Today In Patriots History April 18: the underwhelming 1998 draft

The New England Patriots entered the 1998 NFL Draft with six of the top 81 draft picks - two selections in each of the first three rounds. Besides their own original picks, the Pats owned three more Jet draft picks: an additional first and third as compensation for the loss of restricted free agent Curtis Martin, plus another second that was one of the four picks awarded to New England for Bill Parcells signing with NYJ.

With all that draft capital, this should have been a glorious day to remember. But for these 20th century Patriots, it was less like the April 18, 1775 glorious ride of Paul Revere and John Dawes, and more like the devastating April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. A golden opportunity was squandered, eventually indirectly leading to the end for Pete Carroll and Bobby Grier.


April 18, 1998:
63rd Annual Player Selection Meeting, better known as the NFL Draft
Day One, Rounds 1-3
The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York City



- 1st round, 18th overall (from the Jets for Curtis Martin):
RB Robert Edwards, Georgia

- 1st round, 22nd overall (Patriots own pick):
S Tebucky Jones, Syracuse

- 2nd round, 52nd overall (part of compensation from Jets for Bill Parcells):
WR Tony Simmons, Wisconsin

- 2nd round, 54th overall:
TE Rod Rutledge, Alabama

- 3rd round, 81st overall (from the Jets for Curtis Martin):
FB Chris Floyd, Michigan

- 3rd round, 83rd overall:
DE Chris Spires, Florida State




Now let's do a bit of a re-draft, based on who was available.

RB Robert Edwards, 1.18
Randy Moss was selected three picks after Robert Edwards and one before Tebucky, at 1.21
If the Pats wanted a RB first they could have packaged some draft picks together to move up, for Fred Taylor

S Tebucky Jones, 1.22
Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca was selected four spots later
Five-time Pro Bowl tackle Flozell Adams was taken by Dallas early in the second round
If the team wanted a DB, corners Patrick Surtain and Samari Rolle were available too

WR Tony Simmons, 2.52
Anybody but Simmons would have been a better choice
One year later the Pats took C Damien Woody in the first round
They could have gone with C Jeremy Newberry (2.58) here instead, and used the '99 first on another position

TE Rod Rutledge, 2.54
Rutledge was as good as there was at TE in '98; no problem with this pick
But since they went FB next, Jon Ritchie (3.63) is a possible alternate choice

FB Chris Floyd, 3.81
Had the Pats gone with Newberry rather than Simmons in the 2nd round, grab your WR here
Hines Ward was still on the board and went later in the third round

DE Greg Spires, 3.83
No issues with this pick; the problem was injuries, then the Pats giving up on him too soon
But if they wanted another RB, Michael Pittman Sr was available



Day Two wasn't any better.

4th round, #115: DT Leonta Rheems
CB Deshea Townshend, S Lance Schulters and LB Greg Favors were all solid starts that were chosen in the next few picks
Rheems lasted one season; his NFL career consisted of six games

5th round, #145: LB Ron Merkerson
Six-time Pro Bowl C Matt Birk was available
Merkerson never played in a single NFL game

6th round, #176: RB Harold Shaw
Pro Bowl FB Fred Beasley was available, taken four spots later
Another option would have been BC QB Matt Hasselbeck, to backup Bledsoe
Shaw rushed for a total of 35 yards over his three seasons

7th round, #211: BYU C/G Jason Anderson
CB Eric Warfield was still available; he had an eight-year career with KC, five as a starter
Anderson played in 19 NFL games, 16 in New England[/I]



On a side note, the 1998 draft is most well known for the Colts deciding to choose Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf with the first overall pick.

