April 26 in Pats History: Happy Birthday, Julius Adams

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
April 26 Birthday Celebration Part Two: Julius Adams​

Happy birthday to Julius Adams, who would have been 73 today
Born April 26, 1948 in Macon, Georgia
Patriot RDE, 1971-1987; uniform #85
Died March 24, 2016 at the age of 67
Pats 2nd round (27th overall) selection of the 1971 draft, from Texas Southern

With Raymond Clayborn finally getting his long overdue acknowledgement, nobody other than Julius Adams is now more deserving of induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Similar to Steve Nelson, Adams suffers from lack of national recognition due to no fault of his own; despite his superb effort, his teams never won a Super Bowl.

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Adams spent his entire career with the Pats, playing in a total of 212 games - most in team history for a defensive player, and third most overall. His 79.5 career sacks rank second to only Andre Tippett in career franchise history - though that number should actually be more since sacks were not accurately tracked until 1982.

Julius Adams is also a member of the New England Patriots 1970s All-Decade Team, the 1980s All-Decade Team, the 35th Anniversary Team, the 50th Anniversary Team, and the 2000 Team of the Century.

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Pro Football Journal: R.I.P. Julius "The Jewel" Adams

When Jack Youngblood arrived in Chicago for the 1971 College All-Star game practices he thought he was in the wrong place.... ​

Also in camp was Julius Adams, who Youngblood had never heard of before, but he saw a 6-3 260-pound man with amazing natural strength and quickness. At that point, Youngblood, at 242 pounds, felt like "someone's kid brother".​

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[captain stone]

Put down the rolodex of DeShawn Watson's flavorite massooses Bobby, and put The Jewel in the NEP HOF ASAP.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

With Raymond Clayborn finally getting his long overdue acknowledgement, nobody other than Julius Adams is now more deserving of induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Similar to Steve Nelson, Adams suffers from lack of national recognition due to no fault of his own; despite his superb effort, his teams never won a Super Bowl.

It amazes me how so-called Patriots fans can have such disdain, contempt and disregard for their own team.

To be clear: If Walt Coleman decides to ignore the rules in the Snow Bowl - and this is a judgement call based upon what he saw under the hood - and then, twenty months later, Troy Brown is lost for good courtesy of a cheap shot in the 2003 preseason, there are likely no titles, ever. Maybe Tom goes and wins somewhere else, like Plunkett did.

Darryl Stingley was not only one of the top receivers in the league, he was a top leader on and off the field. That was a huge reason he was getting the extension, something as rare then with this team as it is today. But Darryl made huge, clutch, game-winning plays.

He, along with Tatupu and Francis belong in the team Hall. They earned it. They deserve it. As much as anyone including Tom Brady. Period.

 

[patsfaninpa]

I’m not into hall of fame thing. But, I’m shocked he’s not already in. He was very, very good. Without a lot of help around him.

 

[captain stone]

Darryl Stingley was not only one of the top receivers in the league, he was a top leader on and off the field. That was a huge reason he was getting the extension, something as rare then with this team as it is today. But Darryl made huge, clutch, game-winning plays.

He, along with Tatupu and Francis belong in the team Hall. They earned it. They deserve it. As much as anyone including Tom Brady. Period.

Stingley should be allowed in immediately because of the way his career ended;

I agree that after Julius Adams, Mosi Tatupu should be next in line;

I'm still on the fence about Russ Francis however, because of the longevity issue here.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I'm still on the fence about Russ Francis however, because of the longevity issue here.

Well, Russ came back for some nostalgia in '87-'88, but we're talking about the six seasons from '75-'80.

His stats are no worse than Casper's and I would take him over Casper every single day especially Sundays. He was just a much better player; he blocked, caught and ran, he was one of Grogan's favorite targets, he was a leader and a difference maker who won games. He left for the same reason it seems that many of our Patriots heroes did: He'd had enough. Only he didn't just leave us; he left the game. Walsh got him back out there and he picked up a belated ring and all, but the six first years define his qualifications (like everyone else missing at least one stolen Super Bowl).

To compare, Rodney also played here six seasons.