The team captain spoke about New England’s recent head coaching hire this week.
The introduction of new head coach Mike Vrabel was the biggest event in town on Monday, and one attended by multiple members of the New England Patriots organization. Among them was the team’s longest-tenured player, long snapper Joe Cardona.
For Cardona, who had a front-row seat next to center David Andrews, Vrabel will be the third head coach in as many years. Unlike the previous two — Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo — the team’s newest hire brings an element of the unknown, even though he spent eight years as a player in New England in the 2000s.
Cardona views that unfamiliarity and the hope that comes with it in a positive light.
“I’m excited to come in the building and get this back to what the fans deserve,” the team captain told reporters after Vrabel’s introductory presser.
“All you can ask for in this league is an opportunity. For my own personal situation and for my teammates it’s just that: an exciting opportunity.”
A three-time Super Bowl champion and member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, Vrabel expressed the same mindset during his first remarks since being named the 16th head coach in franchise history. How he will fulfill his goal of “galvanizing” the team and its fanbase remains to be seen, but Cardona is hopeful to be part of the process.
Nonetheless, the 32-year-old is not oblivious to the fact that he will first need to show Vrabel and his new-look coaching staff that he is deserving of a role.
“As a veteran player, the first thing I’ve got to do is make sure I earn the opportunity to do that,” he explained. “Ultimately, my goal is to earn the trust of my teammates and my coaches. Whether I’ve done that for 10 years or whether I’m freshly stepping in the building, that’s my ultimate goal.”
While Cardona may not have played with or under Vrabel yet, the 2015 fifth-round draft pick did cross paths with him on multiple occasions. While not all of those were positive — Vrabel’s Tennessee Titans bounced the Patriots from the 2019 playoffs — they did help set an expectation for what lies ahead and will be expected in the future.
“Those teams in Tennessee, they were all tough,” he said. “That stood out every time.”