Tony Eason

[italian pat patriot]

I understand many fans remember him mostly from Super Bowl XX. How many remember the sequence of events on that first scoring drive? A freak knee blow-out on a perfectly thrown ball to Lin Dawson. A brilliant defensive play by Mike Singletary on a dart to Stanley Morgan in the end zone. Eason was up against fate and one of the greatest teams in NFL history that day.

true.
we could have never won that game imho indipendently who was our qb on that day
CHI was a beast - simply unbeatable if we want to be honest

 

[patriotsrule]

I for one liked Eason. He was mobile and had a decent arm (had a good touch). IMO, two things played against him in his career, 1. the loss of John Hannah, and 2. the '87 strike season. Losing Hannah changed the entire scheme of the Pats offense in '86. Craig James was their top runner with only 400 yards rushing, yet the team was the best passing offense in the league that year - most of the credit goes to Eason for that 11-5 season. Second, the 1987 strike season destroyed the continuity of the Patriots (and other teams too). By the time 1988 began injuries and age caught up with the major weapons on the Pats offense (Tatupu, James, Morgan).

I understand many fans remember him mostly from Super Bowl XX. How many remember the sequence of events on that first scoring drive? A freak knee blow-out on a perfectly thrown ball to Lin Dawson. A brilliant defensive play by Mike Singletary on a dart to Stanley Morgan in the end zone. Eason was up against fate and one of the greatest teams in NFL history that day.

Sure he was 0-6 against the Bears, but it was nowhere near as ugly a performance as Kordell Stewart had against the Pats in the '96 playoffs (he was 0-10).

So you are comparing Eason to Kordell Stewart? I'm not sure that's much of a compliment. Also, we don't know why he didn't attend that ceremony. His wife might have been about ready to give birth for all we know. I don't remember any reports saying he didn't want to come because of the fans, so we shouldn't speculate that's the reason why he wasn't there.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I used to like him, but was always a Grogan fan first, and after reading things like he was more worried about getting hit than playing football seems to me he never go it.. Eason might have had more talent than Grogan, but he could not come and match Grogans heart..

 

[godef]

i seee that majority of fans are 'against' him and i think he knows it as he missed the last year 'parade' 1985 Super Bowl team @ Gillette if i remember correctly

but...don't you think he should deserve a little bit more from us, Patriot fans ?

personally i respect him and it is a petty that he was unable to do more with us

what do you think about Tony Eason ?

could he be considered one of the top 6-7 qb we ever had ?

I've always said so. Granted, he did tend to crumble under the pressure, and it was in this area that Grogan was a better QB, toughness and all that.

But the facts are, statistically, Tony Eason held a majority of club QB records prior to Drew Bledsoe's arrival. After John Hannah retired and the running game all but disappeared, it was his throwing that kept the team winning until the rest of the NFL finally figured out the Pats couldn't run the ball anymore (late '86 season).

This might PO a lot of fans, but I think most of the animosity toward Tony Eason was the result of Doug Flutie's arrival during the strike, and the way Ray Berry favored Eason over the popular Flutie. Prior to that, fans were neutral at worse in regard to how they felt about Eason.

 

[italian pat patriot]

it appears that the majority are giving credit to Tony Eason

and i think imho that this is very honest and appreaciable from the fans

so: let's hope in the future he will come to see the Pats playing at Gillette...
why he shouldn't ?

also if i do not know the reasons why he was absent on the parade

probably he does not think to be an appreaciated person still

 

[OldEnglandPatriot]

I've always felt that no matter how 'soft' people think you are, you cannot be a successful NFL quarterback like Tony Eason, putting up excellent passing numbers, winning games, getting to playoffs and the Superbowl, if you have no guts at all.

