Today in Patriots History
Chris Singleton
Happy 58th birthday to Chris Singleton
Born February 20, 1967; from Parsippany, New Jersey
Patriot OLB, 1990-1993; uniform #55
Pats first round (8th overall) selection of the 1990 draft, from Arizona
Pats résumé: 3½ seasons, 41 games (26 starts); four sacks, one 82-yard pick six
Chris Singleton was part of an infamous Patriot draft trade, this one happening on April 22, 1990. With the first two draft picks the Colts took QB Jeff George, and then the Jets selected RB Blair Thomas. Next up was the Patriots, with the third overall pick.
The Pats traded away that number three pick, as well as their second round (29th overall) to Seattle. In return New England received the #8 and #10 first round picks, as well as a third round (#64) and fourth (#101).
At first glance it doesn’t look bad at all, getting two top ten picks. In fact, according to a draft value chart, the Pats came out ahead by the score of 3066 to 2840. The problem is that Seattle got Hall of Fame DT Cortez Kennedy at number three, while the Pats used their picks on Singleton, Ray Agnew, traded down the third rounder for Greg McMurtry, and used another pick on a guy who never played a down in the NFL.
To rub salt in the wound, after being unceremoniously waived by Bill Parcells, Singleton played for the Dolphins - where he was far more productive than he ever was in Foxborough.
There is an interesting article on Chris Singleton below, detailing how he donated bone marrow to help save his leukemia-stricken twin brother.
The cancer had gone undetected, festering in Kevin Singleton'sbody for who knows how long. When it finally revealed its sicklypresence in July 1989, the
vault.si.com
Chris, meanwhile, was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots. When he made his first visit to Boston, just after the draft, no one from the Patriot organization met him at Logan Airport. He took a shuttle bus to his hotel, but there wasn't a reservation in his name. On the field Singleton felt even less at home. In 3½ seasons he played for three different coaches and never registered more than 60 tackles a year. Bill Parcells, who took over as Patriot coach in 1993, didn't feel Singleton fit into his defensive system and waived him before the year was out.
This April 29, 2015 article below is fascinating - not just for the Singleton piece, but for all the other players profiled as well.
Profiles of each player drafted in the first round in 1990, and videos of some of them discussing challenges they faced once their N.F.L. careers ended.
www.nytimes.com
The 25 players selected in the first round of the 1990 N.F.L. draft paint a complex picture of life after football. Some have millions of dollars in the bank, while others have declared bankruptcy. Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau and Emmitt Smith have been elected to the Hall of Fame; Tony Bennett avoids the game. Rodney Hampton, Mark Carrier and others are coaches. Keith McCants is a recovering addict. A quarter-century after the draft, they shared their stories.
. . .
Chris Singleton last played in an N.F.L. game in 1996, but it was not until last year that he put football fully behind him.
Sure, he left the game with some of the millions of dollars he had earned as a linebacker for the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins; moved back to Arizona, where he had gone to college; worked at a series of pharmaceutical sales jobs; and helped raise a son and a daughter.
But underneath the veneer of his seemingly normal life was a former N.F.L. player struggling to adapt to the loss of the big paychecks, the adulation of the fans and the camaraderie of his teammates, and the chance to play a game he loved.
Unable to cope with that psychological loss — which was compounded by throbbing physical injuries, including four screws in his damaged ankle — he drank, cheated on his wife, divorced, spent his savings, declared bankruptcy, stopped exercising and gained a lot of weight. Then, last August, he tried to kill himself.
“No matter what level, when you come out of the N.F.L., we have all sorts of issues,” said Singleton. “I still hurt, and it takes a big-time toll. We’re taught to self-medicate because we’re supposed to be warriors. I put everything on my shoulders, and dealing with the pain can be real destructive. I was married once and divorced after I got out of the N.F.L., and I attribute that to being angry that my career was over, and I thought I was still able to play.”
Out of despair, hope arrived. . . .
Chris Singleton played in 41 games with 26 starts for the Patriots. He made 126 tackles with four sacks, then spent four seasons with Don Shula in Miami.
Another bit of trivia: Singleton was one of eight NFL players to appear in 17 regular season games prior to the league expanding to a 17-game schedule.
With NFL teams set to play a 17-game schedule for the first time this fall, we tracked down the guys who have done it — and their stories are worth hearing.
sports.yahoo.com
Chris Singleton HOF
arizonawildcats.com
Oct 25, 2021:
After a successful NFL career, coaching basketball was Chris Singleton’s new game plan. However, after a persuasive 20-minute conversation with Gilbert football’s head coach Derek Zellner, Singleton quickly changed his
www.eastvalleytribune.com
