Drew Bledsoe Will Serve As Patriots Honorary Captain For AFC Championship Game
BOSTON (CBS) -- Former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe will serve as the team's honorary captain for Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
Bledsoe will be a part of the pregame festivities and will accompany the team captains at midfield for the coin toss prior to Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And if Tom Brady can't go with his injured hand, maybe Bledsoe can stick around and sling the football for a few hours. He did, after all, beat the Jaguars in the 1996 AFC Championship Game in Foxboro Stadium.
"Drew Bledsoe played such an integral role in our efforts to rebuild the Patriots," said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. "He gave fans hope for the future by providing many memorable moments during his record-breaking career. For a franchise that had only hosted one playoff game in its first 35 years, winning the AFC Championship Game at home in Foxboro and taking the Patriots to the playoffs for three consecutive years were unimaginable goals prior to his arrival."
Bledsoe, a Patriots Hall of Famer, spent nine of his 14 NFL seasons in New England. He was the first overall pick by the Patriots in 1993 and threw 166 touchdowns while compiling a 63-60 regular season record with New England. He led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996, and came in for an injured Brady in the 2001 AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh to help guide the Patriots to their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
You can catch Sunday's Patriots-Jaguars AFC Championship Game on WBZ-TV — the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with a special 90-minute edition of Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 3:05 p.m., and after the game get all the reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter.