Let's also credit a 'soft' NFL quarterback with being considerably tougher and braver than 99% of us fans.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I've always felt that no matter how 'soft' people think you are, you cannot be a successful NFL quarterback like Tony Eason, putting up excellent passing numbers, winning games, getting to playoffs and the Superbowl, if you have no guts at all.

difficult to say that you are wrong

and Eason won for us important games

 

[patriotsrule]

I've always felt that no matter how 'soft' people think you are, you cannot be a successful NFL quarterback like Tony Eason, putting up excellent passing numbers, winning games, getting to playoffs and the Superbowl, if you have no guts at all.

Let's also credit a 'soft' NFL quarterback with being considerably tougher and braver than 99% of us fans.

We aren't comparing Eason to us, we are comparing him to other NFL quarterbacks. None of us has the ability to play in the NFL so that last statement makes no sense. Ryan Leaf was great if you compare him to you or I.

 

[PromisedLand]

completely agree. Top 4 QB: Brady, Bledsoe, Grogan, Eason. Parilli was before my time.

Ah, another believer in the theory that nothing happened unless you were there to witness it!

Parilli should definitely be considered in the top 4 all time Patriots quarterbacks. Not only did he throw for almost 60% more yards in a Patriots uniform than either Eason or Plunkett (16,747 vs. 10,732 for Eason and 9,932 for Plunkett), but he STILL holds the team single season record for TD passes with 31. (Brady is second with 28).

The TD pass record is especially remarkable given that it has stood for 40 years, and that it was set in a 14 game season.

I am not bashing Eason, in fact I tend to agree with those who feel he has been treated a bit unfairly by team historians.

Would you now agree the top 5 are:

1. Brady
2. Bledsoe
3. Grogan
4. Parilli
5. Eason

 

[pats-blue]

Two things about Eason one for and one against when judging him as a "top" QB for the Pats. First how many really good Patriot QB's have we had...being top 6 or 7 since we started in 1960 isn't all that great. Second he QB'd when prototypical tough guy Grogan was here. For all of Easons "talent" I ALWAYS wanted Grogan in there. First I felt like the Pats had a better chance of winning with Steve in there (regardless if they did or not thats how I felt) I was also embarassed by Easons "skirt". The guy really was afraid of his own shadow and anyone that saw him play would know that.

As far as Tony "taking us" to the SB in 85? Hardly, yeah he may have been our Trent Dilfer that year but was not even remotely responsible for the Pats getting to the SB. A poster used the Miami game for a reference? The Doofins turned the ball over 6 times mostly in thier own end. Eason had 3 TD's wow...he threw for a total of 71 yards. In fact during that playoff run he threw for a high percentage but only 133/game. James was the one that carried us on O that year with a 4.7 yard average and we dominated the ground in the playoffs and THAT got us there.

I would never boo Eason since he was a Patriot. But I certainly don't think he is a Patriot "great" in any way. I do feel he was kind of a sissy for a football player so that sucks...I would much rather remember Grogan being tackled by the Raiders DL Dwight White and White jawed at him that he better not come that way anymore yada, yada..well Steve reflected for a moment as he walked back to the line of scrimage..then turned around walked upto White and spit in his face. (Ok now a days that is not a great thing but that was old school back then) There was only one Grogan and I prefer to remember him as the QB of the Patriots during that era.

 

[TNPatsFan]

Two things about Eason one for and one against when judging him as a "top" QB for the Pats.

What part of what you said after that was the "for" part?

 

[pats-blue]

What part of what you said after that was the "for" part?

"For" in as far as he could be a top 5 or so Patriot QB of all time since we haven't really had many good ones since 1960 when the Pats were established...so maybe "for" wasn't correct but I was trying my best to stay on topic with the original question if he should be considered a top # X QB for the Pats.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I don't see how you can say that. Eason won 3 road playoff games to make it to the SB, games in which he didn;t throw a pick. In fact in his 5 game playoff career he never threw an INT. Yes he got blown apart by the Bears. But in the two previous playoff games the Bears won by shutout. They were probably the greatest one year team in the history of pro football. And Eason came back the next year and won the division as the starting QB.