Not only did Leaf turn out to be a huge bust, but San Diego gave up a lot just to move up one slot to take him. The Chargers traded Eric Metcalf, Patrick Sapp, their 1998 #3 overall first round pick, their 1998 second round, #33 pick, AND their 1999 first round pick (#8 overall to the Cardinals - just to move up one spot! Arizona being Arizona, they didn't take advantage of that gift, selecting Florida State draft bust DE Andre Wadsworth at #3, while Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson was still on the board


In addition, at the #5 overall pick the Chicago Bears went with Penn State RB Curtis Enis rather than Florida RB Fred Taylor. Before the draft Jacksonville traded QB Rob Johnson, their backup who had looked good in his one and only start, to Buffalo for the Bills #9 overall pick. The Jaguars selected Fred Taylor, while Johnson went 9-18 as a starter in his four seasons in Buffalo.

Happy 37th birthday to Zach Sudfeld
Born April 18, 1989 in Santa Cruz
Patriots tight end, 2013; uniform #44
Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Nevada on May 3, 2013
Pats résumé: one partial season, three games (zero starts); zero receptions, 45 offensive snaps, five special team snaps


Zachary Jonathan Sudfeld was a 6'7 short-lived phenom, who was an undrafted free agent signing out of Nevada in 2013. Initially he was considered to be nothing more than camp fodder, stuck way down on the depth chart behind Gronk, Aaron Hernandez, Michael Hoomanawanui, Daniel Fells and Jake Ballard.


Sudfeld impressed in the offseason - including a TD and two-point conversion in preseason week two. Then Hernandez went full psychotic and was infamously released, Ballard was unable to physically recover from his knee injury, and Fells underwhelmed in camp. With that Zach Sudfeld went from a nobody to a fan favorite, and survivor of final roster cuts as the team's third tight end.


The fairy book tale didn't last long though. In the first game of the regular season a short pass to the right bounced off his hands for an interception. After being inactive for a game, in week three a pass thrown his way in the end zone was picked off. Then in week four he fumbled away an onside kick - and his New England Patriot career was over.


In three games Sudfeld had zero receptions on three targets, with two of those passes resulting in interceptions.


Since Rex Ryan is Rex Ryan, he couldn't help himself and of course he claimed the rookie off waivers - and of course he made him a team captain to go out for the coin flip when the Jets played the Patriots. Sudfeld appeared in 27 games for the Jets in 2013-14, totaling ten receptions for 148 yards and zero touchdowns. He spent 2015 on IR after tearing his ACL in minicamp, and was released at the end of training camp in 2016 - ending his NFL career.


His legacy lives on, however. Patriot fans now have the annual Zach Stud-feld Award, given to a new player who is wildly overrated by fans and the media during training camp and preseason games. (In full disclosure, I must admit that I too have suffered from Zach Sudfeld syndrome. I can still vividly remember times when I was fully convinced that Markell Carter and Kanorris Davis would soon become solid contributors, and starters a year or two down the road.)

Not only do you lose Curtis Martin to the Jets, but then do nothing with the compensation you got from losing him... still sucks.

TO BE FAIR, Robert Edwards looked like he could at least be a decent back before that horrifying leg injury. Dude almost lost the leg below the knee. In that injury, I think, you eventually get Belichick and Brady.

Team had no rushing attack to balance out the passing game with Drew. Everyone knew Drew was going back to pass. Offense gets one dimensional, team loses games as Bledsoe gets beaten to hell. Pete Carroll cycled through offensive coordinators. No replacements for Drew's offensive line or weapons gets drafted.

To me, this creates the perfect storm by the time Belichick comes along. Another new coordinator. Another head coach. Belichick cuts Bledsoe's remaining lifelines and sends out Drew Bledsoe with a cast of nobodies in 2000.

By this point, I think to a certain extent Bledsoe was just feeling like he had no support left.

April 18, 1979:
Bob Dee passes away from a heart attack while on a business trip in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dee was only 45, and he left behind three sons and a daughter.

Despite still being a solid starter and one of the better players in the AFL, Bob Dee decided to call it a career after the 1967 season. This was back in the days when most pro football players worked offseason jobs, and Bob had a business offer that was "too good to refuse". After previously working in real estate, he opened Jet Line Services, and spent the rest of his life in the hazardous waste cleanup business.

