Today in Patriots History
Kyle Van Noy
and other March 26 Birthdays
Happy 28th birthday to Kyle Van Noy
Born March 26, 1991 in Reno, Nevada
Patriot LB, 2016-present; uniform #53
Van Noy represents one of the most lopsided trades in recent NFL history. The linebacker was acquired by the Patriots (along with a 7th round draft pick) on October 25, 2016 from Detroit in exchange for the Pats 6th round (215th overall) selection of the 2017 draft.
That selection was used on
Brad Kaaya, who has bounced between the Lion, Panthers, Lions again, Colts and Bengals. Kaaya has yet to play a single snap in the NFL.
By comparison Van Noy has been a valuable starter on teams that have won three conference championships and two Super Bowls in the three seasons since that trade.
Van Noy was a versatile high school athlete who lettered in four sports. His senior year he had ten tackles for a loss, six forced fumbles, 14 sacks and a pick six. Van Noy also caught 35 passes 731 yards and 18 touchdowns. After leading his team to a 14-0 record and state championship he was recruited by more than a dozen colleges, choosing BYU.
At Brigham Young he registered 226 total tackles, 62 tackles for loss, 26 sacks, 17 forced fumbles and seven interceptions. The Detroit Lions drafted him in the second round of the 2014 draft, 40th overall. Things got off to a bad start almost immediately.
Van Noy suffered the first injury of his football career in training camp. After
undergoing surgery he missed the first eight games of the season. Upon return he was used sparingly. Van Noy was on the field for a mere
54 defensive snaps the final nine games of the season (including a playoff game) and finished the season with six total tackles.
The writing was on the wall. At the following year’s combine Detroit GM Martin Mayhew had this to say when asked about Van Noy’s future:
“That’s totally up to him. He can have a huge role if he has a great offseason and plays great. If he doesn’t have a great offseason, and doesn’t play great, then his role won’t be as big.”
“I think a lot of times with young players, not him specifically, but they come from a place where they’ve been great players and super stars and then they come into a new team and now they have to work their way up and play special teams and do things they didn’t do in college. Sometimes that’s an adjustment. But really, it’s totally up to him as to how he performs and how he is feeling and all those things.”
A
Detroit beat writer speculates that due to injuries to DeAndre Levy and other Lion linebackers, Van Noy was asked to do too much too soon. After seven games with varying roles Van Noy was traded to New England on October 25, 2016. The Patriots gave up virtually nothing for the linebacker. The Pats only had to move down slightly (24 spots) very late in the draft for his services. Detroit received just a sixth round pick (215th overall) in exchange for Van Noy and a seventh rounder (239th overall).
Van Noy began his tenure with the Pats as a healthy scratch behind Shea McClellin while learning a new defense. Just over three months after being unceremoniously dumped, he was celebrating a Superbowl victory. By season end Van Noy was on the field for
as much as 82% of the snaps, and recorded six tackles and half a sack in the playoffs.
"Kyle has good skills. He’s athletic, runs well, tackles well, can rush the passer, play in pass coverage, does a good job playing the run. ... So, he has a good skill set, which is what you need to be out there in different situations. ... He’s a smart guy, understands concepts well, understands the defense, does a good job of it."
- Bill Belichick, 2017
2017 was KVN's second season with the Patriots. The coaching staff had so much faith in his work that he was on the field for every single defensive snap for the first four games. A late season injury sidelined him for three games and limited his playing time in two more, but he still finished with 73 tackles (58 solo), 7 tackles for a loss, 9 quarterback hits and 5½ sacks. Healthy again for the playoffs, KVN was a key contributor in the come-from-behind AFCCG victory over Jacksonville. Van Noy finished the game with a team-high nine tackles, a 9-yard sack of QB Blake Bortles on Jacksonville’s final last-minute drive, a pass defensed and a forced fumble.
Last year Van Noy led the Pats in tackles (92) and fumble recoveries (2). His 29-yard touchdown of a blocked punt gave the Pats the lead late in the third quarter at Chicago, and was a critical turning point in the 38-31 victory over the Bears. That was one of two touchdowns he scored in 2018; the other being a 46-yard fumble return against the Jets.
KVN once again came up big in the AFCCG. Van Noy led the Patriots with a team-high ten tackles, two sacks (for a combined loss of 29 yards) and one forced fumble, and also contributed a quarterback hit and a TFL. He followed that up with four tackles, three quarterback hits, a sack for a loss of yards and a QB hit in the 13-3 Super Bowl win over the Rams.
