Another article worth reading on a Sunday without football....that matters

[patfanken]

Week 16 Snap Judgments

I popped over to Patriots.com to see if the locker room feature was up yet, and happend to read this article by Don Banks. He as been recently hired by Fred Kirsch to do a column for the site. I don't know what Bank's position was on deflategate, but I know some fans were pissed Kirsch hired him, because I heard him defending the hire to his listeners onf PFW in Progress. At any rate I though it was a first rate article and worth reading if only for the first observation.

A Pats fans we have been long since spoiled beyond any redemption over the last 16 years, but the reality for most fans is that success in the NFL is usually very fleeting, and Banks first observation points this out all too well.

The Falcons CRUSHED the Panthers yesterday in a game that clinched the NFCS as well as a possible #2 seed, while Panthers saw theiir record drop to a Jet-like 6-9. The irony is that the game was exactly one year from a complete reversal of fortunes. On that day the Panthers beat Atlanta 34-0 (their 6th straight loss) while the Panthers improved to 13-0, on their way to a Superbowl appearence, and, what looked like, long term dominance in the NFCS.

How quickly things change......for most franchises. And how lucky we are.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

RIDICULOUSLY COOL FOOTBALL CARD OF THE WEEK

Patriots fans love them some LeGarrett Blount this season, and with good reason, as the Blount Force-led New England ground game has come to the fore in 2016 as a reliable and productive part of the winning formula in Foxborough. Blount now has 1,110 yards and 17 touchdowns. But 50 years ago, the Patriots had themselves another big, powerful lead running back in Jim Nance, who rumbled for a career-best 1,458 yards that season on a whopping 299 carries, with 11 touchdowns and 4.9 average carry, earning the AFL’s MVP honor. Like the 6-0, 250-pound Blount, the 6-1, 245-pound Nance could both move the pile and flash some deceptive speed once he found open space.


Here is Nance’s 1972 Topps, his last card with the Patriots. He led the AFL in rushing in both 1966 and ’67, but when New England tried to trade him to Philadelphia in 1972, he retired rather than report to the sad-sack Eagles. After a brief seven-game stint with the Jets in 1973, Nance spent two seasons in the World Football League, becoming the second-leading all-time rusher in the WFL, with 2,007 yards for the Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer. Nance’s 45 rushing touchdowns for the Patriots still make him the franchise’s career leader in that category, and he’s second only to Sam Cunningham in rushing yardage (5,323 to 5,453).

 

[jimnance]

Pats were still a fledgling franchise, with still a lot of holdover NY giants fans who hadn't switched over to their hometown team yet, when Nance came along. He gave the Pats legitimacy more than any other player up to that point.
He was a great rb, probably the 2nd best in either league after Jim Brown. He made the Patriots worth watching and fun.
I know as a little kid he got me and my brother into football more than any other player.
Years later, I was working out at the Quincy Y and Mr. Nance was rehabbing there from a stroke. I got to meet him. Nice gentleman.
Food for thought for younger fans: w/o Nance, the only real star player Pats had then- who knows if the Pats would've survived thru the NFL/AFL merger? They might not exist today. Yikes! So we should all raise a glass or two to Jim Nance

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Pats were still a fledgling franchise, with still a lot of holdover NY giants fans who hadn't switched over to their hometown team yet, when Nance came along. He gave the Pats legitimacy more than any other player up to that point.
He was a great rb, probably the 2nd best in either league after Jim Brown. He made the Patriots worth watching and fun.
I know as a little kid he got me and my brother into football more than any other player.
Years later, I was working out at the Quincy Y and Mr. Nance was rehabbing there from a stroke. I got to meet him. Nice gentleman.
Food for thought for younger fans: w/o Nance, the only real star player Pats had then- who knows if the Pats would've survived thru the NFL/AFL merger? They might not exist today. Yikes! So we should all raise a glass or two to Jim Nance

The old Pats really had quite a few stars, most of whom are in the team's HOF. Among them, Jon Morris is the human version of Pat Patriot himself, and Gino is to us as Bob Cousy is to the Celts.

As far as the team's existence, scraping together enough to toothpick Schaefer Stadium

was vital; but Jim Plunkett changed the culture for good, once coach Fairbanks came along. The Sullivans' mostly financially poor decisions are the origin for disdain from the media, which mutated in the 80's to utter, inappropriate derision and hatred. Kraft's attempt to rewrite history obviously crumbled into dust along with the last remnants of the old Foxboro Stadium.

Today, it really wouldn't take much at all to assert the team's strength in New England and status as pretty much the most secure and best run franchise in football; but Kraft is clearly light years from even seeing it, let alone doing it.

