Today in Patriots History
Doug Beaudoin
Happy 72nd birthday to Doug Beaudoin
Born May 15, 1954; from Jamestown, North Dakota
Patriot safety, 1976-1979; uniform #27
Pats 9th round (243rd overall) selection of the 1976 draft, from Minnesota
Pats résumé: four seasons, 45 games (20 starts); four interceptions, two fumble recoveries; in on two sacks in one playoff game
Doug Beaudoin played 45 games with 20 starts for the oh-so-close Patriots of the late seventies. In week 8 of '78 he intercepted two Bob Griese passes that led to touchdowns in a
33-24 win that put the Patriots in a first place tie with the Dolphins at 6-2. Injuries limited his playing time the following year; he ended up playing with the Miami in '80, San Diego in '81, and then spent three seasons with Tampa in the USFL.
Deadspin | Former NFL Player: I Guarantee I Have CTE
deadspin.com
Defensive back Doug Beaudoin was a ninth-round draft pick out of the University of Minnesota in 1976. Beaudoin played with the Patriots through 1979, with the Dolphins in 1980 and with the Chargers in 1981. From 1983 to 1986 he played with the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits, and Beaudoin now lives in the Tampa area where he works in sales for the FX Marketing Group. He is one of the more than 4,500 former NFL players who filed suit against the league over concussions and other head injuries.
Nobody was challenging Doug Beaudoin to a friendly game of anything back in 1971. Unless, of course, said challenger was up for a butt whooping. "I could beat just about anybody at anything," Beaudoin said. "Skiing, golf, pingpong. Whatever you w...
www.jamestownsun.com
Beaudoin, a 1972 JHS graduate, was named North Dakota High School Athlete of the Year in '71 after leading the Blue Jays to an 8-1 record in football, a 22-5 mark in basketball and placing second in the Class A state long jump competition. Beaudoin would become a four-year starter at safety in the NCAA's Big Ten Conference for Minnesota, and in 1976 he was drafted by the New England Patriots in the ninth round of a then 17-round NFL Draft—the same draft in which New England selected future NFL Hall of Fame cornerback Mike Haynes fifth overall.
Nobody was challenging Doug Beaudoin to a friendly game of anything back in 1971. Unless, of course, said challenger was up for a butt whooping. "I could beat just about anybody at anything," Beaudoin said. "Skiing, golf, ping pong. Whatever ...
Beaudoin played seven seasons in the NFL, five for New England and making stops in Miami and San Diego in '80 and '81, respectively. Beaudoin recorded four interceptions during his NFL run, but was hampered throughout his professional career by an injury suffered during his senior track season at Jamestown High.
"I'll never forget it," Beaudoin said. "We were running the 440 relay in Valley City and it was about 30 degrees and sleeting. I took the baton for the home stretch, probably ran about 30 yards, and my hamstring snapped. I was probably never the same after that."
The born athlete said his time in the 40-yard dash fell from approximately 4.40 to 4.60, and hamstring issues would cloud weeks of strong play on the gridiron even as Beaudoin ascended to the sport's highest level. His New England teammate in the secondary, Mike Haynes, brought up Beaudoin's injury-prone legs while the two shared a moment in Canton, Ohio, in 1987.
Haynes was getting his call to the NFL Hall of Fame.
"We were sitting there and I was congratulating him on his Hall of Fame career, and he said, "You know what, Doug? If not for your hamstrings, you'd probably be sitting here too," Beaudoin recalled.
June 19, 2021:
Jun. 19—Doug Beaudoin, who will be enshrined into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in Jamestown next weekend, has had to put up with a few years of teasing from Brooks Bollinger. "Brooks Bollinger — my nephew — actually got inducted three years ago and I think that it's a great injustice...
sports.yahoo.com
During his two years at Jamestown High School, Beaudoin lettered in football, basketball, and track while a student-athlete for the Blue Jays. Beaudoin led the Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC) running backs in 1971 averaging 108.5 yards per game. Beaudoin also paced the East Region in points scored (90) with 15 touchdowns. The former Blue Jay led EDC punters averaging 37.7 yards over 18 kicks.
Just a couple of months later, Beaudoin helped lead the JHS basketball team to a 22-2 record en route to defeating the undefeated Ft. Yates Warriors. In the spring of his junior year, Beaudoin placed second in the long jump at the Class A State Track and Field Meet.
"I think I was born with a ball in my hand," Beaudoin said. "I don't care what kind of ball it was — baseball, basketball, football — that's what I was born to do. Back in those days, if you put a ball in my hand, whatever game it was, I think I would beat you."
Beaudoin was selected to the all-state football and basketball teams during both his junior and senior years. Beaudoin was inducted into the Jamestown High School Hall of Fame in 2018.
The standout's senior year, however, threw a bit of a wrench into post-high school dreams.