Kyle Van Noy Stats & Bio | Patriots.com
From Doug Kyed on February 5, 2019:
Kyle Van Noy is Patriots' Biggest Steal in Bill Belichick Era | NESN
Happy 32nd birthday to Eric Kettani
Born March 26, 1987 in Kirtland, Ohio
Patriot FB 2009-2012, 2015; uniform #44, #34, #36
The 5’9″ 240 pound back was one of three players from Navy that the Patriots signed as undrafted free agents in May of 2009. All had to fulfill their military commitments first, and
Kettani was activated from the Pats’ Reserve/Military list in May of 2011. He was released as part of the final camp cuts that September, then signed to the practice squad after clearing waivers.
In October of 2011 he was denied leave from the Navy and had to return to active duty, but the Patriots re-signed him the following spring. Kettani was then cut again at the end of camp in 2012. The Pats added him to the practice squad on September 1, but released him four days later to make room for OL Jeremiah Warren. Kettani later spent time on practice squads with Washington, Kansas City and Jacksonville.
The Patriots re-signed Kettani in August of 2015, but was let go later that month as part of roster cutdowns.
Kettani rejoined the Naval Academy in 2015, working in the Public Affairs Office. He also
paints, selling his artwork online.
From Jan 20, 2019 | "Against All Enemies"
Where Are They Now? Former Navy and Patriots Fullback Eric Kettani
Happy 72nd birthday to John Cagle
Born March 26, 1947 in Anderson, South Carolina
Patriot DE, 1969; uniform #62
Pats 14th round (344th overall) selection of the 1969 draft, from Clemson
Cagle was a first team
All-ACC defensive tackle at Clemson in 1968. The Patriots took a flyer on 6’3″ 260 lb lineman, drafting him 344th overall in the 14th round of the 1969 draft. Clive Rush originally planned on converting Cagle to guard or linebacker and he impressed enough to end up on the taxi squad. Half way through the season he was
promoted to the active roster and appeared in six games at defensive end. Cable returned for the 1970 training camp, but those six games were the extent of his NFL career.
Happy 73rd birthday to Bill Murphy
Born March 26, 1946 in Montclair, NJ
Patriot WR, 1968; uniform #31
Murphy
attended Cornell, where he set Ivy League
single-season records with 50 receptions for 853 yards and nine touchdowns. He was
Cornell’s MVP in 1967, and his 163 yards receiving against Harvard was a
school record that stood for 25 years. The Patriots signed Murphy in 1968 as a rookie free agent but he was released in training camp. He joined the the Lowell Giants of the old Atlantic Coast League. With things going south in his final season as head coach, Mike Holovak signed Murphy to the roster.
Although
not blessed with blazing speed, Murphy had good moves and sure hands. Murphy played the final six games of the 1968 season for the Patriots, starting five times. He ended up with 18 receptions for 268 yards, averaging 14.9 yards per reception. In week ten he had four receptions for 72 yards at Kansas City, and followed that up the next week with four catches for 74 yards against Miami. Murphy returned the following summer but did not make the 1969 roster.
With his pro football career over Murphy put his Ivy League education to good use. He worked on Wall Street, specializing in commodities futures and later
opened his own brokerage firm. In 1998 he co-founded the
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, where he is the chairman. That organization was organized to expose, oppose, and litigate against collusion to control the price and supply of gold and related financial instruments. Murphy still works as a financial adviser, specializing in investments in gold and silver.
Happy 73rd birthday to Jimmy Raye
Born March 26, 1946 in Fayetteville, NC
Patriot Offensive Coordinator, 1990
Raye had a very brief NFL career, appearing in two games over two years with the Rams and Eagles. He then spent six years as a college assistant coach. In 1977 he began a 37-year career as an NFL coach. Over that time he changed teams fifteen times with titles ranging from position coach to offensive coordinator to senior offensive assistant.
1990 was the bottom of the abyss in the history of the Patriots. Raye was the OC of a team that went 1-15, distracted by the Lisa Olson scandal. With Raye in charge of the offense that squad finished dead last or near the bottom in nearly every offensive category.
Somehow he kept finding employment with one team after another, despite the fact that his offenses were more often than not below average. The highest rank his teams ever had as an OC in total yards was 10th, while ranking 20th or worse nine times.
Incredibly that is not the most embarrassing mark on Raye’s résumé. Since 2014 he has been a senior adviser to Roger Goodell’s right hand man and mouthpiece, NFL vice president Troy Vincent. How he lives with himself, I do not know.