I grew up two blocks away from Bob Dee, and he would regularly come to speak at annual Little League and Cub Scout meetings. He was a mentor to a mutual neighbor by the name of Alan McKim, who later started his own hazardous waste disposal business. Founded a year after Bob Dee's death in 1980, Clean Harbors is now a publicly traded company with a market cap of over $16 billion, with annual revenues of over $6 billion. It ranks 586th on the Fortune 500, up from #764 in 2017.

Bob Dee was posthumously inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in August 1993. His spot in Patriots history is so huge that he was just the fourth player ever inducted. The team also retired his jersey number, 89 - he is the only Patriots to ever wear that number - while his helmet resides in The Hall at Patriot Place.






April 18, 1979:
New head coach Ron Erhadt hires Billy Kinard as defensive backs coach.

A second round draft pick by Cleveland in 1956, Kinard was a college and pro coach from 1961 to 1980, after four seasons in the NFL. Kinard was the head coach at Ole Miss from 1971-73, when the football program first became integrated.

Billy Kinard biography - Professional Football Researchers Association
The Rebels were the last team in the SEC to have a black player. We can only guess about the amount of outside pressure that was placed on Kinard and the rest of the program at that time. After all, it was only two years before (1970) when a Jackson Clarion Ledger sports columnist wrote this: “There will be no Negro flashes in the Ole Miss backfield, or lightning-fast black flankers in the flats or tough Negro troopers in the offensive or defensive lines as long as the stars and bars of the Confederacy remains the true standard of the school.”






April 18, 1989:
DE Kenneth Sims is re-signed to a one-year contract.

'89 would be the final year of the playing days for the first overall pick of the 1982 draft.


Also, Bill Brown dies at the age of 52 in Hempstead, New York. The original #54 played in all 14 games in the inaugural 1960 season for the Boston Patriots at middle linebacker.




April 18, 1996:
Free agent LB Rich McKenzie is signed to a one-year deal; he would be waived in August.




April 18, 1997:
Patriots re-sign restricted free agent DE Ferric Collons to a two-year, $1.25 million contract, matching Philadelphia's RFA offer sheet.

Collons played in 64 games for the Patriots from 1995-1999.




April 18, 1998:
Day One, Rounds 1-3 of the 1998 NFL Draft
The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, New York

QBs Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf go 1-2.

See the original post.




April 18, 1999:
Day Two, Rounds 4-7 of the 1999 NFL Draft
The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, New York

- 4.122: sent to Tennessee the previous day, as part of a deal to trade up to draft Kevin Faulk
- 5.154: G Derrick Fletcher, Baylor
- 6.180: S Marcus Washington, Colorado (pick was previously acquired from Ravens for Lovett Purnell)
- 6.191: sent to Seattle the previous day, as part of a deal to trade up to draft Damien Woody
- 7.227: QB Michael Bishop, Kansas State
- 7.241: WR Sean Morey, Brown (compensatory pick for loss of Keith Byars and Sam Gash)




April 18, 1962:
Nothing to do with the Patriots, but it is Boston/New England sports-related.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 110-107 in overtime at Boston Garden to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals. This victory secured the Celtics' fifth NBA championship, and fourth consecutive title. Bill Russell led the Celtics with 30 points, plus an NBA Finals record-tying 40 rebounds. Russell's herculean effort contributed to a Finals series record of 189 rebounds, which remains unmatched to this day - and most likely never be broken. Additionally, Celtics guard Sam Jones added another 27 points and eight rebounds to the team's big win.

BennyBledsoe said:

Not only do you lose Curtis Martin to the Jets, but then do nothing with the compensation you got from losing him... still sucks.

TO BE FAIR, Robert Edwards looked like he could at least be a decent back before that horrifying leg injury. Dude almost lost the leg below the knee. In that injury, I think, you eventually get Belichick and Brady.

Team had no rushing attack to balance out the passing game with Drew. Everyone knew Drew was going back to pass. Offense gets one dimensional, team loses games as Bledsoe gets beaten to hell. Pete Carroll cycled through offensive coordinators. No replacements for Drew's offensive line or weapons gets drafted.

