For many adults who grew up with the age of the internet, AOL Instant Messenger -- or AIM -- was a staple for time after school. You'd throw your backpack down, use the dial up to clog the phone line and update your newest away message to fit your mood.
Those days, however, are in the past, and while it's probably been years since you've logged in to check on your old buddy list, AIM is officially closing down on Dec. 15.
After some digging, prying and begging, we got our hands on a few of the players' old (and awesome) screen names. It's been quite some time since the guys were crafting profiles and IMing SmarterChild, so these are their screen names as they can best remember.
Back in the day, you could find Devin McCourty IMing all day from "datruth2468" or Duron Harmon with "crballer124." You could find Matthew Slater at "slaytrey18" and Ted Karras at "tkguttygut." Meanwhile, Ryan Allen was logging on as "westsideballer04."
According to ESPN, "Chickmagnet4lyfe" belonged to, you guessed it, Gronk.
Not every Patriot was on AIM or could remember their old screen names, so the Lifestyle team got creative, making the ultimate Patriots buddy list. Inspiration came from current Twitter handles, hobbies, nicknames and more. Add numbers instead of vowels, and voila! Just like that, you've been transported back to 2002.
Check out the faux buddy list below.
Tom Brady – gOldenst8gOldenarm
Dont'a Hightower – HeReCoMeS Da b00m
Brandin Cooks – cookiemonstaAaAah
Danny Amendola – doladolabillz
Julian Edelman – squirrelzb4gurlz
James White – SW33TxF33T
Chris Hogan – chil laxin 711
Rob Gronkowski – sPiKeDoCtOrrrrr
Rex Burkhead – TDxREX
Dion Lewis – gryffindorseekeralways
Malcolm Mitchell – m0n3y m1tch
David Andrews – bear6060*
*Inspired by his Instagram handle of the same name
Goodbye, sweet AIM.
[door closing sound]