In the spring of 1972, Beaudoin was running the 4X440-yard relay in Valley City. The sleet and misting invoked a pop of Beaudoin's hamstring and the muscle eventually ended up in a ball at the base of his kneecap.
After the unfortunate mishap, Beaudoin said his athletic talent wasn't quite at the same level, but the persistence was still there.
On defense, Beaudoin was the second-leading tackler all three years and recorded four interceptions. Beaudoin was named to the 1975 All-Big Ten Football Team being only one of only a handful of players in Gophers' history with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
"From high school on, it was grit," Beaudoin said. "I was the first one in the training room, I was the last one on the field because it took so much just to try to stay healthy that I did whatever I needed to do to get back on the field."
The NFL noticed the Blue Jay alum's perseverance.
After his four seasons in Minnesota, Beaudoin was drafted by the New England Patriots as a safety in the ninth round of the 1976 NFL draft. Beaudoin remained on the Patriot roster for five years. During the 1976-77 season, he was a leading team player averaging over 25 yards per return on kickoffs and second-leading special team tackles.
In 1978, Beaudoin was the third leading tackler on defense and second in interceptions with three. Beaudoin made a pair of interceptions in the Patriots' 33-24 win over the Miami Dolphins that propelled the team into the playoffs. The Patriots qualified for the AFC Divisional Playoffs in the 1976 and 1978 seasons.
"As you get older you realize how much you miss it," Beaudoin said. "(The best part) was competing and the friendships you build through fighting the battles with these guys. Every Sunday you build some really special friendships that you will never lose."
In 1980, Beaudoin played for the Miami Dolphins, followed by the San Diego Chargers in 1981. He joined the Tampa Bay Bandits of the new USFL in 1982 and played until the league came to an end in 1985. He retired from football following the 1985 season.
January 28, 2014:
Deadspin | Former NFL Player: I Guarantee I Have CTE
deadspin.com
You really can't believe anything the league says, anything Goodell says, but they're allegedly trying to make the game safer. Now would they have tried to make the game safer without a $785 million judgment? No. It's called cover your ass.
I feel pretty fortunate when I look around at 59 and see the damage that a lot of my peers are going through and have gone through over the last 10, 15, 20 years. Am I concerned? Hell yes. You know, your decision-making process is sketchy is best. My memory is not good. I do feel depressed more often than I should. So yeah, I'm really concerned. I did have an MRI where they came back and basically said they didn't see any problems with the MRI, but I guarantee you I have CTE. Unfortunately we're not going to know it until I'm dead.
I am at 59 years old, still gainfully employed. And I've been in sales, basically, since I got out of the league. Went from the brokerage business, which is basically glorified sales, to a marketing company here that is basically sales. I'm not nearly as good of a salesman as I was five years ago, 10 years, 15 years ago. I have cue cards all over my office reminding me what the hell I'm doing. I used to be able to sell a couple projects at one time. Now I can only sell one project at a time because I can't remember the other project and what exactly I need to know.
We're not looking for sympathy. I'm not looking for anybody to feel sorry for me because, as I said, I feel fortunate and I'd do it again. But am I concerned going forward, where five years from now it's going to be completely worse and it's going to be tougher and tougher to stay employed? Yeah. Yeah, I'm concerned about that.
I think it was a game against Earl Campbell where we've got 10-yard running head starts, so it's you and him, and you just go like a heat-seeking missile and hit whatever's moving and you take a knee. As his knee's coming up, to the crown of your head, it knocks you silly.
Now, the one that's the most memorable is one I suffered in the USFL. And I think I remember this because it was the last one. I played seven years in the NFL and three years in the USFL. I think we were playing Jim Kelly's team, Houston, and the tight end ran across the middle and, once again, we're both running full speed and we hit each other. And I remember lying on the field. This was my 10th year of professional football. Not much was moving. I was tingling all over. My head was ringing. And they went through about three commercials and I was still on the field, and I just remember lying there going, "I can't do this anymore." And it was toward the end of the season, 10th year, so your body's run down and beat up to begin with. And it took probably five to eight minutes to get the feeling in all your extremities: your legs and your neck and your arms. And I finally got up, got back to the locker room and said, "Enough's enough. Your body can only take so much."
Doug finished his pro football career with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL in 1985. He remained in the area, first working for a brokerage, then working as the VP of Sales and Entertainment for the FX Marketing Group in Tampa until his retirement a couple years ago. FX was a sports marketing/management and publishing firm specializing in client & event management.
Jeff Boschee, Whitney Carlson Bruins, Doug Beaudoin, and Mike Peluso will be enshrined into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame this summer in Jamestown.
www.jamestownsun.com
Get Doug Beaudoin Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.
www.pro-football-reference.com
The trusted source for pro football information about Doug Beaudoin. Get statistics, transactions. biographical data and more at Pro Football Archives.
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