To me, this creates the perfect storm by the time Belichick comes along. Another new coordinator. Another head coach. Belichick cuts Bledsoe's remaining lifelines and sends out Drew Bledsoe with a cast of nobodies in 2000.

By this point, I think to a certain extent Bledsoe was just feeling like he had no support left.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it seemed as if the energy and enthusiasm had completely evaporated. Sure, Pete Carroll never had a losing season in his three years in NE - but by the end of '99, that was not a good team at all, in dire need of an overhaul. By that time they were not a fun team to watch.

Robert Edwards was the appropriate pick in my opinion, even with Randy Moss available. Bledsoe would have been sacked every time he went back to throw before Randy could run his route. Simmons and Floyd were big nothing-burgers; that certainly did not help matters.

April 18, 2000:
The Patriots unveil designs for a new stadium at a 5:00 press luncheon at the Seaport Hotel in Boston

Patriots Reveal Stadium Designs - Patriots.com








The team also announced a change in uniforms from royal blue to nautical blue, though they did not at that time have any prototypes. A month later the unis would be unveiled when quarterback Drew Bledsoe, linebacker Ted Johnson and placekicker Adam Vinatieri modeled the team's new uniforms during WBCN's River Rave 2000 concert series at Foxboro Stadium.

Patriots to Unveil their New Uniforms at WBCN's River Rave 2000

Happy 26th birthday to Caedan Wallace
Born April 18, 2000 in Robbinsville, New Jersey
Patriots offensive lineaman, 2024-present; uniform #70
Pats third round (68th overall) selection of the 2024 draft, from Penn State
Pats résumé: two seasons, 10 games (two starts)

Wallace is a bit of an enigma. Drafted to play left tackle, even though he played right tackle in college. Spent most of his rookie year on injured reserve, then was a healthy game day inactive for most of his second season. Yet he is still here on the roster under the new regime, unlike most of the picks from the 2024 draft.

Happy 54th birthday to David Green
Born April 18, 1972; from Bedford, New York
Patriot running back, 1995; uniform #38
Signed as an undrafted free agent from Boston College on May 1, 1995
Pats résumé: two games


David G. Green went to Boston College and rushed for 1,018 yards at 5.1 yards per carry his senior year. In the 1994 Aloha Bowl he ran for 127 yards in a victory over #8 Kansas State. Green appeared in the first two games of the 1995 season for the Patriots on special teams, but never got a chance to touch the ball.


Green is most well known for a play he wishes everyone would forget. In 1993 #17 Boston College defeated #1 Notre Dame 41-39 in what is arguably - despite the legend of Hail Flutie - the greatest football game in BC history. The following week the Eagles moved up from #17 to #11 in the national rankings. The next game was a winner-take-all showdown for the Big East title, versus undefeated #5 West Virginia at Alumni Stadium. The Eagles dominated the game but were unable to put the Mountaineers away. BC was driving for a clinching TD, already up 14-10 - but a fumble by Green at the 37-yard line with under two minutes left gave West Virginia life. The Mountaineers drove down the field to score a go-ahead touchdown, denying the Eagles their first New Year's Day bowl game, and a Big East title.


Fast forward to the 1995 season: Green was cut at the end of camp, and signed to the practice squad. Before the season began he replaced RB Dino Philyaw on the active roster, and appeared in the first two games. However, Green suffered a knee injury in a week two loss to Miami, and spent the rest of the season on injured reserve. He was unable to pass the physical prior to the 1996 training camp and was released - thus ending his very brief NFL career.

Happy 46th birthday to Ade Jimoh
Born April 18, 1980 is Los Angeles; hometown Woodland Hills CA
Patriots cornerback, 2008 offseason; uniform #43
Signed as a veteran free agent on August 13, 2008
Pats résumé: one training camp & preseason

Adebola Olurotimi Jimoh went undrafted from Utah State, and played in 69 games as a backup and special teamer for Washington from 2003-06, and Chicago in 2007. He only lasted eight days in Foxborough, the last stop of his NFL career, appearing in a week two preseason 27-10 loss at Tampa Bay.

