HOUSTON — As soon as New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski was satisfied with his Lombardi trophy selfie, the plan was to pass the 22-inch, 7-pound sterling silver bauble into the waiting arms of special-teams captain Matthew Slater. By then, though, the trophy had already made two full circuits of the crowded, joyous locker room inside NRG Stadium. It had been smooched, hugged, pumped, cradled and caressed by nearly every team member. (“Chest hair or no chest hair?” Gostkowski had laughed as he fiddled with his shirt collar before posing with Lombardi.)
The once-shimmering world championship prize was looking a little, well, “nasty” is what lineman Marcus Cannon shouted when he saw the splotchy, smudgy condition of the trophy headed for the beloved and respected Slater, a six-time Pro Bowl pick.
“Naw, naw, naw, this won’t do for Slate,” Cannon yelled. “Give me that thing.”
“Chest hair or no chest hair?”
Cannon, a West Texas native and TCU grad who made the key block on James White’s 2-yard touchdown run in overtime to cap one the greatest comebacks in sports history, wasn’t finished cleaning things up for the Patriots on this historic night. He intercepted the trophy before it reached Slater and grabbed a big, blue bath towel with one hand and a fistful of Purell from a wall dispenser with the other. After a flurry of buffing and wiping, he delivered a proper Lombardi trophy, shiny and spotless, to his esteemed teammate.
It made sense. After five Super Bowl titles since the 2001 season, the Patriots have more recent experience than anyone in the care and handling of the most prized possession in sports.
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