Unbelievable. An article on Houston Antwine

[RayClay]

DL Houston Antwine on short list

“This is such a great honor. I had hoped when I was playing that I was playing that caliber of ball, and to honor me in that way is absolutely special,” Antwine said when reached at his Memphis home earlier this week. “You know, for a long time I thought a lot of that stuff was basically politics. It might still be, but I guess now it’s looking my way.”

While all three candidates are far removed from today’s voters, Antwine is appreciative of those who still remember him.

“I know I still have some fans and supporters in Boston that were really behind me,” he said. “I can’t help but think they’re still there. All I can say is thank you. I really do appreciate it.”

All AFL 1st team in Pro football Hall of Fame
Nick Buoniconti, Houston Antwine.

Not included - Babe Parilli, Gino Cappelletti, Jim Nance, Jon Morris, Bob Dee, Jim Lee Hunt (all AFL players in Patriots Hall).

DL Houston Antwine on short list - BostonHerald.com

 

[DarrylS]

From my nom de plume here do not believe that they have never given a lot of guys enough press or honor, aside from Antwine.. some of the neglected guys are Julius Adams who may have gotten a lot more press if he was on better teams and my fave Darryl Stingley.. somehow on player a year does not seem like enough, and they should change it into an old timer + a coach/adm + a newer player.. when the classes of 2000 hit eligibility a lot of these old timers will be forgotten about.

 

[RayClay]

From my nom de plume here do not believe that they have never given a lot of guys enough press or honor, aside from Antwine.. some of the neglected guys are Julius Adams who may have gotten a lot more press if he was on better teams and my fave Darryl Stingley.. somehow on player a year does not seem like enough, and they should change it into an old timer + a coach/adm + a newer player.. when the classes of 2000 hit eligibility a lot of these old timers will be forgotten about.

Someone mentioned inducting all three this year and i think that's a good solution. I'd be surprised if they don't have a special plaque for Stingley. I hope they did something to honor him while he was alive.

There might be more, but I think Julius Adams and Ray Clayborn should get in from those great teams before any new players do.

 

[DarrylS]

Someone mentioned inducting all three this year and i think that's a good solution. I'd be surprised if they don't have a special plaque for Stingley. I hope they did something to honor him while he was alive.

There might be more, but I think Julius Adams and Ray Clayborn should get in from those great teams before any new players do.

Do not recollect them ever doing a lot for Stingley, knew he was out there for a few coin tosses.. but often thought the effort paled in comparison to what he gave for the franchise.. when I went to the HOF do not remember much about him.. do not recollect much about Antwine or Adams either..

 

[RayClay]

Do not recollect them ever doing a lot for Stingley, knew he was out there for a few coin tosses.. but often thought the effort paled in comparison to what he gave for the franchise.. when I went to the HOF do not remember much about him.. do not recollect much about Antwine or Adams either..

Says in his WIKI he served as Executive director of Player Personnel, so maybe Kraft did the most for him, giving him a productive occupation and money.

I may fight the Billy Sulllivan haters, but Bob Kraft is a very great and generous human being.

 

[DarrylS]

Says in his WIKI he served as Executive director of Player Personnel, so maybe Kraft did the most for him, giving him a productive occupation and money.

I may fight the Billy Sulllivan haters, but Bob Kraft is a very great and generous human being.

Know he was involved in this organization, and he had some really bad times with his son.. but never saw any remembrance at Gillette or the HOF.. it is an oversight that need correction..

Can never say enough about Mr. Kraft and what a great man he is.. we are lucky to have reaped the benefits of this business decision.

 

[Pats726]

I do agree...all three should be in and certainly an old timer + a newer player...a year BETTER than this. Having seen Stingley play a lot, he's one of my faves and I really hope he will someday be in that HOF. It's scary, but it's like yesterday when I think of what happened in Oakland...so many years ago...I know the team at the time did a lot for him...as it was Billy Sullivan who owned the team. Really not sure why more wasn't done later. I really would love seeing a lot of the older players in..for as DS said, once the 2000 players come around....all before will REALLY go into the background. THAT is so sad, for the franchise has always had some outstanding players...and a few strong teams ..it seems one year in each of those decades a really outstanding one.

 

[godef]

From my nom de plume here do not believe that they have never given a lot of guys enough press or honor, aside from Antwine.. some of the neglected guys are Julius Adams who may have gotten a lot more press if he was on better teams and my fave Darryl Stingley.. somehow on player a year does not seem like enough, and they should change it into an old timer + a coach/adm + a newer player.. when the classes of 2000 hit eligibility a lot of these old timers will be forgotten about.

I don't believe Darryl Stingley was ever an AFLer, he came after the merger.

 

[DarrylS]

I don't believe Darryl Stingley was ever an AFLer, he came after the merger.

He did, but we were generally speaking about guys we would like to see honored in a special way..

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Someone mentioned inducting all three this year and i think that's a good solution.

I'm amazed at how long it takes for a player to even get nominated then have to wait sometimes years after that before they're finally voted in. I'm sure there's a good reason etc but things do seem to get backed up.

I agree with inducting all 3 this year too, and congrats on your boy getting his own article btw :rocker:

I guess one good thing about waiting so long is that those guys get some press after years without much; it's a nice reminder about the old teams and how great those guys really were .

 

[Leave No Doubt]

never saw any remembrance at Gillette or the HOF.. it is an oversight that need correction.

Come to think of it neither have I:confused3: That doesn't seem right at all; there should be a place that honors or at least acknowledges players like Darryl and Marquis. Different situations but still.

