New England Patriots: Asante Samuel slams team for leaving players 'brainwashed'

Former New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel has spoken about his time with the organisation and his relationship with the team’s philosophy.

When you think of the great dynasties that have existed throughout the sporting world, you’ve got the Manchester united sides under Sir Alex Ferguson, the Chicago Bulls sides of the 1990s but arguably the greatest of them all, based on how many titles they won and how they managed to stay near the top for so long, was the New England Patriots sides of the new millennium. 

Starting from the 2001 season all the way through to 2019 they didn’t have a losing season, won 17 AFC East division titles and 6 Super Bowls which now puts them level with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the most won by any organisation in the Super Bowl era.

And whilst a lot of that was undoubtedly down to being lucky enough to have the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady leading the offence, a lot of the early Patriots sides were led by their defence, and Asante Samuel was a key part of that.

Whilst with the Patriots from 2003-2007, Samuel was one of the best shutdown corners in the league, registering an impressive 22 interceptions, 3 of which turned into touchdowns whilst also batting away a further 79 passes that were thrown his way. He was also named First-team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl during their 18-1 season in 2007. 

It takes a lot of discipline and skill to be able to pull that off in the NFL, but to help turn the Patriots into the powerhouse that they were, it took something extra special, something that became known as ‘The Patriot Way’, which as per former linebacker Rob Ninkovich meant “putting the team first, not selfish, doing what’s best for the team, putting the team’s goals in