Eason didn't "win" three road games...the team did. The Jets' Ken O'Brien spent the whole game cowering because the Jets couldn't handle Tippett and Veris rushing from the same side and on offense the Pats ran roughshod on the Jets. Craig James ran for over 100 yards on the Raiders the following week (a rare occurance against that Raiders D) and LA turned it over 6 times. To finally squish the fish in 18 tries in Miami, the Pats had to run for over 250 yards as Marino and crew turned it over another 5 or 6 times.

I will give Eason some credit, though...he had a nice fly pattern TD to Morgan vs. the Jets and an OUTSTANDING TD to Dawson in the LA game, rolling right and lofting the ball high, just over the reach of the safety well-covering Dawson...one of the best TD passes I've ever seen.

Regards,
Chris

 

[italian pat patriot]

I will give Eason some credit, though...he had a nice fly pattern TD to Morgan vs. the Jets and an OUTSTANDING TD to Dawson in the LA game, rolling right and lofting the ball high, just over the reach of the safety well-covering Dawson...one of the best TD passes I've ever seen.

Regards,
Chris

do you have an idea where i could SEE these td ?
on the web is it possible ?

 

[Murphys95]

do you have an idea where i could SEE these td ?
on the web is it possible ?

No video, but try this link for audio highlights of the '85 Pats/Raiders divisional game.

http://www.murphysfans.com/music/raidersdivisionalmix.mp3

Yes, it includes the Dawson end zone catch (slightly reminiscent of Dwight Clark's famous catch).

 

[italian pat patriot]

No video, but try this link for audio highlights of the '85 Pats/Raiders divisional game.

http://www.murphysfans.com/music/raidersdivisionalmix.mp3

Yes, it includes the Dawson end zone catch (slightly reminiscent of Dwight Clark's famous catch).

grazie Murphy (i have allready heard/listened)
do you have something more about the 'old' times ?

nothing video ?

thks a lot in advance !

 

[Pats726]

So you are comparing Eason to Kordell Stewart? I'm not sure that's much of a compliment. Also, we don't know why he didn't attend that ceremony. His wife might have been about ready to give birth for all we know. I don't remember any reports saying he didn't want to come because of the fans, so we shouldn't speculate that's the reason why he wasn't there.

I heard reports on Pats weel;y...he wanted tickets for his entourage that NE didn't offer him enough OR some other monetary thing like that..NOT the fans disliking him..but that to me makes him look bad..WORSE!!

 

[spacecrime]

I
The Patriots have been lucky though. Grogan, Bledsoe, and even Brady are all tough guys that can take a hit (well, in the case of Bledsoe, most hits).

The thing that speaks for Bledsoe is that his first play after coming back from having Mo Lewis tear his aorta was that the ran out of bounds and Lee Flowers hit him almost the exact same way on the sidelines.

No one could blame Bledsoe for flinching or having doubt creep into his mind, and wonder (Eason-like) if the same thing could happen.

Instead Bledsoe ran back into the huddle pumping his arm, and throwing a TD pass, the only offensive TD of the game.

 

[RayClay]

He was clearly better than Eason. Tony had a couple good years, he made a great throw to Lin Dawson in the Raider game that resembled Montana to Clark. I would cheer for Eason but don't have the respect we reserve for the other QBs

Plunkett got hit far worse than Eason. I'm sorry he did and it almost ruined his career, but it didn't now did it?

I was very happy for Plunkett in Oakland because he showed balls and he didn't quit.

Eason did.:scared:

What do they say, a coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man but one?

 

[RayClay]

very correct.
i should add that Eason is a typicle example abour our franchise on these years...there was always a 'if', always a 'but', always a 'should'...

sad...

Tony Eason with a better toughness imho could have been a perfect qb

anyway we should re-consider him and consider him definitely a ''good'' Patriot

Mr. Italianpat, I don't know if you'll get this, but I think this saying is apropos.

"Balls" said the Queen, if I had 2 I'd be King.