Branch Is Definitely No Shrub

Deion Branch always wanted to play for the University of Florida. He dreamed of scoring touchdowns and maybe winning a national championship with Steve Spurrier in Gainesville.

On Sunday, 70 miles north in Jacksonville, Branch did much better than that. He tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions, giving him 21 in the last two Super Bowls, and was named most valuable player of Super Bowl XXXIX.

Two weeks after amassing 153 total yards in a brilliant performance in the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Branch had 133 yards receiving in the New England Patriots’ 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

It was the first time in three Super Bowl victories for New England that Tom Brady did not earn MVP honors. The Patriots’ quarterback remains one short of Joe Montana, the only player to win three Super Bowl MVP trophies.

“He’s a very dynamic player,” Brady said of Branch. “He can do it all. I was looking for him tonight. He was getting open and he can do some great things once he gets the ball. He was huge.”

Branch, who was a high school track star in Albany, Ga., came up pretty big for a 5-foot-9 guy who had only 35 catches in the regular season after sitting out seven games because of injuries. His 11 receptions tied the Super Bowl record shared by Cincinnati Bengal tight end Dan Ross (Super Bowl XVI) and San Francisco 49er receiver Jerry Rice (Super Bowl XXIII).

“A couple of his best games have been the Super Bowls,” Brady said.

Branch, a second-round pick out of Louisville in 2002, had 10 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the 2004 Super Bowl.

Branch said offensive coordinator Charlie Weis had told him before this Super Bowl to be ready because he had zeroed in on some favorable matchups.

Branch’s signature play was a 19-yard reception early in the fourth quarter. On second and 13 from the 50, after Corey Dillon was dropped for a three-yard loss, Branch practically took the ball out of cornerback Sheldon Brown’s hands on a crossing route. The drive produced Adam Vinatieri’s 22-yard field goal that made it 24-14 with 8:40 left.

Early in the third quarter, when the score was still tied at 7-7, Branch took over the game. Brady targeted Branch five times in that drive, hitting him four times for 71 yards. He had a 15-yard reception on third and 10 from the Eagle 38 to extend the drive, which culminated with Brady’s two-yard touchdown pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel for a 14-7 lead.

“When you’ve got a guy hot like that, you’ve got to keep throwing the ball to him,” receiver Troy Brown said.

It was discovered last week that two players in this Super Bowl ran the 400-meter relay in college. One was the Eagles’ Terrell Owens. The other was Branch. He was unable to get into Florida out of high school and went to junior college before landing at Louisville, where he earned team MVP honors after the 2000 season.

Branch also was named MVP of his high school soccer team. Now this.

“It doesn’t make a difference who gets what,” Branch said. “Our plan was to come in and win the game.”

They probably wouldn’t have done it without him.

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Catching On

Deion Branch tied the Super Bowl record for most catches in a game and moved into third for most career receptions in the Super Bowl:

Most catches in a game:

*--* Rec. Player Year 11 Deion Branch, New England 2005 11 Jerry Rice, San Francisco 1989 11 Dan Ross, Cincinnati 1982 10 Tony Nathan, Miami 1985 10 Jerry Rice, San Francisco 1995 10 Andre Hastings, Pittsburgh 1996 10 Deion Branch, New England 2004 9 Ricky Sanders, Washington 1988 9 Antonio Freeman, Green Bay 1998

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Most career catches:

*--* Rec. Player (Games) TDs 33 Jerry Rice (4) 4 27 Andre Reed (4) 4 21 Deion Branch (2) 2 20 Roger Craig (3) 3 20 Thurman Thomas (4) 2

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RESULTS, MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

