Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick used to designate Fridays as goal line day. That’s when the team would run through a series of plays just outside of the end zone to prep for the upcoming game.

Red zone plays, especially down close, are vital to success or failure.

Legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia typically ran those sessions and this particular week in 2001, the Patriots were trying something new.

Starting linebacker Mike Vrabel was going to get some reps on the goal line as a tight end.

After weeks of watching Vrabel run routes for Drew Bledsoe before games, Belichick and then-offensive coordinator Charlie Weis decided to try the linebacker as a tight end during those in-tight, must-have goal-line situations.

Initially, the experiment didn’t go well. Tom Brady co

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