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By Jordan Sigler
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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was feeling a little nostalgic in the moments leading up to his first appearance in a Super Bowl as a head coach.
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The Patriots are set to play the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, the final game for Vrabel in his first season with New England as head coach.
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Vrabel won three Super Bowls with the Patriots as a linebacker.
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Per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Vrabel played the song "Beautiful Day" by U2 during the Patriots team meeting on Sunday morning, a reference to the band that played at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI, when New England upset the Saint Louis Rams 20-17.
Vrabel gave a three-word plan to the team for Sunday: Belief, identity and rage.
"Patriots coach Mike Vrabel played U2's Beautiful Day to open his 10 am PT team meeting," Breer posted on X. "He told the story of Super Bowl XXXVI—and that it was a beautiful day b/c a team no one expected to win did, together. He left players with 3 words on today's plan: Belief, Identity, Rage."
The Patriots will also be underdogs in this year's Super Bowl. The Seahawks are 4.5-point favorites over New England, per DraftKings.
Earlier in the week, Vrabel was asked if there was something he wished he knew before playing in his first Super Bowl. Vrabel doesn't want his players to predict how the game will go.
"Again, every game is different, and don't anticipate how it's going to go," Vrabel said, via the Patriots. "Whether it comes down to the end of the game situation, a kick or a two-minute drill, try not to predict what those are going to be...
"So, just understanding, having watched all these Super Bowls in the last few years and the ones I've been a part of, try not hard to predict how it's going to go and you will have to see how the game is unfolding. But understand each situation that we're going to be asked to execute, we've been through since April."
With a win for the Patriots, the third plan would turn from rage to elation.
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