 

[jimnance]

Gotta respectfully disagree- at the time Nance was in his prime- he was the first real bona- fide star the Pats had.
To be a star you have to be viewed as such across the country- not just locally.
Pats had a lot of very good players up to that point- the guys you named plus dudes like earthquake hunt, antwine,etc.
This was before Haynes and Hannah came along. By the time of the merger, the Pats had established themselves enough to be included. I wonder if that wouldve been the case w/o Nance.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Banks was my fav football writer from SI, so glad to see him join the team. He had a knack for digging out the real truth behind the hysteria. He was one of the first few to call out the ridiculous nature of the Deflate gate drama.

NFL Deflategate: Fans and league office must put their pitchforks away | The MMQB with Peter King

Good article on him joining the team here:

Longtime Former SI Writer Brings National Column to NFL Team Website

 

[The Brandon Five]

The Falcons CRUSHED the Panthers yesterday in a game that clinched the NFCS as well as a possible #2 seed, while Panthers saw theiir record drop to a Jet-like 6-9. The irony is that the game was exactly one year from a complete reversal of fortunes. On that day the Panthers beat Atlanta 34-0 (their 6th straight loss) while the Panthers improved to 13-0, on their way to a Superbowl appearence, and, what looked like, long term dominance in the NFCS.

Actually, the 38-0 was in Week 14. Last year's Week 16 matchup saw the Falcons end the Panthers run at 16-0, beating them 20-13.

 

[chasa]

Week 16 Snap Judgments

I popped over to Patriots.com to see if the locker room feature was up yet, and happend to read this article by Don Banks. He as been recently hired by Fred Kirsch to do a column for the site. I don't know what Bank's position was on deflategate, but I know some fans were pissed Kirsch hired him, because I heard him defending the hire to his listeners onf PFW in Progress. At any rate I though it was a first rate article and worth reading if only for the first observation.

A Pats fans we have been long since spoiled beyond any redemption over the last 16 years, but the reality for most fans is that success in the NFL is usually very fleeting, and Banks first observation points this out all too well.

The Falcons CRUSHED the Panthers yesterday in a game that clinched the NFCS as well as a possible #2 seed, while Panthers saw theiir record drop to a Jet-like 6-9. The irony is that the game was exactly one year from a complete reversal of fortunes. On that day the Panthers beat Atlanta 34-0 (their 6th straight loss) while the Panthers improved to 13-0, on their way to a Superbowl appearence, and, what looked like, long term dominance in the NFCS.

How quickly things change......for most franchises. And how lucky we are.

don banks was the only thing i was reading on SI for the longest time, and don't even go to their site anymore now that hes gone.

 

[PatsGuy]

Pats were still a fledgling franchise, with still a lot of holdover NY giants fans who hadn't switched over to their hometown team yet, when Nance came along. He gave the Pats legitimacy more than any other player up to that point.
He was a great rb, probably the 2nd best in either league after Jim Brown. He made the Patriots worth watching and fun.
I know as a little kid he got me and my brother into football more than any other player.
Years later, I was working out at the Quincy Y and Mr. Nance was rehabbing there from a stroke. I got to meet him. Nice gentleman.
Food for thought for younger fans: w/o Nance, the only real star player Pats had then- who knows if the Pats would've survived thru the NFL/AFL merger? They might not exist today. Yikes! So we should all raise a glass or two to Jim Nance

When I was a young'n n before the Pats were founded, I too was a NY Giants fan.
Was Nance a Syracuse grad?

 

[nabwong]

Gotta respectfully disagree- at the time Nance was in his prime- he was the first real bona- fide star the Pats had.
To be a star you have to be viewed as such across the country- not just locally.
Pats had a lot of very good players up to that point- the guys you named plus dudes like earthquake hunt, antwine,etc.
This was before Haynes and Hannah came along. By the time of the merger, the Pats had established themselves enough to be included. I wonder if that wouldve been the case w/o Nance.

Wow. Kinda weird to write this in the third person.

 

[NormZauchin]

When I was a young'n n before the Pats were founded, I too was a NY Giants fan.
Was Nance a Syracuse grad?

Yes, in the line of great backs that the university produced in the 1950's and 60's: Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Nance, Floyd Little, and Larry Csonka.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Gotta respectfully disagree- at the time Nance was in his prime- he was the first real bona- fide star the Pats had.
To be a star you have to be viewed as such across the country- not just locally.
Pats had a lot of very good players up to that point- the guys you named plus dudes like earthquake hunt, antwine,etc.
This was before Haynes and Hannah came along. By the time of the merger, the Pats had established themselves enough to be included. I wonder if that wouldve been the case w/o Nance.

For what should be obvious reasons, I could not care less about what anyone thinks nationally.

Jim Nance is the best RB in Patriots' history, and is one of a select few - perhaps 25, at the most - who are the best runners in football history.

 

[oldrover]

Love Don Banks... just wish the Pats website would load on my iPhone without repeatedly crashing the browser.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Love Don Banks... just wish the Pats website would load on my iPhone without repeatedly crashing the browser.

I simply deactivate the Kraft/Flying Elvis icon and it comes in real clean with Pat Patriot

...I'm sorry, I couldn't resist...