Tuesday Patriots Headlines - June 22nd
TRAINING CAMP COUNTDOWN: 37 days until Patriots training camp.
We'll start today's headlines with a column from the Boston Herald's Ian Rapoport who has five questions for the Patriots heading into this season, and wonders if owner Robert Kraft will take a leap of faith and give quarterback Tom Brady a new contract before the season to ease his 'possible hard feelings'.
On that same note, last night's article by CBS Sportsline's Pete Prisco raised an eyebrow or two after he wrote that he just can't see the Patriots not finding a way to get a deal done with their franchise quarterback.
"the Patriots would have to be the other end of the horse -- you know, the ass -- to even consider not bringing Brady back," writes Prisco.
Christopher Price of WEEI.com reports this morning that the team will wear their throwback uniforms this season for the Halloween game against the Vikings this season, and could also potentially wear them for their Thanksgiving day game against the Lions. Albert Breer of the Boston Globe has a similar report, although that one has pictures of the home and away versions of the jerseys.
SouthCoastToday.com reports that two SouthCoast students will join six others as winners in this year's "Totally Patriots" contest, which was a contest to choose hosts for the fall season of the Totally Patriots television show.
The York Daily Record catches up with former Patriot Bob Windsor, who recently took part 22nd annual York County Special Olympics Celebrity Golf Classic.
The Contra Costa Times reports that former Patriot Corey Dillon pleaded not guilty to a DUI on Monday. Dillon continues to struggle after leaving the league, as Monday's incident is yet another legal episode that has occurred since he retired.
Christopher Price has a great piece on Vince Wilfork, noting that the Florida native has stayed close to his roots, and recently reminded kids how important good grades are.
Former Patriot Matt Chatham (who's father was an active member of our forum) is set to host his annual "Soft Bowl III benefit the Big Sioux chapter of Alzheimer's Association". The benefit is set for this Saturday, and will be joined by other former Patriots including Russ Hochstein, LaVar Woods, and Tim Dwight.
"We're excited for another big event and for this to continue to grow and raise a lot of money for Alzheimer's," said Chatham. "Alzheimer's is something very important to my family and I. My grandmother has Alzheimer's, so we feel this is a very good fit."
There's a great piece in the Solar Novus Today which talks about how Patriot Place is shaping up to be a great showcase of the potential of sustainable solar energy. Just another example of how Robert Kraft is tyring to stay ahead of technology.
Last but not least (since we always save this nonsense for the end) the Inside Track for the Herald have an article this morning that mentions Brady, who was reportedly 'put up in high style while filming some scenes with “The Hard Times of RJ Berger’s” Jareb Dauplaise'.
Another report also mentioned former Patriot Doug Flutie, and also pointed out that linebacker Jerod Mayo got a belated Father’s Day surprise at the Mohegan Sun, where his family reportedly treated him to dinner at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse.
OTHER NFL HEADLINES:
The Patriots were pretty busy this offseason, and were involved in many different charity events with quite a few players. We saw Wes Welker out running around in one of his camps, along with Tom Brady throwing passes in one of his own. Apparently we were lucky that none of our own guys suffered any injuries.
FoxSports reported that the Panthers' Steve Smith was injured during a Flag Football game of his own, and had surgery Sunday night to have a small plate and screws inserted in his arm. He's expected to be ready for the season opener, but he'll miss training camp. Definitely disappointing, especially when he was trying to do something positive at his youth football camp.
Bad news for the Saints' Reggie Bush, who FoxSports reported could end up being chased by the IRS for back taxes, penalties and interest on the estimated $300,000 worth of luxury gifts he allegedly received while playing football at Southern California. If they decide to move forward, it could reportedly cost Bush somewhere around $150,000.
Former Boston College quarterback and now Atlanta Falcons' signal caller Matt Ryan is watching the NFL's Elite hoping one day he can be one. In a recent interview with the Sporting News Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff told Dennis Dillon that Ryan has been working hard on his footwork and technique, along with watching film on the league's top quarterbacks.
"Matt Ryan is developing very well in my mind. He has worked very hard in the offseason to study what he deems as his issues, whether it was his decision making at times, whether it was his footwork, or whatever it was. ... Something you may have read recently, he studied a lot of the upper-echelon quarterbacks in this league and I think that was very beneficial for him as well."
Dimitroff worked under Belichick and Scott Pioli as a national scout with the Patriots from 2002 - 2007. When asked what he learned from his time in New England, he said that role understanding was one of the key things.
"The indisputable role understanding. It's about the basic tenets of the team concept. Everybody do their job to the best of their ability; don't worry about what anyone else is doing. Make sure you're focused on what your job is. If we all do that, we all have a chance to be successful. And I say that with fervor. I learned a great deal from him, and that was one thing that really sticks out in my mind."
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day and we'll have more later on.
