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February 02, 2004
So Close, Yet Again: Patriots deny veteran Proehl again; he'll settle for one Super Bowl ring
By John Delong | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON - Ricky Proehl has one Super Bowl ring. But there are two more he could and maybe should have that belong to the New England Patriots instead.
Proehl was a member of the St. Louis Rams two years ago when the Patriots beat the Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI on a field goal by Adam Vinatieri on the last play of the game.
Last night, Proehl watched helplessly from the Carolina Panthers' sideline as Vinatieri kicked a 41-yarder with four seconds left to give the Patriots a 32-29 win in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
He shrugged at the irony as he met with the media afterward, and conceded that he felt a little snakebitten.
"I'll be happy if I never see Vinatieri again," Proehl said. "I'm going to have nightmares about him for a long time."
Proehl, a 14-year veteran receiver and former Wake Forest star, had no reason to hang his head, however.
He was one of the Panthers' biggest bright spots throughout the game, particularly in the second half, when the Panthers fought from behind twice.
He finished with four catches for 71 yards, and it was his 12-yard touchdown catch from Jake Delhomme with 1:08 remaining that tied the score 29-29 and set the stage for Vinatieri's heroics.
And in many ways, he symbolized the Panthers' heart, courage and determination throughout the game; he took several big hits from the Patriots' secondary but kept coming back.
He talked at length about how proud he was of the Panthers' effort.
"You know, no one gave us a chance, but we fought our butts off all year long," he said. "We never gave up. That's the way it was tonight. We answered their scores all night long. Even when they scored with two minutes left, we came back and went the length of the field and scored.
"I just can't say enough about the character of my team. You have to congratulate the Patriots; they're a helluva football team. But that was a dogfight. From the first kickoff, we knew we were going to fight our butts off, and we did."
Proehl was instrumental in two of the Panthers' most important drives.
He caught two passes on the Panthers' first touchdown drive, an 8-play, 95-yard march that tied the score 7-7 with 1:14 left in the first half. That was the drive that jump-started the Carolina offense, after it had picked up only one first down previously in the half.
"Early on, they did a lot of good things that we struggled with," Proehl said. "As the game went on, we made some adjustments, and we were able to protect Jake, and he was able to start getting into a rhythm. I think it was a matter of two things. We started hitting seams, and I think they got a little tired, and we started capitalizing."
Then, Proehl really rose to the occasion down the stretch.
With the Panthers trailing 29-22 after the Patriots had scored with 2:55 left, Proehl made two big catches in a 7-play, 80-yard drive that tied the score. He caught a 31-yarder from Delhomme that took the ball to the 14-yard-line. Two plays later, he worked himself wide open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown.
"That was a great drive," he said. "When they scored to go up seven with two minutes left, we just kept saying we need a score, but one play at a time. We kept saying we had to take it one play at a time, and we did.
"I really thought we were going to win the game at that point. I felt once we got into overtime, they were tired, and if we could get the ball back, we could win it. But what can you say? Unfortunately, John (Kasay) kicked it out of bounds, they got the ball on the 40, and when you give Tom Brady and that offense the ball in that situation, it's tough to stop them."
As it turned out, it was impossible to stop them.
And as a result, Proehl still has just one Super Bowl ring.
John Delong can be reached atjdelong@wsjournal.com.