19 Patriots have reached the AFC Championship every year of their careers

Bob DeChiara | USA TODAY Sports

Advancing in the NFL playoffs is no easy feat. Reaching the AFC title game is even harder. Reaching a seventh straight AFC Championship is even more difficult than that.

But that’s exactly what the New England Patriots are doing.

And what’s even more incredible is that there are actually 19 players on the Patriots’ roster who have reached the AFC Championship Game every single year of their careers.

Ryan Allen, David Andrews, Brandon Bolden, Malcom Brown, Malcom Butler, Joe Cardona, Cameron Fleming, Trey Flowers, Geneo Grissom, Duron Harmon, Jonathan Jones, Ted Karras, Brandon King, Shaq Mason, Jordan Richards, Elandon Roberts, Nate Solder, Joe Thuney and James White have never experienced anything but making this far in the playoffs.

As if that weren’t enough. Here are a few other remarkable facts leading up to this year’s AFC Title Game between the Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

-Rob Gronkowski (58) needs just six catches to tie Dallas Clark (64) for the most postseason receptions by a tight end in NFL history.

-If New England wins, they will head to their 10th Super Bowl in franchise history. Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh are all next in line with eight.

-Robert Kraft currently sits in third among owners with his 29 playoff wins. The Rooney family and the community-owned Packers are ahead of him with 36 and 34 each. Kraft has done it in a much shorter time frame, however. He has accumulated these wins since 1994, while the Rooney family has done so since 1933 and the Packers since 1919.

-Bill Belichick is racking up the records, coaching in his 38th postseason game and coaching in his 12th conference championship game, for first all-time in each category.

-Tom Brady also adds to his record book – appearing in his 12th conference championship game and 36th career postseason game.

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