*--* No YEAR SITE RESULT MVP I 1967 Coliseum Green Bay (NFL) Bart Starr 35, Kansas City (AFL) 10 II 1968 Miami Green Bay (NFL) Bart Starr 33, Oakland (AFL) 14 III 1969 Miami New York Jets Joe Namath (AFL) 16, Baltimore (NFL) 7 IV 1970 New Orleans Kansas City Len Dawson (AFL) 23, Minnesota (NFL) 7 V 1971 Miami Baltimore (AFC) Chuck Howley 16, Dallas (NFC) 13 VI 1972 New Orleans Dallas (NFC) Roger Staubach 24, Miami (AFC) 3 VII 1973 Coliseum Miami (AFC) 14, Jake Scott Washington (NFC) 7 VIII 1974 Houston Miami (AFC) 24, Larry Csonka Minnesota (NFC) 7 IX 1975 New Orleans Pittsburgh Franco Harris (AFC) 16, Minnesota (NFC) 6 X 1976 Miami Pittsburgh Lynn Swann (AFC) 21, Dallas (NFC) 17 XI 1977 Rose Bowl Oakland (AFC) Fred Biletnikoff 32, Minnesota (NFC) 14 XII 1978 New Orleans Dallas (NFC) R.White, H.Martin 27, Denver (AFC) 10 XIII 1979 Miami Pittsburgh Terry Bradshaw (AFC) 35, Dallas (NFC) 31 XIV 1980 Rose Bowl Pittsburgh Terry Bradshaw (AFC) 31, L.A. Rams (NFC) 19 XV 1981 New Orleans Oakland (AFC) Jim Plunkett 27, Philadelphia (NFC) 10 XVI 1982 Pontiac, Mich. San Francisco Joe Montana (NFC) 26, Cincinnati (AFC) 21 XVII 1983 Rose Bowl Washington John Riggins (NFC) 27, Miami (AFC) 17 XVIII 1984 Tampa, Fla. L.A. Raiders Marcus Allen (AFC) 38, Washington (NFC) 9 XIX 1985 Palo Alto San Francisco Joe Montana (NFC) 38, Miami (AFC) 16 XX 1986 New Orleans Chicago (NFC) Richard Dent 46, New England (AFC) 10 XXI 1987 Rose Bowl New York Giants Phil Simms (NFC) 39, Denver (AFC) 20 XXII 1988 San Diego Washington Doug Williams (NFC) 42, Denver (AFC) 10 XXIII 1989 Miami San Francisco Jerry Rice (NFC) 20, Cincinnati (AFC) 16 XXIV 1990 New Orleans San Francisco Joe Montana (NFC) 55, Denver (AFC) 10 XXV 1991 Tampa, Fla. New York Giants Ottis Anderson (NFC) 20, Buffalo (AFC) 19 XXVI 1992 Minneapolis Washington Mark Rypien (NFC) 37, Buffalo (AFC) 24 XXVII 1993 Rose Bowl Dallas (NFC) Troy Aikman 52, Buffalo (AFC) 17 XXVIII 1994 Atlanta Dallas (NFC) Emmitt Smith 30, Buffalo (AFC) 13 XXIX 1995 Miami San Francisco Steve Young (NFC) 49, San Diego (AFC) 26 XXX 1996 Tempe, Ariz. Dallas (NFC) Larry Brown 27, Pittsburgh (AFC) 17 XXXI 1997 New Orleans Green Bay (NFC) Desmond Howard 35, New England (AFC) 21 XXXII 1998 San Diego Denver (AFC) Terrell Davis 31, Green Bay (NFC) 24 XXXIII 1999 Miami Denver (AFC) John Elway 34, Atlanta (NFC) 19 XXXIV 2000 Atlanta St. Louis (NFC) Kurt Warner 23, Tennessee (AFC) 16 XXXV 2001 Tampa, Fla. Baltimore (AFC) Ray Lewis 34, New York Giants (NFC) 7 XXXVI 2002 New Orleans New England Tom Brady (AFC) 20, St. Louis (NFC) 17 XXXVII 2003 San Diego Tampa Bay (NFC) Dexter Jackson 48, Oakland (AFC) 21 XXXVIII 2004 Houston New England Tom Brady (AFC) 32, Carolina (NFC) 29 XXXIX 2005 Jacksonville, Fla. New England Deion Branch (AFC) 24, Philadelphia (NFC) 21

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