---

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Ellis Hobbs tried the best he could to remain humble as reporters peppered him with questions after Sunday's 38-14 victory by his Patriots over the Jets at Giants Stadium.

But as a fellow named Bill Parcells once said, "Confidence is demonstrated ability," and there had been no better demonstration of Hobbs' ability as a kick returner than on the first play of the second half.

"My main thought was not to let my teammates down and to just keep moving forward," Hobbs said of his initially questionable decision to run the opening kickoff out of the end zone from 8 yards deep. "I tell those guys all the time, even in practice, 'I'm bringing it out.'"

That he did - and after a move here, a sidestep there and a near-miraculous shedding of Jets' linebacker David Bowens near the Patriots' 20, the speedy cornerback sprinted into an expanse of wide-open FieldTurf, and he wasn't about to be caught.

The resulting 108-yard kickoff return (for a 21-7 lead for the Patriots after just 14 seconds of the half) vaulted Hobbs into the midst of some elite company in the NFL's record book. Aside from the fact that it was the longest return ever for a Patriot, Hobbs' sprint was the longest kickoff return in league history. It outdistanced by two yards the previous records of Green Bay's Al Carmichael (vs. Chicago on Oct. 7, 1956), Kansas City's Noland Smith (vs. Denver on Dec. 17, 1967) and the St. Louis Cardinals' Roy Green (vs. Dallas, Oct. 21, 1979).

The run also tied two returned unsuccessful field goals for the longest return of any sort for a score in league history, by Chicago's Nathan Vasher against Kansas City on Nov. 13, 2005, and Chicago's Devin Hester against the Giants on Nov. 12, 2006.

"I didn't know that at first, but after I came off, they told me," Hobbs said. "Records are made to be broken the most important part was that everyone continued to play the game. No one looked back, they kept blocking."

That didn't mean his teammates weren't thinking a little bit about what might have been running through Hobbs' mind when he decided to skip the touchback.

"Never," said wide receiver and fellow return specialist Wes Welker when asked if he had ever attempted to take a kickoff out from 8 yards deep. "It's one of those things where you're first (saying), 'no, no, no!' Then it's, 'yeah, yeah, yeah!' Ellis made a great play and guys did a great job of blocking. It seemed like there were guys who were close to making the tackle, but Ellis just burst through there and made a great play for us."

Hobbs said that when given the opportunity to return kicks, he wants to approach the job aggressively.

"You don't make plays on the sideline," he said. "I never wanted to have a what-if factor I understood the danger of taking it out that deep. One false step and I could have been a zero.

"But I ended up being the hero," he said. "I wanted to bring those 10 other guys with me."

There was a moment, after Bowens was shed, that Hobbs knew he was in the clear. That also afforded him the rare privilege of having a look in a rear-view mirror of sorts, as he could see himself breaking free by looking at the giant video scoreboard above the end zone for which he was heading.

"I'm not going to lie," he said. "I looked up at the screen at the 20. When you're out of danger and you have some blockers behind you, it's just like a quarterback when he knows he's not feeling pressure, it was the same thing for me." Hobbs didn't make it back to the field on defense for the next series, but not because his 14-second sprint winded him.

"I needed to get my composure, to humble myself," he said. "After a great play, if you go out cocky, the Jets would have been able to see that and come at me."