A year defined by bonding on the Patriots’ offensive line concludes with a collective first: the Super Bowl

This past offseason, the New England Patriots overhauled their offensive line. For the majority of this season four starters have turned over from last season, with depth additions as well.

At a position where chemistry is so important, the pieces came together quickly. The offensive linemen bonding on and off the field became a regular story around the Patriots this year starting with extra sessions after practice in OTAs, and highlighted by weekly dinners, Celtics games, and more. That off-field chemistry has translated on the field, as the line showed significant improvement from last year, with the four new starters joining right guard Mike Onwenu.

The rebuilt group features a wide range of experiences. Two of the new starters, Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury are over 30. Moses has spent over a decade in the NFL, and Bradbury is closer to that number than not.

Then there are the two rookies. First-round pick left tackle Will Campbell and third-round pick left guard Jared Wilson have held down the left side for the majority of the season (they missed a combined eight games, mostly late in the regular season), and now will be the first rookie duo to start on the same offensive line in a Super Bowl.

"It's rare to see rookies play that early on the offensive line because of technique and things. But I'm gonna tell you this - what they are and what they stand for, this offensive line, is the definition of who we want to be as an offensive line," Moses said, talking about the rookie linemen this week. "They're hard-working guys, they come in, they ask questions. Sometimes you find yourself as an older guy learning from them because of things they did in college that you didn't get to do 12, 13, 14 years ago."

With the gap in ages, a lot has been made this year about the relationship with the Patriots' older and younger linemen. Players on both sides have talked about the mentor-mentee-like relationship over the course of the season, but speaking ahead of the Super Bowl on Wednesday Moses charecterized it differently.

"It's been a great - I wouldn't call it mentorship - it's been a great relationship throughout the whole offensive line," Moses shared. "It's been amazing. To be able to come into this with the unknown, and build that belief and that character and that identity that we did starting in April, it's been amazing."

"It's unbelievable. It's been a really fun room," Bradbury said this week. "It was a bunch of guys that didn't know each other when we got together in April. And to build the culture and the identity of our specific room has been a lot of fun. I think the room's gotten really close. We have a lot of fun going to work together. Have a lot of fun joking with each other. We have a lot of fun off the field with each other. Just to have these two rookies on the left side has been, it's been pretty cool. Just to be a veteran presence, and they can lean on me whenever they need to."

However, after a year of the Patriots' veterans helping the younger players navigate their rookie seasons and a lot of NFL firsts, the group will now all experience a collective first together - a Super Bowl appearance. None of the Patriots' starters or offensive linemen have reached this point in the NFL calendar before, with Moses and Bradbury having gotten not further than the Conference Championship round at previous stops.

While the veterans don't have the first-hand experience at this stage, they've still had a message to the younger players leading up to the game as this group all goes for their first ring together.

"We're here, we all got one goal. We didn't fly six hours over here just to be here. We came to win the game, man. That's on all levels," Moses said. "I tell the guys, as an older guy that's been in the league 12 years, and my first appearance in the Super Bowl, it's proof - Stef [Diggs], first Super Bowl - we've got some older guys that haven't been here, and that this doesn't happen every day. This doesn't happen every season. The fact that those young guys get to cherish these moments as rookies and be here, it's a blessing for all of us."

As for the younger guys, the message has been received well.

"We're all just taking it in for the first time," Wilson said on Opening Night this week. "It's just taking it day-by-day, being happy for each other, with each other."

"It's really cool. And we talk about it," Campbell told 98.5 The Sports Hub this week. "Everyone tells me and Jared and - especially TreVeyon [Henderson] because he won the Natty last year and now he's in the Super Bowl - they tell us that we're spoiled, but in a joking way. As a young guy, when you have great veterans around you like Stefon Diggs, Morgan Moses, Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, who lost in the Super Bowl, you want to see those guys get one before it's all said and done. So to be able to be a part of that for them, it's been really cool."

"We want to get a ring on his resume, too," Bradbury responded when told about Campbell's comment. "We're all in this together. Some guys have done it a lot longer than others, but no one in our room has gotten that ring. So we all want to do it together."