Today In Patriots History April 3: AWTE Russ Francis

In memory of Russ Francis, who would have turned 73 today
Born April 3, 1953 in Seattle; grew up on Oahu, Hawaii
Died October 1, 2023 at the age of 70 in Lake Placid, New York
Patriot tight end 1975-1980, 1987-1988; uniform #81, #49 ('87)
Selected in the first round (16th overall) by the Pats in the 1975 draft, from Oregon
Pats résumé: 8 seasons, 92 games; 207 receptions for 3,153 yards (15.3 ypc), 28 TD; 3x Pro Bowler; Pats 35th Anniversary Team; Pats All-1970s Team


A Patriots head coach once said "if you've got tight ends that can do the same things as your wide receivers, you're just more flexible". Bill Belichick talking about Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez? Nope, that was Ron Erhardt 45 years ago; Fargo was talking about Russ Francis, who was born 73 years ago today.

For those that never saw Russ Francis play the first thing I would point out is that today's game is entirely different than it was when he played. Therefore, don't look at his stats and compare it to today's players, because that's an apples and oranges thing. I will point out that Francis made three consecutive Pro Bowls despite being on what was primarily a running team: the Pats ran on 63% of their plays, for 3,165 yards in the last of those three seasons. Francis absolutely did his part; he was a terrific blocker, though that doesn't turn up on the stat sheets and all-time rankings.


Younger fans that enjoyed Gronk's larger than life personality would have loved Russ Francis. His family urged the Hawaiian native to spend time on a ranch in Oregon before his senior year in high school. Next thing you know he set the national high school record for the javelin in 1970 with a distance of over 259 feet - a record that would stand for 18 years - and nearly made the US Olympic team in that event. That in turn got him a scholarship to the University of Oregon - for the track team; he still wasn't a football player yet. While there he did join the Ducks football team and performed well enough to be selected as the 16th overall pick of the 1975 draft - despite not playing his senior year when he was upset at his coach being fired.

Want more? He was an excellent baseball pitcher, drafted by the Kansas City Royals. He enjoyed hang gliding, parachuting, and was a licensed pilot at age 21. By that time Francis had already worked at a rodeo, dove off cliffs in Hawaai, wrestled sharks and wrestled professionally; as a young kid Andre the Giant would babysit him.


Russ quit the game of football after just six years, thanks to the Sullivans miserly ways and their mistreatmant of his roommate, Daryl Stingley, after he was paralyzed. Francis was being groomed by ABC to work Monday Night Football, back in the days when MNF was a huge deal. (Howard Cosell had a man crush on Russ, which helped legitimize the franchise in the eyes of the rest of the football nation at that time.) Francis was working the Pro Bowl, and interviewed Bill Walsh; the San Francisco coach convinced him to go back to playing football while he still could. Russ signed with Walsh's 49ers and three years later was a Super Bowl champion.

Eventually Russ Francis - who had an uncannily similar appearance to Tom Selleck's Magnum PI character - returned to the Patriots, but at age 35 he was nowhere near the player he was when he first played in Foxboro. However, for a few years he and the Patriots brought a lot of excitement to New England, and a level of success Pats fans had never before seen.


It is a travesty that Russ Francis (and Chuck Fairbanks) are not members of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, but Bill Parcells is.









Russ Francis' stats are misleading because the game has changed so dramatically over the years. Francis was a devastating blocker that played a large part in the Pats success in the mid to late seventies. The 1976 Patriots rushed for what was the fourth most yards in NFL history (2,948), and two years later they ran for 3,165 yards - an NFL record that lasted for 31 seasons.

Even though the stats across decades are difficult to compare, it should be noted that at the time the AWTE departed after the 1980 season thanks to the Sullivan's miserly ways, he ranked fourth all-time in franchise history in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns behind wide receivers Jim Colclough, Gino Cappelletti and teammate Stanley Morgan.

