It's often challenging to create a "Mount Rushmore" for a successful team in sports, especially one like the Patriots that has been one of professional sports' model franchises since the turn of the century.
Tom Brady - the best quarterback to ever play this game - is the only obvious choice, and one could argue plenty of options for the other three. Adam Vinatieri, Julian Edelman, Donta Hightower and Rob Gronkowski are several names that come to mind.
Bleacher Report took a recent crack at offering a Patriots' Mount Rushmore since 2000, and it included Brady, Gronkowski, Logan Mankins, and Vince Wilfork. That's not a bad list, but one big name was left off of it.
Randy Moss deserves to be on New England's Mount Rushmore
No disrespect to Mankins or Wilfork, as they were vital pieces to what the Patriots did during their respective tenures in Foxborough, but to leave arguably the greatest receiver in NFL history, Randy Moss, off the list seems quite odious.
While it's true that Moss only played in New England for three and a half seasons and came up just short of winning a championship here in 2007, Moss set the table for the second half of the Patriots' dynasty. His 23 touchdown catches that season remain an NFL record, and at a time when his career was in a tailspin, the Patriots proved to be one of the best things to happen to Moss.
Hopefully, guys like Stefon Diggs have been watching tape on what Moss did in New England.
My Patriots Mount Rushmore: Brady, Moss, Gronkowski, Hightower
Gronkowski revolutionized the way the tight end position was played in the NFL and left the game with four Super Bowl rings, all alongside Brady as his quarterback. The big man was a matchup nightmare and came in at the right time as guys like Moss and Wes Welker were on the back nine of their careers.
It was hard to pick just one player from all the great defenses the Patriots have had over the years, but Hightower was the standout. One could argue that the Super Bowl LI comeback would not have been completed had it not been for Hightower's forced fumble that led to a Patriots' touchdown.
If you're looking for a second Patriots' Mount Rushmore from the 21st century, it could include Vinatieri, Edelman, Wilfork, and maybe James White. But not having Moss included by Bleacher Report seems kind of foolish.