For Long Time Fans: What stud player from the past did you most fear losing?

[SeymourTrophies]

Curtis Martin as far as players we could have still used and afforded. There are a lot of players that were/are obviously over the hill and need to be rid of, but they gave me so many good memories. I was sad to see Willie Mac (and to an extent, Vrabel) just because of the years of loyal servitude. Ben Coates I understood, the same goes for Ty Law.

Was anyone else somewhat sad to see Cassel go? I realize he doesn't qualify as a stud, but he poured his heart and soul into last season. Obviously the freed up cap space made it less sad, but he wore his emotions on his sleeve for us.

 

[Tucker]

Was anyone else somewhat sad to see Cassel go? I realize he doesn't qualify as a stud, but he poured his heart and soul into last season. Obviously the freed up cap space made it less sad, but he wore his emotions on his sleeve for us.

I was happy for him to see him go. That sounds kind of jacked up, but he proved he could be more than a backup in the league and I'm happy he got his chance. Hopefully for his sake the Chiefs' OLine is decent enough for him not to be constantly pressured.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Leon Grey..

 

[zoostation]

Mike Haynes... without a doubt!

He was the best cornerback I ever saw play.

 

[zoostation]

You Sir, are correct! The Law man it is!

Michael Haynes was Ty Law x 2

A MUCH better corner who also ran back kicks.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I never knew how we would replace Coates, Armstrong or Law. We never did.

Nicely phrased... because by the time we let them go they had little left to give - but they gave a LOT while they were here.

 

[RayClay]

this was way before my time, but what was the deal with Plunkett leaving town?

He was with the Pats before the Raiders, right?

He had a few good seasons, but ended up getting beat on like many QBs without a good team around them. I don't remember his injury (shoulder)? But he went to SF first and took a while to regain his confidence in Oakland.

Could have been had for a bag of chips in San Fran.

 

[RayClay]

John Hannah. He was the running game, plain and simple for a decade.

The running statistics comparison the year after he retired is hilarious.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Coates, Armstrong and certainly Law are all great choices. For that matter, so was Hayes. He was truly a special talent at corner.

However, for me it was John Hannah. we luckily never lost him to another team, but I ain't gonna lie. I knew back in the day that I was watching probably the GOAT Guard and I knew that one day his run would end. I dreaded that day.

In the BB era. I'd have to saw Law or Milloy.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Curtis Martin, hands down. He made the Pats pay every time they played each other. From '97-'02, the Jets owned the Pats. I think the Pats were 4-8 during that span. In addition, the Pats had to scratch and claw for almost all of their wins.

 

[patsfan55]

In no particular order;

Drew Bledsoe
Curtis Martin
Willie Mac
Ben Coates
Lawyer Milloy
Ty Law
Only one of these proved to be devestating....Martin


How about Daryl Stingley?

As much as Willie didn't produce in a browns uni, did we ever replace him?
The answer of course is no.
And, that along with the fact that he's my favorite all-time Pat is why he is my stud I most feared losing.

 

[patsfan55]

It's hard for me to pick anyone in the BB era (cept for maybe in the early days) because I have built up so much faith in his decision making.

Before BB got here... losing a stud player really hurt because they were few and far between when NOBODY wanted to play here. You just never knew when the next one was going to come along. Even losing an old Ben Coates stung when it happened.

Losing Ben "winter" Coates definitely stung. Especially because I felt as though he wasn't being utilized properly by Ernie Zampese.

 

[patsfan55]

Was anyone else somewhat sad to see Cassel go? I realize he doesn't qualify as a stud, but he poured his heart and soul into last season. Obviously the freed up cap space made it less sad, but he wore his emotions on his sleeve for us.

While I was praying for something to get done, and get done quickly, I was actually sad to see him go. He's an extremely likeable player, and I wish him well.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I'm old enough to remember Hannah. I have to say he was the most incredibly gifted Patriot ever as far as talent and athletism. Their have been a few close talent wise over the years, Steve Hutchinson comes to mind of recent years. Very few players besides a QB,WR and RB can single handely change outcomes of games by themselves but Hannah could change the entire spectrum of the running game. A lot of fans don't know which team ran for the most rushing yards in a season. An average fan would guess the Bears, Redskins or Cowboys of old. Even some younger Patriot fans. 1978 New England Patriots 3,165 yards. Tops.

Mike Haynes getting lots of love here too. I don't what the deal was with trading this guy. the 5th pick overall in the 76 draft. All he did was do good things for us. He ran back the first punt return for a TD in Patriots history in his rookie year. It just seems like an alternate universe Babe Ruth trade to me that makes no sense.

Law, McGinist and Coates were never replaced. I remember thinking that Kevin Turner was not replaceable. I was so disappointed when he left for Philadelphia. To me Bledsoe had 2 security blankets and they were Coates and Turner.

 

[Patjew]

Michael Haynes was Ty Law x 2

A MUCH better corner who also ran back kicks.

For real? I have a hard time buying that. Ty was all-world and had some amazingly clutch performances. I'm not doubting Haynes was great, but Ty was awesome as well.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

For real? I have a hard time buying that. Ty was all-world and had some amazingly clutch performances. I'm not doubting Haynes was great, but Ty was awesome as well.

I don't know. I was too young at those 70's games to really know what i was watching, but my dad says Haynes was THE best corner we ever had. He also thinks Stanley Morgan was the best WR......better than Moss

 

[amazinPats]

Haynes and the Hannah/Gray holdout. Best CB in the league and the best OG.OT combo in the NFl.

Yeah, that was painful. We had a very good team back then, and the holdout really hurt the team. I would also include Curtis Martin as well.

Also, the departure of coach Chuck Fairbanks was devastating. The team knew about it in the playoffs and it seemed to affect the play.

 

[godef]

For all those Vince fans with short memories.....Ted Washington.....He left and we havent won a super bowl since.

BZZZZZT! TW left after the 2003 season, and was in the Super Bowl vs Carolina. The Pats won their 2nd straight SB in 2004 vs the Eagles.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Lawyer Milloy.

I'm shamelessly biased in favour of all of our players -- to my mind, the starters are all studs and the back-ups are studs in the making -- so it hurts whenever one goes. But before BB I thought I knew my Patriots. Sure, they'd be good for a short while, perhaps even get to the Superbowl, but afterwards there'd certainly be a meltdown -- the coach would leave and/or our best players would fall out with the ownership. I'd be very sorry to see them go, but that was what happened. Then came 2001. Miracle run of underdog team? Yup. But then they went and WON the whole thing. Unbelievable! Was this team and this ownership going to be different? When would the collapse start? I kept faith through the Bledsoe saga, despite the spin coming from the media, but cutting Milloy and the first game in Buffalo made me think that the organization was coming back down to earth. Was I glad to be wrong!

 

[diggemsmack]

Adam Vinatieri and irving fryar