Some great commentary from @Actual Pats Fan back in 2017 on Russ Francis here:



Russell Ross Francis (born April 3, 1953), drafted by the New England Patriots in the 1st round (16th pick) of the 1975 NFL Draft, despite sitting out his senior season at Oregon. He grew up in Hawaii. At 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 242 lb (110 kg), Russ was the first Patriot tight end with three career receptions on fourth down plays. Francis is the only Patriot player with three receptions from a pass thrown by a wide receiver, and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection from 1977 to 1979. Yes, he's not in the Pats' HOF because its system relies on local media and online (fairweather) fan voting.

He set the national high school record for the javelin as a senior at Pleasant Hill High School, southeast of Eugene, in 1971 at 259 feet, 9 inches; the record stood until 1988. Francis qualified for The Superstars final and the World Superstars in 1980 and 1981, finishing second in the 1980 final and fourth in 1981. He won the football preliminary in 1981 and set a record of 23.91 seconds in the 50 yard swimming event. The record stood until 1986 when it was broken by Greg Louganis.

Francis appeared in a 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania 2 along with other NFL stars...Eat your heart out, Gronk. The son of wrestling promoter Ed Francis, he briefly competed full-time in the American Wrestling Association after retiring from football. He also competed in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hawaii where he held the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship one time with his older brother, Billy Roy Francis.

Following the 1980 season, Francis retired from professional football. Two things that Francis has said contributed greatly to this decision were, one, when the Patriots refused to give him his promised bonus for making the Pro Bowl (because his injury from a motorcycle accident kept him out of the game); and, secondly, when his roommate, Darryl Stingley, was paralyzed by a Jack Tatum hit, the Patriots tried to cancel Stingley's medical insurance. Francis was the first Patriot player at Stingley's side immediately after the hit. Francis has said it was tough to play after that.
He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a draft pick that the Patriots used to select future Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett.

No, I don't think his circling around the stadium in a helicopter one day at practice will ever be topped.

Last time I spoke with Steve Grogan, he said Russ now lives in Wyoming. No word on how many "Whuffo"s are there ("Whuffo you jump out of parachutes?")

("Um, we don't jump out of parachutes. That would be really dumb.")

Great job by @Pape on this collage:

jmt57 said:

Great job by @Pape on this collage:

Click to expand...

thank you


i saw one on ig where the pats pit the pics inside oversized jersey numbers... trying to work it out on paint is proving difficult lol

There was an old blog that has long since been relegated to the dustbins of the internet, but the fact that I actually received a response from Russ Francis back in 2012 was - and still is - a very cool thing to me.

Russ Francis - All World Tight End





When I first saw that the Russ had responded, I assumed somebody was just screwing with me. We ended up DMing back and forth, talking about the Chuck Fairbanks era Patriots. Good stuff, great guy, class act.





For those of you that are too young to see him, my condolences.

Rest In Peace.











From The Hall: Patriots Divisional Round History -- Patriots.com












‘We thought we were going to a lot of Super Bowls’: The forgotten 1970s Patriots -- Jeff Howe, The Athletic












Good insight below from our resident pilot, @n1997y :

jmt57 said:

Today in Patriots History
All World Tight End Russ Francis​

In memory of Russ Francis, who would have turned 73 today
Born April 3, 1953 in Seattle; grew up on Oahu, Hawaii
Died October 1, 2023 at the age of 70 in Lake Placid, New York
Patriot tight end 1975-1980, 1987-1988; uniform #81, #49 ('87)
Selected in the first round (16th overall) by the Pats in the 1975 draft, from Oregon
Pats résumé: 8 seasons, 92 games; 207 receptions for 3,153 yards (15.3 ypc), 28 TD; 3x Pro Bowler; Pats 35th Anniversary Team; Pats All-1970s Team


A Patriots head coach once said "if you've got tight ends that can do the same things as your wide receivers, you're just more flexible". Bill Belichick talking about Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez? Nope, that was Ron Erhardt 45 years ago; Fargo was talking about Russ Francis, who was born 73 years ago today.

