For Patriots fans, David Andrews' retirement has air of finality to it

'One by one, our old friends are gone.'
— Johnny Ola, 'The Godfather Part II'
If the question ever comes up during Trivia Night at Winter Hill Brewing Company, Joe Cardona was the last active New England Patriot from the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era. But in announcing in an April 29 news release that Cardona had been released, the Pats left out the important stuff, the stuff worth remembering.
Advertisement
Such as Cardona's being the last remaining Patriot with a team-issued Super Bowl ring or two locked away in the family jewelry box.
Or that Cardona was the last Patriot with license to begin a story with, 'So one day Tom Brady and I walked into a bar, see, and …'
Yet that's exactly how it felt Monday when the Patriots held a news conference to announce the retirement of center David Andrews, though he was released from the Patriots on March 13, some six weeks before Cardona was cut loose. It's just that it would have been a tad awkward for the Patriots to hold a news conference that March morning. For one thing, Andrews was still an active player, free to sign with another team. You don't want to hold a party for a player you've just released and then wake up the next morning to find out he signed with the New York Jets.
Besides, talk about bad timing! It so happened that March 13, the Patriots held a news conference to unveil four free-agent additions: defensive tackle Milton Williams, cornerback Carlton Davis III, offensive lineman Morgan Moses and linebacker Robert Spillane. It was a day of out with the old and in with the new at Gillette Stadium, except that only the new got a news conference.
But, yes, Andrews has decided to retire. There will be no triumphant return to Gillette Stadium this season in a rival uniform. Brady returned as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Adam Vinatieri as an Indianapolis Colt, Willie McGinest as a Cleveland Brown, and so on. The next time Andrews returns to Gillette Stadium for a Pats game, it'll either be an outing with the family or in some public appearance capacity. The smart money has him clanging the bell in Robert Kraft's beloved end zone lighthouse in the run-up to New England's Sept. 7 season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Before reading the next sentence, please note that no disrespect is intended for Cardona and other holdover Patriots from the Super Bowl days who have moved on since the new coaching staff moved in, including cornerback Jonathan Jones, defensive end Deatrich Wise and linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley. But the Andrews news conference serves as a reminder, as if any Patriots fan needed one, how much has changed down Foxboro way.
Consider that the Andrews news conference included video tributes from teammates from the good old days, including Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Matthew Slater and, of course, ol' No. 12. It must have been impossible for any Pats fan to watch coverage of the news conference and not daydream.
One mean blocking machine.
For a decade, David Andrews defined what it meant to be a Patriot 👏 pic.twitter.com/G2qMbHMynG
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) June 3, 2025
Andrews was as solid a player as any team could hope for, even more so considering he was signed as a rookie free agent May 8, 2015, six days after the draft. I always like to look back on when a player signed with a team to measure how much, if any, media hoo-ha was attached to the news. With Andrews there was nothing. Just various 'Transactions' mentions that the Patriots had signed seven rookie free agents, including this David Andrews kid from Georgia, plus receiver Chris Harper of Vanderbilt, cornerback Eric Patterson of Ball State, defensive back Jimmy Jean of Alabama-Birmingham, and so on.
Advertisement
Next thing you know, it's Week 1 and Andrews is the starting center because Bryan Stork was dealing with a concussion and neck injury. As the season rolled along, with the Pats off to a 7-0 start, the Andrews hoo-ha began — that is, as much hoo-ha as can be bestowed on a player who was an unknown during training camp. Such as this Nov. 3 Associated Press dispatch: 'David Andrews, the center who has played every snap of the 7-0 start, is an undrafted rookie free agent who carries his load like a veteran.'
And here we are, a decade later. Monday's news conference was about a retirement, sure, but it was also about preparing Andrews for his new role as a distinguished member of the New England Patriots Super Bowl Ring Club. These things matter with the Patriots, whose annual media guide used to include images of miniature Lombardi trophies with each player's bio to indicate how many Super Bowl-winning teams he's played on. It was two of them for Andrews — Super Bowl LI (the 28-3 game) and Super Bowl LIII.
.@dandrews61 announces his retirement from the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/Ly3oo1p1vL
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 2, 2025
That's why the Andrews presser had a sense of finality to it, not just for one player's career but for one team's two decades of dominance. It was like a high school reunion, and you know what happens at those things: Somebody brings along an old yearbook, which gets passed around while good times are being remembered and re-celebrated.
The yearbook then gets returned to the dusty bookshelf from whence it came. And everyone goes home.
Insofar as his playing career is concerned, David Andrews has gone home. As have Joe Cordona. Jonathan Jones, Deatrich Wise, Ja'Whaun Bentley …
This year, for the first time since 2001, the Patriots media guide will have no miniature Lombardi trophies next to the players' names.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Buzz Feed

