A once struggling coach and an unknown quarterback enter Sunday's Super Bowl on the brink of immortality.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, left, talks with head coach Bill Belichick during practice on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, in Indianapolis. The Patriots are scheduled to face the New York Giants in NFL football Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5.INDIANAPOLIS – The murmurs from Robert Kraft's friends were growing louder.
The New England Patriots owner was implored by his friends to stay away from Bill Belichick when he was looking for a new head coach, and after he started his tenure with a 5-12 record, the hire was becoming harder for Kraft to defend.
"Some of my friends in the media were quick to remind me that it was a mistake to hire coach Belichick," Kraft said. "They were telling me that I made a big mistake, to fire him, I didn't know what I was doing and that he didn't know how to give a press conference with his monolithic answers."
Then Sept. 30, 2001 came.
The Patriots appeared to be headed toward another lost season under Belichick when New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis delivered a violent hit on quarterback Drew Bledsoe that left him with a shoulder injury.
New England was forced to turn to unknown second-year quarterback Tom Brady, who was selected with the 199th pick in the draft and unwanted by every team he played for, who led the Patriots to a 10-3 loss that left Belichick's career record at 41-57.
What no one knew was that Lewis rewrote history that afternoon.
The Belichick-Brady combination rebounded after the first loss to win three Super Bowls over the next four years, including one that season, and now have a chance to win their fourth together by beating the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night.
"Obviously there's a connection between (Brady) and Bill and that's probably the biggest key," former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, who has won four Super Bowl titles, said. "When you have that connection with the quarterback, you can make things work with just about whoever you got. It doesn't matter."
Montana is right. It really hasn't mattered. Whatever the philosophy or personnel, Brady and Belichick continue to win games together.
The Patriots started out as a defense-first team, remade themselves into a spread offense reliant on the long ball, and now beat teams with a horizontal passing attack.
They've posted a 124-35 regular season record together, the best ever by a quarterback-coach tandem, and also hold NFL marks for postseason wins (six) and Super Bowl appearances (five).
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Not bad for a failed head coach who was fired in Cleveland after going 37-45 over four seasons and a quarterback who sat behind names like Spergon Wynn, Chad Pennington and Tee Martin on draft boards around the league.
The once-unappreciated genius of both men is now universally heralded, but the reason for their unparalleled success goes beyond an accurately placed ball or the ability to draw up exotic X's and O's.
It can be found in the unique bond they share with one another.
"I feel like I have a good player-coach relationship with Tom," Belichick said. "We have spent, through the years, a decent amount of time together on a regular basis. We talk regularly during the week about what's going to happen, how we're doing it, and then we review what did happen, and then we move on to the next stage.
"It's a continuous cycle that we've kind of been in that routine for a lot of years now. So I think it's important that both philosophically and from a game-management standpoint that the coach and quarterback are on the same page."
For Belichick and Brady, being on the same page carries a different definition than it does for most players and coaches. For these two, their relationship is more inline with that of colleagues than a boss and subordinate.
That's a credit to Brady's hard work. He's learned to view the game through the same prism as Belichick, and polices and prepares himself so well that Belichick seeks his input on how to draw up the next game plan instead of feeling the need to coach him.
"You get a consistent effort on that every single week. It's not up and down," Belichick said.
"I meet with Tom at the beginning of the week, and he always has seen all of the film, as much or more than I have going back to the previous games."
Brady had similar praise for Belichick and credits the coach's work ethic for his level of preparation.
"I don't think there's ever been a time that I've shown up at the stadium and he's not there," Brady said. "He sees everything. He evaluates everything. He watches every bit of film that he can get.
"He always says that it's not an easy program to play for and that's the truth."
That enduring relationship is the chief reason why the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, New England's fifth in Brady's 10 years at the helm (he missed the 2008 season with a knee injury).
Their legacies cemented, both bound for Canton, the question now becomes whether they end up defining an era or become the historical standard for success.
With a win, Brady can join Montana and former Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks to win four rings at an age, as Montana said, where he could conceivably add a few more.
A victory would also move him ahead of Montana for the most postseason wins by a quarterback in NFL history.
As for Belichick, he can tie hall of fame coach Chuck Knoll for the most Super Bowl wins by a head coach.
Reminded of the accomplishments and how people once doubted his decision-making, Kraft does his best to muffle a laugh. The self-satisfaction is evident in his expression, but he instead chooses to take the high road.
"Think about it. The NFL is geared to everyone being 8-8," Kraft said. "If you do well, you draft higher and you have a tougher schedule. So you want to get managers that you can empower to be bold, do different things. When they take those risks and they don't work out, you back them.
"We managed to defy parity."
Belichick and Brady did more than defy parity. With a win over the Giants, they will solidify their spots as the greatest duo in the history of the NFL.
Not bad for a couple of guys no one wanted to believe in.