For those that never saw Russ Francis play the first thing I would point out is that today's game is entirely different than it was when he played. Therefore, don't look at his stats and compare it to today's players, because that's an apples and oranges thing. I will point out that Francis made three consecutive Pro Bowls despite being on what was primarily a running team: the Pats ran on 63% of their plays, for 3,165 yards in the last of those three seasons. Francis absolutely did his part; he was a terrific blocker, though that doesn't turn up on the stat sheets and all-time rankings.


Younger fans that enjoyed Gronk's larger than life personality would have loved Russ Francis. His family urged the Hawaiian native to spend time on a ranch in Oregon before his senior year in high school. Next thing you know he set the national high school record for the javelin in 1970 with a distance of over 259 feet - a record that would stand for 18 years - and nearly made the US Olympic team in that event. That in turn got him a scholarship to the University of Oregon - for the track team; he still wasn't a football player yet. While there he did join the Ducks football team and performed well enough to be selected as the 16th overall pick of the 1975 draft - despite not playing his senior year when he was upset at his coach being fired.

Want more? He was an excellent baseball pitcher, drafted by the Kansas City Royals. He enjoyed hang gliding, parachuting, and was a licensed pilot at age 21. By that time Francis had already worked at a rodeo, dove off cliffs in Hawaai, wrestled sharks and wrestled professionally; as a young kid Andre the Giant would babysit him.


Russ quit the game of football after just six years, thanks to the Sullivans miserly ways and their mistreatmant of his roommate, Daryl Stingley, after he was paralyzed. Francis was being groomed by ABC to work Monday Night Football, back in the days when MNF was a huge deal. (Howard Cosell had a man crush on Russ, which helped legitimize the franchise in the eyes of the rest of the football nation at that time.) Francis was working the Pro Bowl, and interviewed Bill Walsh; the San Francisco coach convinced him to go back to playing football while he still could. Russ signed with Walsh's 49ers and three years later was a Super Bowl champion.

Eventually Russ Francis - who had an uncannily similar appearance to Tom Selleck's Magnum PI character - returned to the Patriots, but at age 35 he was nowhere near the player he was when he first played in Foxboro. However, for a few years he and the Patriots brought a lot of excitement to New England, and a level of success Pats fans had never before seen.


It is a travesty that Russ Francis (and Chuck Fairbanks) are not members of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, but Bill Parcells is.

9/27/1976 MNF halftime highlights Patriots at Steelers Howard Cosell Russ Francis All-World mention
1:09 halftime highlights, with Pats in their all-white uniforms; Grogan with long TD passes to Russ Francis & Darryl Stingley





1976-10-18 New England Patriots vs New York Jets; 11:37 Highlight Video
The Patriots won this 1976 MNF game 41-7 over the Jets. #81 has a nice sideline catch at about 9:35 to set up a TD,
but the then 23-year old TE spent most of the game as a sixth offensive lineman; the Pats rushed for 330 yards that evening.





1976 Patriots at Steelers week 3; 19:43 Highlight Video
Here is another game from '76, with the Patriots erasing an 11-point second half deficit to win at Pittsburgh 30-27.
Russ had six receptions for 139 yards, including a 3rd quarter 38-yard TD (10:30 mark) that began the Pats comeback.





1978-09-24 New England Patriots vs Oakland Raiders (Grogan vs Stabler); 18:17 Highlight Video
In 1978 Francis was named to his third straight Pro Bowl. He had five catches for 126 yards and a TD in this 21-14 victory at Oakland.
The TD (6:44) was critical, with the Pats down 14-0 and being dominated up to that point.
​

Russ Francis' stats are misleading because the game has changed so dramatically over the years. Francis was a devastating blocker that played a large part in the Pats success in the mid to late seventies. The 1976 Patriots rushed for what was the fourth most yards in NFL history (2,948), and two years later they ran for 3,165 yards - an NFL record that lasted for 31 seasons.