2 hours ago

• Buzz Feed

Millennials Are Sharing The Biggest Lies We've Been Told As A Generation

Millennials were raised on promises of flying cars, stable careers after college, and the dream of owning a home. But here 2025, none of that feels remotely true. We're drowning in student debt, hustling through a gig-based economy, and watching Gen Z ironically recycle our baggy jeans, along with the rest of the early 2000s trends we wore unironically. While deep-diving through r/Millennials, I came across a post asking millennials to share the biggest lies they were told growing up. From participation trophies to the myth that turning on your car's cabin light at night is illegal, these responses pull back the curtain on just how many tall tales shaped our generation. "That millennials created participation trophies. I was 7 in 1988 when my summer baseball team placed second-to-last in league play, and every player was literally awarded a trophy. I PROMISE you, at the age of 7, I did not have the resources to order trophies for myself and all my teammates." "The food pyramid and the idea that different areas of the tongue taste different flavors." –u/Square-Hedgehog-6714 "Take out student loans to pay for your degree, and you'll definitely get a job making enough to pay off the loans." "You will write all your papers in college in cursive. Lmao." –u/Briebird44 "If you're a good driver and don't have any claims, your insurance rates will decrease over time." "That our future was going to be so much better than our parents'. We were all going to be high paid white collar workers, and the economy was going to keep growing fast enough to make that a possibility for everyone. Lol, instead our life expectancy is going down while retirement age keeps going up and the economy isn't even keeping up with inflation." "Quicksand is a common thing and knowing how to escape it will likely save your life one day." –u/akronguy84 "Discussing your salary with coworkers is wrong." "Don't talk to strangers on the internet. Don't get in a stranger's car. Today, I use the internet to hail an Uber so I can get into a stranger's car. But really though, stranger danger was really overblown when we were kids and has made society more insular and crappy." –u/clothespinkingpin "'Hard work will bring success.' Total bullsh*t. This is literally what you tell exploited workers. They told our parents, and our parents told us, believing them." "That the United States was built on a system of checks and balances and that the President is not a king." –u/Liquid_1998 "'You'll become more conservative when you're older.' That's bullshit." "The Philadelphia Eagles will never win a Super Bowl." –u/Kindly-Leather-688 "Be loyal to your job and they will stand behind you 100%. Cue the Great Recession early in my career…luckily, it showed me early on that loyalty to a company is BS. I'm loyal while there, but if I get an uneasy feeling at some point, I'm looking out for myself." "'Cellphones and the internet are rotting your brain. We don't allow phones in this classroom.' Fast forward to 2025, when you need a cellphone to order at a restaurant, and the internet to basically make money. Without either, you basically don't exist, but back in the day, you weren't allowed more than 30 minutes on a cellphone, if even." –u/Legal-Baseball9203 "Turning on the car cabin light while driving at night is illegal." –u/poison-rationality "Video games will get you nowhere in life. Now I see teenagers and 20-somethings making six figures or more streaming online. It's wild how you can never really know the future (but act like you do)." –u/sstubbl1 "That you couldn't eat a vegetable or fruit seed because a plant will grow inside of you (curious to know if this was something in other countries, too)." –u/Admirable_Green_1958 What do you think has been the biggest lie told to millennials as a generation? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Yahoo