Just out of curiosity do the Celts have anything going on for Len Bias? Different circumstances of course but he just seems to get mentioned in relation to the Celts fairly often.

 

[DarrylS]

Come to think of it neither have I:confused3: That doesn't seem right at all; there should be a place that honors or at least acknowledges players like Darryl and Marquis. Different situations but still.

Just out of curiosity do the Celts have anything going on for Len Bias? Different circumstances of course but he just seems to get mentioned in relation to the Celts fairly often.

Not sure Bias ever even stepped onto the parquet, so that may negate his eligibility...

 

[Dragda]

Do not recollect them ever doing a lot for Stingley, knew he was out there for a few coin tosses.. but often thought the effort paled in comparison to what he gave for the franchise.. when I went to the HOF do not remember much about him.. do not recollect much about Antwine or Adams either..

I've never made the trip to the hall. Is it a must for hardcore football fans?

 

[DarrylS]

I've never made the trip to the hall. Is it a must for hardcore football fans?

It should be on the short list for any Pats Fan, plan on about an hour or two..

 

[Kasmir]

Hard to believe that Antwine and Nance aren't already on the team. I had the privilege of seeing both of them play (and Jon Morris for that matter).

Nance was far and away the best back in Patriot's history. His career was short but extraordinary.

That Jim Lee Hunt is on the team already and Antwine isn't is an extraordinary injustice, and no doubt what Antwine is calling "politics". They were linemates, and Antwine was far the better lineman. I always wondered what Antwine did to p*ss off whom to not be on the team. Antwine's likely the best DL in team history. In any case he's already all-time AFL which ought to be enough.

I agree that both Antwine and Nance should be inducted. It's harder to make the case for Morris, as I think Brock, and Lenkaitis (maybe even Koppen) were just as good if not better. But it might be easiest to just induct all three. But it would be continuing a travesty to leave off either Antwine or Nance.

 

[RayClay]

I'm amazed at how long it takes for a player to even get nominated then have to wait sometimes years after that before they're finally voted in. I'm sure there's a good reason etc but things do seem to get backed up.

I agree with inducting all 3 this year too, and congrats on your boy getting his own article btw :rocker:

I guess one good thing about waiting so long is that those guys get some press after years without much; it's a nice reminder about the old teams and how great those guys really were .

They inducted a bunch at once in the 90's (I think) then didn't do anything until recent years. The shaky business history of the team made the process less than consistent.

It is nice that we're remembering and talking about them on the 50th, so I guess it worked out for the best.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Someone mentioned inducting all three this year and i think that's a good solution.

i am with you: let's hope so

when i read this article i thought about you

 

[TrueBeliever]

I may fight the Billy Sulllivan haters, but Bob Kraft is a very great and generous human being.

From what I understand, Sullivan gets a lot of credit for founding the club and keeping it going when the previous ones either left (the Redskins) or went bankrupt (the Yanks); but he was a cheapskate when it came to players' salaries which kept the team from getting decent talent for a long time, and also kept them from securing a good stadium home. I even read that after the merger, Rozelle told Sullivan if he didn't get a decent stadium pretty soon the league would move the club to a city that would.

 

[RayClay]

i am with you: let's hope so

when i read this article i thought about you

Hey Pat. 50th Anniversary season. I'm loving all this nostalgia. The Patriots have (almost) always been fun to root for, even if sometimes for the wrong reasons.

 

[RayClay]

From what I understand, Sullivan gets a lot of credit for founding the club and keeping it going when the previous ones either left (the Redskins) or went bankrupt (the Yanks); but he was a cheapskate when it came to players' salaries which kept the team from getting decent talent for a long time, and also kept them from securing a good stadium home. I even read that after the merger, Rozelle told Sullivan if he didn't get a decent stadium pretty soon the league would move the club to a city that would.

Well, let me straighten that out. The AFL was an expansion league the 8th franchise was supposed to go to Philadelphia. Sullivan scooped it up at the last minute, despite the fact no one wanted to even try to get a stadium done here.

[World League, XFL there are no guarantees with these things]

Nobody in the NFL or AFL wanted to give us a team because of the Stadium issue.

Sullivan was not a cheapskate. There was never any money to begin with. There was no stadium.

Nevertheless, he and Holovak put together a team good enough to go to the championship game by 1963, though they got slaughtered.

Look at the late 70's early 80's teams. Fairbanks situation was bad, but that was a great team in coaching and personnel.

The 1985-86 team had a top five payroll I believe, definitely one of the highest in the NFL.

In 1959 and even fairly recently, there weren't tons of millionaire's and billionaire's with enough free time to invest in sports teams, regardless of profit. There were a few, like oil tycoon Hunt for KC, but a lot were sports guys and syndicates. Sullivan put together a group and did the leg work.

He was a sports guy from BC. He also owned an oil company. Not oils wells, I'm sure he probably went up to your house and plugged the hose in on occasion. It was a different world back then, believe me.

No one wanted this team, no one wanted, or could afford to build a stadium, no one believed they could get political cooperation or funding for one.

The alternative was no team.

He tried to get some stadiums done and when the league threatened to leave us without a permanent home, he worked with people to put that tin can up in Foxboro, to keep a team in the area a few more years.

Did he make some bad business decisions to try to keep it afloat? Oh yeah.

Could he have sold out for a good profit in later years? Sure.

But he wouldn't. Maybe that was a fault, but he loved football and the team and he plowed whatever he had back into it, I don't think there's anyone who thinks he made a bundle.

Sure he never had much of an original investment, but i think investing the better part of you life is worth something.