New England Patriots Lose Another Gem in Rodney Harrison

The newly retired Rodney Harrison is another example of how well the New England Patriots organization pursues and signs veteran players. Harrison joined the Patriots in 2003 after beginning his career with the San Diego Chargers. In his first season with the Patriots, Harrison recorded a career high 140 tackles. Harrison had a remarkable career in New England and came up big in the Patriots Super Bowl XXIX run. Harrison had two interceptions in the Patriots Super Bowl game against the Eagles, as well as an interception returned for a touchdown in the AFC championship game against the Steelers.

Harrison, like Junior Seau, Corey Dillon, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker, came to the Patriots and resurrected his career and escalated his play. This year, the Patriots have done it again, signing Fred Taylor and Joey Galloway. If Brady remains healthy for the entire season, the Patriots offense will be hard to defend, with so many weapons.

On defense, the hard hitting play of Rodney Harrison will be missed. Harrison retires with an amazing resume. He's the first defensive back to record 30 sacks and 30 interceptions in his career. The Patriots have a knack of finding suitable replacements when players exit, but replacing Harrison's intensity and play will be difficult. The Patriots will likely replace Harrison with one of their draft picks either, James Sanders, Brandon Meriweather, or this years draft pick, Patrick Chung.

New England always seems to get the most out of their players, and the coaching staff will have to do it again with whomever replaces Harrison. Patriot fans are exited about the return of Tom Brady and have visions of the playoffs and Super Bowl. To return to the Super Bowl, the Patriots defense will need to play well, and with Harrison and Mike Vrabel gone, some other players will have to step up, but this is New England, of course someone will step up.

Sources:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/2821/news;_ylt=A0wNdbXY8CZKsXQBKiT.uLYFhttp://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=14695