The Patriots announced Friday that Tom Brady, Kevin Faulk, Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo have been named four captains for the 2010 season. Coach Bill Belichick announced that the quartet was “a great selection by the team.”

“Those four guys have all been in that role before,” Belichick said. “[They] have done all the things that, I would say, if I were voting for captains, those four guys have done all the things you’d want your captains to do for this particular season, which is really what everything is based on.

“We have a lot of other good leadership on the team, I think there’s a lot of other players that have significant leadership roles on the team, whether they’re captains or not, that really doesn’t have anything to do with the player’s leadership.

“There are a lot of other guys that could have been captains that are good leaders for the team, but these four will do a great job. They were selected by the team and that’s a good selection.”

In years past, however, all the captains haven’t always selected by the team. Multiple former Patriots have said that while voting does go on and worthy candidates are selected, in the end, the choice still lies with Belichick and the coaching staff, and they have occasionally added someone who wasn’t necessarily elected by the will of the locker room.

According to players, it’s a common practice that other coaches around the league have used, but it still leaves some people in the locker room scratching their heads about the voting process.

“It’s close to a democracy, but it should have an asterisk by it,” said one former player of the process of choosing captains. “Fortunately, every guy who has been chosen has been a great representative of the players and the team.”

For what it’s worth, here’s a look at the Patriots’ captains the last five seasons:

2005 and 2006 captains (seven players): quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Troy Brown, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Larry Izzo (special teams), defensive lineman Richard Seymour and linebacker Mike Vrabel.

2007 captains (seven players): quarterback Tom Brady, running back Kevin Faulk, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, linebacker Junior Seau, linebacker Mike Vrabel, defensive lineman Ty Warren and linebacker Larry Izzo (special teams).

2008 captains (eight players): quarterback Tom Brady, offensive tackle Matt Light, wide receiver Randy Moss, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Mike Vrabel, defensive lineman Vince Wilfork and linebacker Larry Izzo (special teams).

2009 captains (five players): quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Randy Moss, defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, linebacker Jerod Mayo and wide receiver Sam Aiken (special teams).