By Ian Tasso, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent
He read the play. He jumped the route. He looked the ball into his hands. He did everything right.
That’s what made it all the more surprising when the pass clunked off his fingertips and fell to the ground. Meriweather blankly stared at his hands in shock. Meanwhile, the clock still read :51, and while the safety’s world stopped, Super bowl XLII went on.
Two plays later, Eli Manning gently lofted a pass high over Ellis Hobbs and right into the hands of a wide open Plaxico Burress. Giants 17, Patriots 14; a shocking end to greatness. A dagger into the heart of perfection.
It could have never happened that way. It should have never happened that way. And for Brandon Meriweather, it almost didn’t.
But for number 31, it was just another small hurdle on the route to greatness – of which he’s faced many.
The hardships started at an early age for Meriweather, whose mother gave birth to him when she was only 13-years old. She then succumbed to the difficulty of raising a son at such a young age, handing over legal guardianship to his high school assistant principle, Mary Bridgeses, and her husband Tom when Meriweather was just [...]

 
By: Jessica Lander, YawkeyTalkies editor
 
Since being the sixth overall pick in the 2001 draft to the Patriots, Richard Seymour has been one of our best on the defensive line. In eight seasons with the Patriots, Seymour started 105 of 111 games, was an integral part of the defense that led New England to 3 Super Bowl Championships, and reached a career high of eight sacks and 57 tackles. He received honors by being elected to the Pro Bowl five consecutive seasons (2002-2006), and being selected to the All-Pro first team 3 consecutive seasons from 2003-2005, and the All-Pro second team in 2006.
However, with his contract coming to an end in his 2009 season the Patriots made the decision to trade Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a first-round draft pick in 2011.
Some might say that in his more recent seasons, Seymour’s performance has gone down hill, as his age goes up. Although, in his defense (no pun intended), in the 2008 season he tied his career high in sacks. Still, he was not named to the Pro Bowl or All-Pro selection teams in 2007 or 2008.
 Seymour has also battled through various injuries almost every season since being drafted: 2003 leg [...]