Even though the stats across decades are difficult to compare, it should be noted that at the time the AWTE departed after the 1980 season thanks to the Sullivan's miserly ways, he ranked fourth all-time in franchise history in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns behind wide receivers Jim Colclough, Gino Cappelletti and teammate Stanley Morgan.

Russ Francis Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Get Russ Francis Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Click to expand...

Pape said:

thank you


i saw one on ig where the pats pit the pics inside oversized jersey numbers... trying to work it out on paint is proving difficult lol

Click to expand...

If Russ is one of the nominees on the fan ballot, don't be surprised if he's voted in over Gronk or Adam or whoever. He (along with Julius Adams) deserves it.

Actual Pats Fan said:

If Russ is one of the nominees on the fan ballot, don't be surprised if he's voted in over Gronk or Adam or whoever. He (along with Julius Adams) deserves it.

Click to expand...

They both should be in already... but the senior committee favors former finalists... neither have been a finalist

Fred Marion, Ron Burton & Chuck Fairbanks look to be the odds on sr committee options

Pape said:

They both should be in already... but the senior committee favors former finalists... neither have been a finalist

Fred Marion, Ron Burton & Chuck Fairbanks look to be the odds on sr committee options

Click to expand...

The Hall is way overdue for a Senior Committee inductee.
There was a time that they met once every four years, but for whatever reason they have not done so in seven years.
That's the only way people like Russ Francis or the three you mentioned above are ever going to get in.

Unfortunately it will be posthumously if it is anyone other than Fred Marion, just as it was for Houston Antwine (who was more deserving than half of the initial class of ten back in 2001), and Leon Gray.

Why wait until after a person is dead to honor them?


Senior Inductees:
2011 - Jon Morris
2015 - Houston Antwine
2019 - Leon Gray

jmt57 said:

Why wait until after a person is dead to honor them?

Click to expand...

one would think robert kraft is becoming much more cognizant of this...

April 3, 1974:
Patriots sign undrafted rookie John 'Deac' Sanders

Although he was born in Chicago, John Sanders grew up in anything but a big city - 800 miles west of Chi-town in the largest city in the county: population 2,000. He attended Sunshine Bible Academy in the middle of the sticks for high school and then stayed in state, going to the University of South Dakota. After graduation he had already started a job as a history teacher in Kansas City, not thinking that an NFL team would be interested in him. Two months after the 1974 draft the Patriots surprised him with a call and signed him to a contract.

Sanders played in 30 games with 24 starts for the Pats. During that time he had five fumble recoveries and six interceptions, including a pick-six off Earl Morrall his rookie season to give the Patriots a 14-0 lead at Miami.

In '74 he started at cornerback opposite Ron Bolton, with Jack Mildren and Prentice McCray as the safeties; his five picks were second best that season under Chuck Fairbanks. The following year Sanders replaced Mildren as the free safety, with former Charger Bob Howard added at corner; Sanders led the team with four fumble recoveries.

Sanders went on injured reserve early in '76 due to a strained Achilles tendon. He was traded to Philadelphia on September 6, 1977 for an 8th round pick in the 1978 draft. Knee injuries and surgeries ended his NFL career in 1979.

New England Patriots


In his post-NFL career John Sanders opened a financial services company that he still runs today with his family, in Jackson, Mississippi.

Where Are They Now? - John Sanders










April 3, 1976:
Patriots claim safety Tim Rudnick off waivers from Denver.

A walk-on at Notre Dame, Rudnick was an 11th round pick in 1974, one of eight Fighting Irish drafted that year. He played in all 14 games for the Colts as a rookie, but saw no playing time with Denver in 1975. Rudnick didn't make it far into training camp with the Pats as he was released by Chuck Fairbanks on August 3, ending his brief NFL career.




April 3, 1991:
The team announces that it will be returning to Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island for training camp in 1991.