His post-NFL life includes earning an MBA from Westminster College in New Wilmington PA, international experience in Cambodia, and roles in sales, technology strategy, and low-income housing in DC. He relocated to the Salt Lake City area and, as of 2015, joined National Corporate Housing as a global sales director, where he developed customized temporary housing solutions for corporate clients, including Fortune 500 companies and large-scale projects like accommodating over 1,000 interns. The role encompasses both domestic and international assignments, with a focus on the sports industry to meet seasonal needs, such as housing for athletes during training periods. As of 2024 Jimoh served as Strategic Global Business Development at National Corporate Housing.











Draft Pick Trades:

LB Hayes Pullard, 34 (April 18, 1992)
46 games, 12 starts with Jaguars & Chargers, 2015-18
May 1, 2015: Traded by Pats as 2015 7th round pick (219th overall) with 2015 3rd round pick (96th overall, DT Xavier Cooper) to Browns for 2015 4th round pick (111th overall, Tre' Jackson), 2015 5th round pick (147th overall subsequently traded, QB Brett Hundley) and 2015 6th round pick (202nd overall, TE A.J. Derby)

Would have been a good trade had Tre' Jackson been able to stay healthy.




OLB Princely Umanmielen, 24 (April 18, 2002)
16 games, zero starts as a third round pick rookie with Carolina
April 25, 2025: Traded by Pats as 2025 3rd round pick (77th overall) to Panthers for 2025 3rd round pick (85th overall subsequently traded, resulted in C Jared Wilson) and 2025 5th round pick (146th overall, Bradyn Swinson)

At the moment the trade looks like a win for the Patriots.






Relatives:

Pete Gogolak, 84 (April 18, 1942)
Brother of Charlie Gogolak, Pats K 1970-72

The Hungarian-born brothers grew up in Ogdensburg NY, on the Saint Lawrence River, about 100 miles west of Montreal and 60 miles east of Lake Ontario. The Gogolaks, especially Pete, are considered to be the innovators of soccer-style kicking in the NFL. Pete was an AFL All Star for Buffalo in 1965, leading to Charlie being the sixth overall pick of the 1966 NFL draft by Washington. Charlie had a much less stellar career, due to recurring hamstring issues. He went 20-36 on FG attempts with the Pats from 1970-72, before the team found John Smith in 1974.





Bob Khayat, 88 (April 18, 1938)
Brother of Ed Khayat, Pats DT, 1966

Ed finished his 10-year pro football career with the 1966 Boston Patriots, and was an NFL coach from 1967 to 2003 - including with the Pats as their defensive line coach from 1985-1989. Ed's brother Robert was a placekicker and offensive lineman for Washington from 1960 to 1963, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1960 after making all 19 extra points, and ranking second with a 65% completion rateon field goal attempts.











Other pro football players with New England connections born on April 18:


Walt Sweeney (4/18/1941 - 2/2/2013)
Sweeney is one of only two football players from Cohasset to make it to the NFL. He played his college ball at Syracuse and was the second overall pick in the 1963 AFL draft by San Diego. Sweeney was a nine-time Pro Bowl and two-time All Pro right guard for the Chargers. He played for 13 years and missed just one game during that time, in his final season. The hard living Sweeney probably suffered from the old school NFL bias that prevented many AFL players from being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Merlin Olsen once said that if he had to play against Sweeney every week, "I'd rather sell used cars."





Isaiah Likely, 26 (4/18/2000)
Likely grew up in Cambridge and went to Malden High School before transferring to Everett High School for his senior year. As a junior, he caught 59 passes for 917 yards with 11 touchdowns. The tight end was a 2022 4th round draft pick by Baltimore out of Coastal Carolina, and in four seasons thus far has 135 receptions and 15 touchdowns for the Ravens.





