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Patriots won't talk about ghosts of '07 season heartbreak at Super Bowl but they're impossible to avoid and hear

PHOENIX – The garbage can in the middle of the locker room was failing. Within 30 minutes, it was bulging from the inside out, crushed to the brim with equipment, gifts and mementos that had been shed in disgust by the 2007 New England Patriots.

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A stack of expensive embroidered bathrobes with Super Bowl XLII logos – gifts to each player – were jammed inside, several still in their plastic wrapping. Multiple sets of game-worn gloves were among the refuse, poking out from beneath some silvery game programs. There was a pile of maybe a half-dozen partially-taped cleats on the top, each sliced down the side from where players had taken scissors and sliced them off their feet.

Had things gone differently on Feb. 3, 2008, these abandoned layers would have fetched tens of thousands of dollars. Fans and memorabilia hunters would have gobbled them up and put them under glass, fit for eternal worship in some North End bar or Charlestown barbershop.

But the Patriots lost that night to the New York Giants. The cherished mementos were transformed into bitter relics destined for a landfill in the Phoenix area. And the destiny of 19-0 was ripped from New England's chest, transplanted with the agony of 18-1.

Seven years later, the memory of that locker room is still wet to the touch. Particularly this weekend, when New England is back in Phoenix, returning to "the scene of the crime" as former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison has referred to it.

"This will always linger. … Whenever we see that Super Bowl, every time we think about it, we're always going to be the losers. We'll have to learn to deal with that." – Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green after Super Bowl XLII

When you run a finger down the Patriots' roster from this weekend's Super Bowl, only three players remain from the heartbreaker in 2008. It's a testament to the brutality of the NFL game and business model – that only three of 53 active roster players from an 18-1 team are still with the franchise seven years later. But it's also a testament to the quality of the three players. Two of them are future Hall of Famers (quarterback Tom Brady and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork), and the third is one of the best kickers in the NFL over the last 10 years (Stephen Gostkowski).

The coaching staff holdovers are a little more robust, but just barely. Head coach Bill Belichick remains as the unchanging constant in the dynasty. Coordinators Josh McDaniels (who left briefly to coach the Broncos) and Matt Patricia were parts of that staff, too, along with assistants Ivan Fears and Josh Boyer.

Not that it matters. None of those eight men has said anything of substance about 2008. The connecting theme in their few sound bites regarding that loss? They all agree that it was a big disappointment and that it really doesn't matter this weekend. Wilfork summed the group's thoughts up best when he was asked if he remembered anything about the 2008 trip.

"Nope," he said, flatly. "I try not to."

"The season means nothing now. It means nothing to me. … time after time when you continually win and so many people are out there not wanting you to win – to lose at the very end just hurts. You know it is all for nothing." – Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs after Super Bowl XLII

When New England's locker room first opened to media after that 2008 loss, it felt like church doors opening to a forgotten wake. Not far away, a crush of reporters were scrambling around to different podiums, where Giants and Patriots players were thriving or surviving emotionally on opposite planets. A massive bouquet of digital recorders and TV cameras pointed toward Giants quarterback Eli Manning as he explained how he had miraculously pulled free from the grasp of defensive end Richard Seymour in the fourth quarter.

Super Bowl XLII marked the first time Tom Brady was on the losing end of an NFL title game. (Getty Images)
Super Bowl XLII marked the first time Tom Brady was on the losing end of an NFL title game. (Getty Images)

This would be the pivotal moment that would be replayed for eternity, Manning avoiding the sack and heaving a 42-yard pass (for a 32-yard net gain), that wideout David Tyree leapt and pinned to the back crown of his helmet. The grab would go down as one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history, spawning mini-documentaries and even its own Wikipedia page.

Not far from Manning, Seymour sat on a podium and relived his disbelief, repeating over and over, "I don't know what happened. I thought I had him."

Right about that time, only a small group of reporters were milling around in the Patriots' locker room, which was almost silent. Questions were asked in hushed voices, as if interviews were taking place in a library. Space was ample, but cluttered with trash and clothing. And many players kept throwing things in the trash. Some were purging seemingly everything from their lockers, battle-weary giants throwing weaponry into the ocean before taking a final ship home.

Linebacker Junior Seau was crouched in a corner, still fully-padded from the waist down, struggling to talk to a few reporters. Equipment managers were slinking between lockers, trying to pack shoulder pads and helmets without disturbing players. Tom Brady and Randy Moss stood shoulder to shoulder, dressing slowly and deliberately for 10 minutes. In that time, neither said a word to the other.

"Don't worry, we're going to be back here next year, brother." – Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather, speaking to fellow safety Rodney Harrison as they walked out of the locker room following Super Bowl XLII

Make no mistake, that locker room was history. It's more important than any of the offensive records that New England set that season or any of the blowout wins. The few holdovers this weekend don't talk about it because they are right – it has no relevance to this current game. But all of those players who went through that defeat share a scar that will bond them together forever. It will bind them together more deeply than any of the previous Super Bowl wins, and will certainly resonate more than the loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.

The Patriots didn't just lose a ring that season. They lost a piece of lasting identity, the chance to be the only perfect 19-0 NFL team. And only the second perfect Super Bowl winner, joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Oddly enough, that team also gained an identity through infamy as well.

Junior Seau (Getty Images)
Junior Seau (Getty Images)

That Patriots team and that locker room will forever belong to a fraternity where pain is the strongest bond of brotherhood. A pain that can be truly understood only by teams that will be remembered forever. A collection that includes the 1980 Soviet Union hockey team from the Winter Olympics, losers of the "Miracle on Ice." Or 1983's Phi Slama Jama Houston Cougars basketball team, which lost an NCAA championship to N.C. State on a buzzer-beating dunk.

In their own unique way, these teams are deserving of a revered place in history because only they know the truest depths of loss in sports. And more often than not, they are filled with players who pick themselves up and move forward with thickened bones and angry resolve. The two stalwarts of this dynasty – Belichick and Brady – can certainly attest to that, especially given the last 12 days of deflate-gate controversy.

In truth, Phoenix is one of the few things that rings familiar for the Patriots when looking back to 2008. They're staying at a different team hotel (the one the Giants stayed at in 2008). They're practicing on a different field and breaking down film in different meeting rooms. And frankly, the balance of the roster mostly has no idea what 2008 felt like.

But Patriots owner Robert Kraft did allow this: Before arriving in Phoenix, he spoke to Brady about 2008 regarding the fortune of being able to come back and close a chapter. And Kraft said Brady was excited about having that opportunity. So 2008 certainly lingers at least a tiny bit, in at least a few of the right people.

As Brady said this week of the Super Bowl return to Arizona, "It's not where we play, but how we play."

A lot of things went into the trash on that night in 2008. But the most important lesson didn't.