Today in Patriots History
Two-Year JAGs
Happy 58th birthday to Eugene Lockhart
Born March 8, 1961 in Crockett, Texas
Patriot ILB, 1991-1992; uniform #51
Lockhart joined the Patriots at the age of 30 after 7 seasons with Dallas. He played in 32 games for **** MacPherson's Pats, with 134 tackles (84 solo). Lockhart was waived by Bill Parcells on August 30, 1993.
Happy 60th birthday to Art Plunkett
Born March 8, 1959 in Chicago
Patriot OT, 1985, 1987; uniform #70
Unsung Hero nominee found true calling as Las Vegas High coach
Ex-Patriot remembers XX
Happy 65th birthday to Ike Forte
Born March 8, 1954 in Texarkana, Arkansas
Patriot RB, 1976-1977; uniform #38
Pats 2nd round (35th overall) selection of the 1976 draft, from Arkansas
In 23 games for New England, Forte averaged 3.0 yards per carry on 87 rushing attempts. He had as many fumbles as touchdowns (3), and 354 total yards from scrimmage. Forte managed to stick with Washington and the Giants for four more seasons and finished his NFL career with 511 yards rushing at 3.1 ypc.
Razorback great Ike Forte
John Tanner was born March 8, 1945 in Orlando
Patriot LB, 1973-1974; uniform #53
John Tanner
John Tanner was a linebacker out of Tennessee Tech (1969-70). Tanner was drafted in the ninth round in 1971 by the San Diego Chargers and played one season in San Diego in 1971. Tanner then came to Toronto in 1972 for his first tour in the CFL where he played defensive end. Tanner returned to the States and played two seasons with the New England Patriots in 1973 and 1974.
Want to know what war is truly like? If so, then this is a must-read column:
from Florida Today 2/15/09
Instead of graduating in 1963, and instead of college, Tanner enlisted in the Army and was soon doing the first of three tours of duty in Vietnam.
After the Vietnam War, he returned to Cocoa to play basketball for BJC's legendary head coach, Jim Oler. Later, he played basketball at Tennessee Tech, then took a detour into football there, which led to six years in the NFL and two in the Canadian Football League.
It was Vietnam, though, that forever changed him, altering his life in dark ways, some of which Tanner took to his grave.
"It took him 30 years to even talk about it," Fran said. "I'd catch snippets when he was with his Army buddies. He'd talk to them some. It's a band of brothers they have, a fraternity. Only they understand."
She immediately saw something was different when he returned from Vietnam in 1966.
"Two weeks after he got back, we were driving down Pluckebaum Road toward Lake Poinsett in Cocoa, and we heard this loud sound, like a loud ping. Within three seconds, he had thrown me to the floorboard and was on top of me. It was raw instinct. I actually thought we had been shot."
Henke earned a Super Bowl ring with the Jets, then played ten games with seven starts for the Patriots in '69. He was with the Chargers in 1970 but did not appear in any games for San Diego.
Karl Alfred Henke
Other pro football players with New England connections born today:
Kenny Gamble turns 54
Born and raised in Holyoke, after high school he spent a year at Cushing Academy; he is one of only two players from that school to play in the NFL since WWII. Gamble is also the last player from Colgate to be drafted by the NFL (1988).
Mathias Kiwanuka turns 36
The
Boston College alum spent nine seasons at DE/OLB with the Giants.
Dwayne Gratz turns 29
Jacksonville drafted the
CB out of UConn in the third round of the 2013 draft.