John Sinnott, 68 (4/18/1958)
Sinnott was a left tackle who spent four seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. He appeared in nine games with seven starts for the Colts in 1982. Sinnott graduated from Dedham High School and Brown University, with a degree in civil engineering. He was a vice president and Business Unit Leader at Gilbane Building Company in Providence, and recently hired as director of production for South Coast Improvement Company (SCIC), a design-build general contractor serving states in the eastern region of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean.




Steve Cheek, 49 (4/18/1977)
Cheek attended UMass and was a punter in 2004 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He also spent time with the Eagles, Giants, Texans, Niners and Panthers. Cheek was also in NFL Europe for two years.




James Marten, 42 (4/18/1984)
Marten is a left guard and left tackle from Boston College. He was selected by the Cowboys in the third round (67th overall) in the 2007 draft. He spent time with the Cowboys, Raiders, Bears and Dolphins from 2007-2010, but appeared in only one NFL game.





Bill Lajousky (1913 - 1973)
Lajousky was a lineman in the 30s with the Steelers. Born in Russia when his father was drafted into the military during the first World War, he and his mother lived on their own until his mother was also drafted as a munitions worker for the Germans. Lajousky's father was never found after the war, and in 1921 he and his mother emigrated to Worcester Mass. at the suggestion of his uncle, who had earlier emigrated to the US.

Lajousky attended Worcester Classical High School. He was a two-year letterman for the Catholic University (DC) from 1934 to 1935. He was a starter for the team that somehow miraculously beat the Ole Miss Rebels in the 1936 Orange Bowl. He also participated in track and field at Catholic, and was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 1979.




Tony Latone (1897 - 1975)
Tony was one of the original pro football players, part of the 1925 Pottsville Maroons, and later a wingback and fullback for the 1929 Boston Bulldogs and 1930 Providence Steam Roller.



Good stuff here:
The Coffin Corner - Tony Latone: The Hero of Pottsville






Paul Briggs (April 18, 1920 - Feb 14, 2011)
Mr. Briggs was born in Providence, and was a lineman for the Detroit Lions in the 40's.

A little less than four years ago, Paul Briggs gave me a quote that basically summed up what he thought of his life.

Briggs, a former Orange Coast College football assistant and a high school coaching legend in Bakersfield, died on Monday at age 90 while in an assisted care facility.

He coached for 57 years, including 20 seasons at OCC. At Bakersfield High, he guided the Drillers to a 210-99-15 record. He was such a great mentor to many, and one of my all-time favorite people.

I am saddened by his death, but happy that he appeared to have lived such a full life.

“It’s a good life,” Briggs said in June, 2007. “I still look back on it and I wouldn’t change a damn thing.”

I interviewed Coach Briggs for a story in 2003, three years after I had written a column about following him on the sideline during a football game. He was very kind to me. He invited me to his home for dinner for the interview.

He gave me a tour of his house. Since he knew my love for football, he showed me countless photos of his playing days with the Detroit Lions, and even some of his college games at Colorado.

He showed me all his coaching awards, including the plaque that read: 1972 National High School Coach of the Year.

When he showed me a special medal he held back tears as he told me war stories. He had earned the Purple Heart with the Navy while fighting in World War II. In Tuesday’s Bakersfield Californian, Coach Briggs’ life was detailed in a great article. In the story it says, he earned the Purple Heart after being hit by shrapnel in the nose and back during a Japanese kamikaze attack. He also earned a Bronze star for bravery.