2 hours ago

• Yahoo

WNBA Issues Statement on Paige Bueckers After Wings' Second Straight Win

WNBA Issues Statement on Paige Bueckers After Wings' Second Straight Win originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Paige Bueckers marked her return to Connecticut with a big win on Friday night. This came in the form of an 86-83 victory for the Dallas Wings, who secured their second straight win by defeating the Connecticut Sun. Advertisement Dallas' victory was thanks in large part to another strong performance from Bueckers. The former UConn star dropped a team-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, to go along with two rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one triple in 37 minutes of action. After the game, the WNBA took to social media to share its reaction to Bueckers' big night. "Paige Bueckers loves playing in Connecticut 🔥21 points in her first visit, now 21 PTS, 7 AST, 2 STL in her second win there... leading the Wings to their first win streak of the season!" the league posted on Instagram. View the original article to see embedded media. Dallas needed every bit of Bueckers' strong play in this one. Connecticut had no intention of going down on its own home floor without a fight, and they pushed the Wings all the way to the end. Advertisement Bueckers and Co. stood strong as they were able to successfully hold off the Sun to mark their first back-to-back win streak this season. Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) drives the ball against Connecticut Sun.© David Butler II-Imagn Images The 3-11 Wings still have a long way to go, but the takeaway from Friday night is that they were able to overtake the Sun in the standings. It's Connecticut that now owns the worst record in the WNBA at 2-11. Bueckers will be back on the court on Sunday in another road game, this time taking on the 5-8 Washington Mystics at CareFirst Arena. Related: Caitlin Clark's Facial Reaction to Big Game Against Paige Bueckers, Wings Says a Lot Related: Paige Bueckers, Cameron Brink Turn Heads With Pregame Exchange on Friday Related: WNBA Star Did Not Like What Paige Bueckers Told Her After Wings' Fourth Straight Loss This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.

Yahoo

4 hours ago

• Yahoo

Keegan Bradley stuns Tommy Fleetwood to capture second Travelers win

The post Keegan Bradley stuns Tommy Fleetwood to capture second Travelers win appeared first on ClutchPoints. Keegan Bradley has won the Travelers Championship for the second time in his career, stunning Tommy Fleetwood. Just two years ago, the New England-born Bradley fired up the Connecticut crowd. On Sunday, the 2025 Ryder Cup captain did it again with a stunning win on the 72nd hole. Fleetwood roared to a three-stroke lead after a seven-under 63 on Saturday. But Fleetwood wobbled early in the final round, allowing Bradley and many other players to re-enter the competition. Bradley was far from perfect on Sunday, but was just one shot down entering the final hole. Advertisement Fleetwood and Bradley both found the fairway, and the Englishman went first. He changed his club before the shot, a classic sign of overthinking, and pushed it left. Bradley stepped up and hit the shot of the tournament, sticking his approach less than six feet from the pin. Fleetwood three-putted the 18th green, while Bradley jarred his birdie try for the win. Fleetwood remains winless in his PGA Tour career, finishing second in his 159th start on the Tour. He does have eight international wins, but has not solved North American soil yet. This is, however, a great bounce back from last week, when he missed the cut at the U.S Open. Bradley bogeyed the par-four 14th while Fleetwood made a par. That re-opened a three-shot difference between the two, which is how the day started. But two sloppy bogeys from Fleetwood paired with two great birdies from Bradley made the difference. Advertisement Both Fleetwood and Bradley will be main characters at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. Bradley is the United States captain and could be the first playing captain since 1963. Fleetwood has been a European mainstay and is having a solid season despite this heartbreaking loss. Vermont's Keegan Bradley has won the Travelers Championship in Connecticut for the second time. Related: Stunning Tommy Fleetwood stat makes Travelers loss even worse Related: Tommy Fleetwood gets 100% real about being on verge of first PGA Tour win