April 3, 1995:
Pats sign two free agents: WR Will Moore and NT "Not That" Reggie White.

Will Moore went undrafted in 1992 out of Texas Southern, and played his first three years of pro football in the CFL for the Calgary Staampeders. He started 13 games with 43 receptions for 502 yards and his lone NFL touchdown. He played in the first two games of the '96 season for the Pats before being released on September 10. Moore wrapped up his NFL career playing in 27 games as a reserve for Jacksonville in 1997-98.

See the March 22 entry for more on Reggie White, who played in 16 games with seven starts for the 1995 Patriots.








April 3, 1998:
Patriots re-sign unrestricted free agent linebacker Marty Moore.

Moore returned for his fifth season in New England. The last player selected in the 1994 draft played in 103 games over seven years with the Patriots, earning a ring in his final NFL season in 2001.

April 3, 2000:
Kato Serwanga is re-signed









April 3, 2002:
Brady still living dream: reality of Super Bowl hasn't hit





A fifth round draft pick by the Colts in 1996 out of Missouri, Martin was a six-year veteran who was viewed as a being a two-down player: superior against the run, and average versus the pass. Instead he turned out to be a freelancer who failed to buy into the concept of 'do your job'.

Steve Martin played in 14 games with five starts while with the Patriots, but was unhappy with his decreased role and playing time - and let that be known to the New York press prior to an upcoming game against his prior team, the Jets. Aside from his not keeping these matters in house, more egregious was the fact that this was coming on the heels of a critical late season loss to Tennessee, in which the Patriots allowed 238 yards rushing to drop to 8-6. The combination of a bit too much mouth-running and not enough run-stuffing led to a swift pink slip, as Bill Belichick cut Martin while the ink on those newspapers was still wet.




Martin played in 127 games with 51 starts over nine NFL seasons, constantly moving from one team to the next. Perhaps that annual lack of retention by other teams should have been a warning. His longest tenure was his first, two seasons plus a month in Indy. After that Martin played with the Eagles for a year and a half, then one season or less with each of the Chiefs, Jets, Patriots, Texans and Vikings.

All that was more than what the Patriots got out of Phillips: he was released on August 24, and never signed with another NFL team.




April 3, 2006:
Patriots sign 30-year old CB Eric Warfield

Warfield had spent all eight of his NFL seasons in Kansas City, the last five as a starter, with 20 interceptions, 78 pass break ups and 393 tackles over 115 games. Perhaps he signed because he wanted to experience a postseason run; the Chiefs had played just one postseason game during his time in KC. That was not to be; the Pats released Warfield on September 1, 2006.








April 3, 2006:
Peter Hadhazy passes away at the age of 62


Born in Debrecen, Hungary, Hadhazy moved to the US with his parents during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He joined the NFL as a part-time employee in high school, and attended Iona College on a tennis scholarship. He was hired by the league office after graduation and became its director of player personnel in 1969.

In July 1971, Hadhazy became administrative assistant to Upton Bell, GM of the Patriots. He was later promoted to assistant general manager, a position he stayed at through the 1975 season under Chuck Fairbanks, also working with Director of Player Personnel Bucko Kilroy. The Cleveland Browns hired him as executive vice president before the start of the 1976 season, and added the title of general manager in 1977. Hadhazy left the Browns to return to the NFL office after the 1980 season ended. He joined the USFL in 1982 and served as its director of operations until the league folded in 1986. After the USFL folded, he served as a general manager in the World League of American Football until rejoining the NFL in 1994, where he served in numerous capacities. At the time of his death, he was the NFL's director of game operations.

April 3, 2014:
Patrick Chung signs for a second stint with the Patriots

There was a bit of an upheaval at the safety position in 2014. Steve Gregory was released on February 28 - and then one day after Chung was signed, the Patriots also released Adrian Wilson. The Patriots ended up not drafting a safety in 2014, as some expected, though they would do so a year later - when Jordan Richards was selected with the 64th pick of the 2015 draft. (insert barf emoji here)

As you can see below, the expectations for Chung v2.0 were extremely low.






