When he was ten years old, he told his mother he was going to be a football player and football coach, and he achieved these goals. In 1939, he graduated from Grand Junction High School in Colorado where he lettered in football and wrestling, and was selected to the Colorado H.S. State All-Star Football Team. He attended Mesa Jr. College in 1940 where he was selected to the Inter-Mountain J.C. All-Conference Football Team and named Conference Most Outstanding Lineman. At the University of Colorado in Boulder, he was voted United Press All-American at offensive tackle in 1943 and was selected for the Big Six All-Conference Football Teams in 1943, ’46 and ’47. In 1948, he was selected for the All-West Team in the East vs. West Shrine College All-Star game. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1948 and played offensive tackle and linebacker until he suffered an NFL career-ending knee injury. At 6′ 5″, 285 pounds, the then coach of the Lions said, “Golly, that fellow is big enough to hunt bears with a switch!” In 1941, Paul enlisted in the NROTC while at the Univ. of Colorado, was commissioned Ensign in Dec. 1943 and ordered to active duty on the Destroyer USS Daly DD519 in the WWII Pacific Theater. He participated in the liberation of the Philippines and radar picket duty (Iwo Jima and Okinawa). He was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery and the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received on picket duty. While at BHS, his Driller football teams attained many winning seasons and won numerous championships. In 1986, he moved to Santa Ana and joined the Orange Coast College football staff as an assistant and coached there for 20 years (1986-2005) until his retirement at the age of 85, totaling 57 continuous years as a football coach. Paul never missed a game or a practice in 69 years of coaching or playing football. During his coaching career, Paul received many coaching awards and was inducted into several halls of fame including: California High School Coach of the Year (1963); National High School Football Coach of the year (1972); University of Colorado Hall of Honor (1974); Citizens Athletic Foundation High School Hall of Fame (1975); Calif. Coaches Assoc. Hall of Fame (1977); Bob Elias Kern County Hall of Fame (1978); National Interscholastic Coaches Assoc. Distinguished Service Award (1983); Lombardi Honor Court of Champions (1986); National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Distinguished American Award (1998); and Bakersfield High School Driller Football Hall of Fame (2006). He was also elected President of the Calif. Coaches Assoc. (1964) and President of the National High School Athletic Coaches Assoc. (1976).

2012:
**** Clark, the TV personality and producer best known for hosting American Bandstand, an influential music-and-dance show that aired nationally from 1957 to 1989 and helped bring rock `n’ roll into the mainstream in the late 1950s, dies of a heart attack at age 82 in Santa Monica. The clean-cut, youthful-looking Clark, dubbed America’s Oldest Teenager also was the longtime host of the annual telecast New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and headed an entertainment empire that developed game shows, awards shows, talk shows, made-for-TV movies and other programs.






2024:
Allman Brothers Band guitarist ****ey Betts dies at age 80. Betts essentially became the band's leader after Greg Allman's death, and wrote many of their most popular songs - including Blue Sky, written about his girlfriend, Sandy "Bluesky" Wabegijig.






1935:
Paul Rothchild was born in Brooklyn. The record producer, worked with The Doors, Break on Through (To the Other Side), Light My Fire, People Are Strange), Janis Joplin, (#1 album Pearl and her only #1 single, Me and Bobby McGee), Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and more. Rothchild died March 30, 1995.




1938:
Jazz pianist Hal Galper - known for his work with Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Anita O'Day, and Joe Williams - is born in Salem, Mass.





1942:
Entrepreneur and music executive Seymour Steinbigle, known professionally as Seymour Stein, was born in NYC. Stein co-founded Sire Records and was VP of Warner Bros Records. at Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the late 70s - early 80s, including Talking Heads, the Ramones, Pretenders, Madonna, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, The Undertones, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Stein died of cancer at home in LA on April 2, 2023, aged 80.






1943:
Drummer Clyde Stubblefield, best known for his work with James Brown, was born in Chattanooga. His rhythm pattern on Brown's Funky Drummer is among the world's most sampled musical segments and has been used by hip-hop groups and rappers such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, N.W.A, Raekwon, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Prince. Stubblefield died on February 18, 2017, from kidney failure age 73.





1946:
Singer and sax player Lennie Baker, best known as one of the members of Sha Na Na was born in Whitman, Mass. They played at Woodstock Festival, made possible with help from their friend Jimi Hendrix. The group hosted a variety tv series that ran from 1977 to 1981. They also appeared in the movie Grease as Johnny Casino & The Gamblers. He died on 24 February 2016, in Weymouth, Mass, at the age of 69.





1963:
After a Beatles performance at Royal Albert Hall in London for the radio show Swingin' Sound '63, Paul McCartney meets actress Jane Asher. They become one of the most popular couples in England and get engaged, but they never marry and split up in 1968. This relationship inspires several Beatles songs, including All My Loving and I'm Looking Through You.





