THE 2007 New England Patriots will be remembered as one of the finest teams in recent memory.
One of just three teams to go unbeaten in a regular season, one of the secrets to their success was an experienced core led by center Dan Koppen.
Despite preferring basketball to football as a high schooler in Pennsylvania, according to an interview with Lehigh Valley Live, Koppen went on to thrive as a three-year starter at center for Boston College.
Koppen was named to the All-Big East Second Team three times before being drafted in the fifth round (164th overall) by the Patriots in 2003.
Koppen was a starter for New England starting in the second week of his rookie season and never looked back.
He started 119 games for Bill Belichick’s offense between 2003 and 2010, blocking for league legend Tom Brady in three Super Bowls.
But, while the Pats lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy after XXXVIII and XXXIX, Eli Manning’s New York Giants were too much for the then-unbeaten Pats in 2007.
While in New England, Koppen was named to one Pro Bowl and was a Second-Team All-Pro, but his time as a critical component came to an end in 2011 when a fractured ankle in Week 1 forced him to miss the rest of the season.
After being waived the following offseason, his time snapping for one NFL icon was done, and he went on to become the only player to snap for both Brady and Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning, with the Denver Broncos.
When compared to ESPN, Koppen stated that “Tom’s more of that laid-back type.” And Peyton has more of a coach’s demeanor.
“He’s constantly grinding.” And both methods work for each guy. Each to his own.”
Having saying that, they did have certain commonalities.
“They want guys out there who know what’s going on so they don’t have to worry about anything else,” Koppen explained.
“They want to know that the line is taken care of and that the fat guys up front are all set and that they don’t have to worry about that.”
Koppen, a starter for the 2012 Broncos, tore his ACL during training camp in 2013 and never played again.
He announced his retirement the next offseason.
He worked as a broadcaster and high school football coach before taking a passion “to the next level” in 2018.
That same year, Koppen co-founded the Rhode Island-based LineSider brewery, telling the Sports Business Journal, “I started learning home brewing from my brother-in-law and started doing it.”
“Then I had a mutual friend who was a home brewer and was looking for a new job.”
“We got together, it took a few years to get going, but we planned it out and brewed a lot of beer.”
“That’s where it came from: it was just homebrewing, and we wanted to take it to the next level.”
However, shortly after the doors opened, Koppen told Boston.com Brady had yet to pay a visit, which he intended to rectify.
“At some point,” he continued, “we’re going to make that happen.”
“I think he owes it to me to have one of my beers for everything we’ve gone through for nine years when we played.”
It’s unknown whether Brady ever went on to visit, but now that he’s retired, maybe he’ll have time to make a journey up to Rhode Island in the future.