Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them. Welcome to the third edition of the Patriots Kick-Off series. There are 97 days until the New England Patriots face-off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, so we are going to profile the owner of the No. 97 jersey, defensive tackle Alan Branch.
In case you missed them, here is the Patriots Kick-Off profile for No. 98 Antonio Johnson, and here is the one for No. 99 Dominique Easley.
Drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals, Branch played for two other teams (Seattle and Buffalo) before earning a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots in 2014.