Mike Vrabel’s Classy Move After Super Bowl Loss Says It All

Win or lose, Mike Vrabel always stays beside his players as displayed after the Super Bowl LX defeat in San Francisco.

Mike Vrabel’s Classy Move After Super Bowl Loss Says It All

Mike Vrabel embraced Patriots players after Super Bowl LX loss to the Seahawks in California (Image via IMAGO/X)

Mike Vrabel kept his tradition of greeting every Patriots player alive, even after the Super Bowl heartbreak at Levi’s Stadium. Cameras caught Vrabel embracing every player on their way to the locker room.

Vrabel led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance since winning football’s biggest prize in 2018. And that too came a year after the team went 4-13. In doing so, the Associated Press selected Vrabel as the coach of the year for the 2025-26 NFL season.

However, he conceded the Lombardi Trophy to the same man whom he overcame to become the league’s best coach. In the final, the Patriots faced the Seahawks, who had taken down the mighty Rams in the previous game.

Seattle restricted the Patriots to zero first-half points and only allowed a touchdown deep into the final quarter. The Seahawks ran out 29-13 winners, their first championship win since the 2013-14 campaign. Meanwhile, the Patriots blew the chance to add to their six rings.

Following the final whistle, Vrabel waited inside the Levi’s Stadium tunnel and greeted his players with motivating words.

This wasn’t a one-off thing or something that’s out of character for Vrable. A week earlier, he was filmed dapping and hugging the Patriots family after defeating the Broncos in Denver.

Mike Vrabel defends Patriots rookie who had a horrible Super Bowl

Seattle once more reminded us that “defenses win championships” with a dominating performance. The pass rush negated the left side of the Patriots’ offensive line, operated by two rookies, Will Campbell and Jared Wilson.

Mike Vrabel’s Classy Move After Super Bowl Loss Says It All
(L) Mike Vrabel and (R) Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (Image via IMAGO)

The Patriots gave up 29 points, but the score could have been worse if Christian Gonzalez hadn’t broken up two certain touchdown-saving passes. Campbell in particular didn’t have a good game. He faced 8 pressures (19 total pressures on the Patriots offensive line), had one quarterback hit, and had one sack.

Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy revealed Mike Macdonald’s game plan for keeping Maye quiet.

We knew their [the Patriots’] offensive line couldn’t hold up against our rush. We knew he [Drake] liked to hold onto the ball a bit. We also knew where he liked to step up and escape. We tried to take that way and to make it very hard for him.

Drake Maye suffered the most because of this leaky performance. Seattle sacked him 6 times and forced three turnovers, including a strip sack and scoop touchdown. Maye tossed a couple of late touchdowns, but they had little impact on the final result.

Vrabel defended his band of misfits, especially his young left tackle Campbell.

Will [Campbell] is 22 years old. He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better. He’ll get stronger, There’s plays he’d like to have back. We’re not moving Will to guard, center, tight end or anywhere else.

Vrabel said via NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe (H/T: Sports Illustrated)

Later, Mark Daniels of MassLive tweeted that Campbell played in the Super Bowl despite carrying an injury.

Will Campbell said he tore a ligament in his knee this season. He wasn’t 100% for the playoffs but said it’s not excuse.

While the injury may win a few of the Patriots fans over to Campbell’s side, the news isn’t a good sign for the Patriots. The rules dictate that every injured player’s name must show up on the injury list prior to the game, which never took place. The Patriots could face serious penalty for this move. Fans have to wait for a verdict from the NFL.

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