When an NFL player decides to call it a career, they are immortalized by the numbers they leave behind.How many Super Bowls, Pro Bowls, sacks, interceptions, completions, rushing yards, receptions and touchdowns—all are used as mea...
When an NFL player decides to call it a career, they are immortalized by the numbers they leave behind.How many Super Bowls, Pro Bowls, sacks, interceptions, completions, rushing yards, receptions and touchdowns—all are used as measurements in determining one's legacy.But for many players, those measurements are irrelevant. They do not justify success on the football field. And they most certainly do not justify how valuable a player can be to their respective football team.Just look at New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork.Since the University of Miami product was taken in 21st overall in the 2004 NFL draft, he has started 128 of 138 regular season games Of the ten games he didn't start, he missed a total of just three.He has served as a team captain since 2008. He has been voted to five Pro Bowls and he has been part of one Super Bowl victory.In all, his resume is an impressive one. Yet when it comes to the most illustrious stats a defensive lineman can amass—tackles, sacks and forced fumbles—Wilfork often gets lost in the trenches.Over nine seasons in Foxborough, Mass., the 31-year-old has collected 326 tackles, 16 sacks and five forced fumbles.While those numbers stand on their own two legs, they are not particularly unique. Statistically speaking, the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Haloti Ngata, Tommy Kelly, Tommie Harris, Randy Starks, Geno Atkins, Corey Williams, Kyle Williams and Barry Cofield have all met or exceeded portions of Wilfork's production at defensive tackle since 2004.And based on Wilfork's role and skill set, he probably couldn't care less.No. 75 is an integral part of the Patriots defense, even if the stat sheet doesn't show it.A Deceiving AthleteIt takes a rare physical ability to carry the 325 pounds—on a good day—the way the 6'2" Wilfork does on a bad day. At a glance, he may look like a plodder in the thick of the defense. Yet in actuality, he's arguably the most light-footed natural nose tackle in the game.Change of direction is an underrated trait. Wilfork has it.This surprising quickness helps the one-time high school running back and returner disengage from blocks, knife through running lanes, stunt blitz, and even drop back into coverage in zone blitz situations.Last season, then-Patriots offensive guard Donald Thomas gave The Boston Globe's Shalise Manza Young a brief scouting report on Wilfork. Thomas said that Wilfork is "an extremely large human being." But, the 305-pound Thomas added, "he has great explosiveness."Mass plus speed equals force. Wilfork is a force. A Space Eater Against the RunChristopher B. Brown, Grantland.com contributor and author of The Essential Smart Football, once said that "a 1-gap player attacks gaps, a 2-gap player attacks people." Wilfork attacks people.He often lines right over the center or guard, which usually allows his fellow D-linemen to shoot gaps as he absorbs blocks.Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4 of last season, his prowess as a two-gapper was on display.With edge-rusher Rob Ninkovich flanking his outside shoulder, Wilfork lined up over left guard Andy Levitre as a 3-4 end facing Buffalo's "11" personnel.Following the snap, then-Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick pitched the ball to running back C.J. Spiller.At the same time, Wilfork was getting the jump on Levitre. By maintaining both leverage and leg drive over Levitre, he freed up fellow Patriots defenders to make a play on the ball.Wilfork beat Levitre, closed in on Spiller's off-tackle run, and ate enough space for defensive end Rob Ninkovich, linebacker Jerod Mayo and cornerback Kyle Arrington to finish the play off.No, he wasn't credited with any sort of statistic for his non-glamorous battle against Levitre. His type of hard work inside isn't often credited with any sort of statistic.Wilfork isn't typically part of a play's end result. Nonetheless, he is typically part of a play's beginning. A Disruptor Against the PassWilfork is not a pass-rusher; he's a p
