Kevin Faulk was named a Patriots’ captain for the first time. Coach Bill Belichick says of him: “He’s very unselfish.”

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots announced their seven team captains yesterday.

They are Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Larry Izzo, Mike Vrabel, Junior Seau, Kevin Faulk, and Ty Warren.

Ever wonder how the New England Patriots pick their team captains?

“It’s not a popularity vote,” coach Bill Belichick said.

Then the most talented players are chosen, right?

“It’s not a Most Valuable Player vote,” Belichick said.

“Just because you have a resumÉ doesn’t automatically clear you to be a captain,” said Seau, an 18-year NFL veteran. “You have to earn it. It’s not something that you can buy into. It’s not something where you can come up here and show how many Pro Bowls you have.”

“The main thing is that they represent the other players in one way or another,” Belichick said. “They represent the players to the coaches and they represent the organization and how they want to look at it. I think they also represent the coaches to the players …Although I communicate to the team as a group, a lot of times my communication comes through the captains… .”

The players in the Patriots’ locker room vote on who they think are best suited to lead the team.

“It’s something that you go out there and you work every day and players, if they see something that’s consistent and that’s positive, obviously they are going to embrace it,” Seau said.

“I think what you expect of a captain is for him to keep doing what he’s been doing, what got him there,” Faulk said. “The hard work, the dedication to his teammates, to his team, to his coaches, everything.”

“…It’s a vote about who you want to represent the remainder of the team in situations where only a few players can be there,” Belichick said. “…It’s not about talent or an MVP vote, it’s all about respect and leadership and I think we are fortunate on this team that we have a lot of players that fall into that category.”

Izzo, a special teams ace, will serve as captain for the seventh consecutive season. He has been selected team captain each year since joining the Patriots in 2001. The three-time Pro Bowler has led the Patriots in special teams tackles or tied for the lead five times in six seasons in New England and has totaled 144 special teams tackles in his Patriots career.

“It’s a big responsibility and I’m really looking forward to doing what I have to do in that role,” Izzo said. “We have a great group like we’ve always had.”

This is Brady’s sixth consecutive season as a captain. The two-time Super Bowl MVP enters the season with a career 82-26 record (.759) as a starting quarterback, which is the best record of any NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with at least 40 starts.

Bruschi has also been a captain for six straight years. He led the team in tackles last year with 124 and his total of 461 stops since 2003 mark the highest total on the team in the last four seasons. Bruschi has totaled 28.5 sacks in his 11 seasons in New England and the Patriots are 23-2 in the 25 regular-season games in which Bruschi has recorded at least one sack.

Vrabel will serve as captain for a third straight year. He finished third on the team with 101 tackles last year.

Seau, Faulk, and Warren are serving as captains for the first time.

“It’s a great honor,” said Seau, who wasn’t sure if he would even be playing for the Patriots this season after his season was shortened last year when he broke his right arm. “It’s one of the greatest honors that you could ever have as a player so I’m definitely humbled and honored by it. I definitely look at it as one of the best things that has happened to me in 18 years [in the NFL].”

“It means a whole lot, it doesn’t matter what team you are on,” Faulk said about his selection as captain, his first captain duties since he was a captain of the Carencro High School team (Lafayette, La.) in 1994. “If you are named a captain that means that you are voted on by your peers, the players that you play with each and every day, and it lets you know how they feel about you as a person as well as a player.”

Seau was a team captain for more than a decade with the San Diego Chargers but he said that being a Patriots captain is better.

“It’s even more special now because I was injured last year and coming into my 18th year, you want to cling on to anything that they want to give to you,” Seau said. “I’m definitely going to remember this.”

With Troy Brown on the PUP list and not able to play for the first six weeks, Faulk has symbolically stepped into Brown’s role as captain though Brown has done an excellent job mentoring the young receivers that the Patriots picked up in the offseason.

“I hadn’t thought about it like that; I have so much respect for Troy. When I was a rookie, he was the guy I looked up to, just trying to emulate him,” Faulk said.

“I think that Kevin is one of the most respected players on the team,” Belichick said. “He’s got a great attitude. He’s very unselfish. He works hard with the younger and more inexperienced players, not just running backs but other players as well. He’s always there to lend a hand.”

Warren finished second on the team in tackles with 117 last season.

All of New England’s captains are honored to be chosen as a captain.

“Whenever you’re elected captain, voted by the players in your locker room, it definitely is one of the greatest honors that you can ever have,” Seau said.

roblee@projo.com