Finally ... A 'Decade' list that waited for the '00s to wrap up.

Props to USA Today for giving itself time to take it all in, and then make decisions on who it was going to give its Plaudits of the Aughts to.

And when it came to the NFL, the 'Who' repeatedly involved the Patriots, who were most prominently named Franchise of the Decade. The national newspaper's 12-man panel gave New England a near unanimous win, with 11 voting for the Patriots and lone dissenter going for the Colts based on the 'Spygate' case of 2007.

Speaking with USA Today's Tom Pedulla, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said, "At the risk of sounding immodest, I believe we are the team of the decade."

And that wasn't all. The paper also took the interesting tack of naming the best at each position this decade. New England had the best ...

Coach: Bill Belichick

Quarterback: Tom Brady

Kicker/Punter: Adam Vinatieri

Also taking home honors there were Derrick Brooks (OLB), Ed Reed (S), Ray Lewis (ILB), Champ Bailey (CB), Jonathan Ogden (OT), Alan Faneca (interior OL), Jason Taylor (DE), Warren Sapp (DT), Devin Hester (KR/PR), Tony Gonzalez (TE), LaDainian Tomlinson (RB) and Terrell Owens (WR).

Nice package put together by USA Today, and worth taking some time to go through.