Jim Plunkett

[Jimke]

Joker mentioned in another thread that Jim had been one of his favorite players. I think Jim should have been awarded a profiles in courage award
for his time in Foxboro.

He came to the Pats in 1971 as the first player drafted. The GM at the time was Upton Bell and the coach was John Mazur. This gives you a rough idea of the lousy situation he was entering.

He was supposed to have Joe Kapp as his mentor but Joe quit football
rather than sign a contract that contained the Rozelle Rule. Joe had just completed his only season with the Patriots with 1104 passing yards,
3 TD, and 17 interceptions.

Jim was forced into service and had a good rookie year. From there on
it was downhill. By the time he asked to be traded to a West Coast team
in 1976, he had gotten the crap knocked out of him and had lost his
confidence. He was later released by this team, San Francisco, and then went on to his storied career in Oakland. Jim left just before Chuck Fairbanks put together the first great Patiots team in 1976 thanks to the draft choices
from the SF trade.

 

[Patriotic]

Plunkett to Vataha

Not only was he tough and had a good arm, he was a class act. Had the pleasure of meeting him his rookie year.

 

[dalero]

Jim Plunkett was quite a character guy. He took a physical beating when he played here on some bad teams and never pointed fingers. Interesting note on Plunkett is that both of his parents were blind.

 

[Pats726]

Joker mentioned in another thread that Jim had been one of his favorite players. I think Jim should have been awarded a profiles in courage award
for his time in Foxboro.

He came to the Pats in 1971 as the first player drafted. The GM at the time was Upton Bell and the coach was John Mazur. This gives you a rough idea of the lousy situation he was entering.

He was supposed to have Joe Kapp as his mentor but Joe quit football
rather than sign a contract that contained the Rozelle Rule. Joe had just completed his only season with the Patriots with 1104 passing yards,
3 TD, and 17 interceptions.

Jim was forced into service and had a good rookie year. From there on
it was downhill. By the time he asked to be traded to a West Coast team
in 1976, he had gotten the crap knocked out of him and had lost his
confidence. He was later released by this team, San Francisco, and then went on to his storied career in Oakland. Jim left just before Chuck Fairbanks put together the first great Patiots team in 1976 thanks to the draft choices
from the SF trade.

Actually his first game was the first game in Foxboro..against the Raiders..and sirprise surprise..they stunned the tough Oakland team..a NE upset!!!! He had gotten beaten up a lot, but the year before he was traded, he had a shoulder seperation and a rookie QB named Grogan was forced to take over for him. It was obvious that he needed a start somewhere else...and what a trade!!! No way are trades like that today!!!! I always liked him..thought in other circumstances he would have been a solid QB here..

 

[Patti37]

Jim Plunkett was quite a character guy. He took a physical beating when he played here on some bad teams and never pointed fingers. Interesting note on Plunkett is that both of his parents were blind.

Not only did he take physical abuse on the field but he took incredible verbal abuse from the fans.
Fans thought he would be the savior of the team without realizing he could not do it on his own.