainly on occupying space and blockers, Wilfork's on-field impact isn't measured by statistics. But as a five-time Pro Bowl pick, he's clearly stood out among the league's best throughout his career. Most recently, Wilfork marked the season early with a victory-clinching interception versus Oakland and in the end by defending 74 percent of Seattle's offensive plays.
Meanwhile, as a seven-time co-captain, Wilfork's off-field influence was evident in the tweets boomeranging back at him from numerous Patriots following Thursday's announcement.
Among them was Sealver Siliga. In 2013, Siliga joined youngster Joe Vellano to help fill in for an injured Wilfork and fellow tackle Tommy Kelly. Wilfork became their big brother of sorts, as well as a de facto coach.
That role was prominent in a piece produced by Showtime's 60 Minute Sports in January 2014, in which Wilfork was seen accompanying the team on the road simply to lend sideline assistance. In that profile, owner Robert Kraft referred to Wilfork as the "heart and soul" of his team's defense.
"You're always looking for leadership from within," said Kraft, "where someone steps up and motivates and brings people to a higher plane."
Even so, Wilfork, who's long endeared himself to Kraft by frequently answering a higher calling to community service, understood that a morning like Thursday's was bound to arrive. Sooner or later.
When asked by Pam Oliver, reporting for 60 Minutes Sports, if his close personal relationship with ownership might help once Wilfork's then contract expired, he knew to separate sentiment from dollars and sense.
"No," Wilfork told Oliver, with Bianca at his side. "It's a business."
Not long thereafter, by March of last year, those words proved prophetic. The Patriots approached him on a re-do, reportedly provoking Wilfork to clear out his locker and request a release from the team. But business being what it is in the NFL, they eventually reconciled. Ultimately, Wilfork went on to enjoy the latest of his personal playing highs on the first day of the following February in Glendale.
Now, another March is upon us and last year's supposed wish appears to be this year's reality. Big Vince can try to take his talents elsewhere.
Surely, there will be interest. One potential suitor is in Houston, where head coach Bill O'Brien and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, both ex-Patriot assistants, might find Wilfork to be the ideal fit between J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney -- especially after Louis Nix III struggled through an injury-shortened rookie season.
Who better, after all, to bring those young Texans to a higher plane?
If not them, then perhaps another of the 30 franchises outside New England will give Wilfork enough green to change colors.
But if so, that shouldn't detract from the legacy he's built here as a good Samaritan and a great player; one worthy of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
And if indeed Wilfork's played his final game for New England, in no less than a Super Bowl win, he exits in style -- true these last 11 years to the red, white and nautical blue.
Bob Socci is the radio play-by-play voice of the New England Patriots. You can follow him on Twitter @BobSocci.