April 3, 2015:
Charlie Sumner passes away at the age of 84

Sumner was the Patriots defensive coordinator during the Chuck Fairbanks era, from 1973 to 1978.

April 3, 2024:
Joe Judge joins Ole Miss as a Senior Analyst

Joe Judge was a three-time Super Bowl campion with the Patriots during the second dynasty. He worked as a Special Teams Assistant from 2012-2014, the team's Special Teams Coordinator from 2015 to 2018, then the ST Coordinator plus WR coach in 2019. After two seasons in a no-win job as HC of the NYG, Joe returned in 2022 as an Offensive Assistant and QB Coach, then became the Pats Assistant Head Coach in 2023 before heading south. Judge is now the Rebel's head coach after working as their QB coach last year. Smart move to depart when he did, if not one year earlier.








April 3, 2025:
Joe Milton traded to Dallas






























The trade resulted in a 46-page, 915-comment thread:

Happy 82nd birthday to Randy Beverly
Born April 3, 1944 in Wildwood, New Jersey
Patriot cornerback, 1970-1971; uniform #27
Signed as a 26-year old veteran free agent on September 22, 1970
Pats résumé: two seasons, 21 games (4 starts); two interceptions, two fumble recoveries


Randy Beverly played in 21 games with four starts for the Pats, with two interceptions. He was primarily a special teams player, and later spent a season in the WFL.

He is best known for two plays in Super Bowl III.








From the 1971 Patriots Media Guide:




Randy Beverly Still Super After All These Years

Happy 77th birthday to Ralph Anderson
Born April 3, 1949 in Dallas
Patriot safety, 1973; uniform #49
Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh on September 3, 1973, in exchange for a 1974 fourth round draft pick
Pats résumé: one season, 13 games (11 starts); two interceptions, two fumble recoveries


Ralph Anderson played in 13 games for the Pats with 11 starts. He had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in Chuck Fairbanks' first season as head coach for the Patriots.

The Pats acquired Anderson in a trade with Pittsburgh, two weeks prior to the start of the 1973 season. The Steelers used that 4th round draft pick on WR John Stallworth - who they were initially going to select in the first round - but chose Lynn Swann instead.

Stallworth went on to play 14 seasons in Pittsburgh, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Oops.


In 1974 Fairbanks added Jack Mildren and Prentice McCray to play safety. A 1971 5th round draft pick from West Texas A&M, Anderson was released in mid-August. He never played in the NFL again after that 1973 season; Anderson wrapped up his pro football career playing for the Fire (Chicago), Winds (Chicago) and Thunder (Portland) of the World Football League in 1974-75.

April 3, 1995
The Patriots publish the premiere issue of Patriots Football Weekly, the team's official newspaper.

April 3, 2001:
In celebration of a long-standing construction tradition, the final beam was hoisted into place at CMGI Field to signify the "topping off" of the structure's steel.








Revs happy to call CMGi 'home' - New Bedford Standard-Times

jmt57 said:

Today in Patriots History
Patriots Football Weekly​

April 3, 1995
The Patriots publish the premiere issue of Patriots Football Weekly, the team's official newspaper.

It is with mixed emotions that we must inform you that PFW will stop publishing at the completion of the 2018 season.​

After 24 seasons of PFW, it was a difficult decision to stop printing the newspaper, but as you know, how most fans consume their content has changed. Let's face it, keeping up with the fast-paced news cycle isn't easy with a weekly newspaper! To that end, the staff of PFW will be providing you with even more content on the various Patriots platforms including Patriots.com, the Patriots app and all of the Patriots social media accounts.​

Thank you for being a PFW subscriber and fan!​

Sincerely,​

The entire staff of Patriots Football Weekly​

Click to expand...

Sometimes progress isn't all its cracked up to be