1970:
Johnny Cash was at #1 on the Country album chart with Hello, I'm Johnny Cash, his 33rd album release. The album featured 'If I Were a Carpenter', the famous duet with his wife, June Carter Cash, which earned the couple a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1971.


Greg Eklund (drummer for Everclear) is born in Jacksonville, Florida. The band found success with their first three albums Sparkle and Fade, So Much for the Afterglow, and Songs from an American Movie Vol. One:


Steel Mill, (featuring Bruce Springsteen) played in the Main Gym at Ocean County College in New Jersey. Tickets cost $2.00.





1971:
The Diana Ross television musical special Diana, featuring guest stars The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby, and Danny Thomas, airs on ABC.





1973:
The Crosby, Stills Nash & Young documentary Journey Through The Past, directed by Neil Young, debuted at the Dallas Film Festival. The experimental film featured concert footage from 1966 onward, backstage footage and art film-like sequences.





1974:
Guitarist Mark Tremonti is born in Detroit. As a student at Florida State University, he forms Creed with lead singer Scott Stapp. When Creed splits in 2004, Tremonti and the other original musicians in the band form Alter Bridge with frontman Myles Kennedy.





1975:
John Lennon gives what becomes his final public performance at a gala salute to British media mogul Lew Grade at the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, NYC; he performed three songs - Little Richard’s Slippin’ and Slidin’, Ben E. King’s Stand By Me, and closed with his own Imagine




1981:
Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes begin rehearsals with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. It doesn't lead anywhere, and Yes gets back together to release their 1983 album 90125.




1984:
Michael Jackson underwent surgery in a Los Angeles hospital to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.





1985:
Liberace breaks his own record at Radio City Music Hall, pulling in two million dollars for his latest engagement.





1987:
MTV finally acknowledges the existence of heavy metal with the debut of Headbangers Ball, a weekly show dedicated to the genre.


Aretha Franklin and George Michael's duet "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" hits #1 in the US, returning Franklin to the top spot for the first time since "Respect" in 1967. The feat breaks the record for the longest span between #1 hits.




1988:
The accused murderer of reggae legend Peter Tosh, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, goes on trial in Jamaica.



Legendary Motown songwriters Holland, Dozier & Holland are inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.





1992:
Def Leppard started a five-week run at #1 on the US album chart with their fifth studio album Adrenalize. The album was the first by the band following the death of guitarist Steve Clark in 1991.





1994:
Alen Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice's stage adaptation of Disney's animated musical Beauty & the Beast opens at Palace Theater (later transferring the Lunt-Fontanne), NYC; runs for 5,461 performances.





1996:
Gavin Rossdale of Bush is shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone, but the article inside trashes the band, calling them "Nirvanawannabes."




1996:
Bernard Edwards, the bassist, producer, and co-founder of Chic, died at the age of 43 while on tour in Japan. He formed the disco and funk group with Nile Rodgers in 1976 and together they became a formidable songwriting and production partnership, who wrote and produced for Sister Sledge and Diana Ross, among others. When Chic split, Edwards produced ABC, Robert Palmer, Debbie Harry, Rod Stewart and more. He was also a member of the 80s supergroup, Power Station.




2003:
Etta James gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.




2005:
Reebok pulled a TV ad featuring 50 Cent after a mother whose son was shot dead complained it glamorized gun crime.




2009:
Keith Urban lands his first #1 album on the Billboard 200 with Defying Gravity, which includes the hits "Kiss A Girl" and "Sweet Thing."




2012:
A super-rare mono copy of The Beatles’ 1963 debut, Please Please Me – autographed by all of the Fab Four – fetched almost $25,000 on eBay.




2013:
Cordell "Boogie" Mosson (bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic) dies at age 60 of liver failure.


Public Enemy become the fourth hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the others that preceded PE into the Hall were Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Run-DMC, and the Beastie Boys). Other 2013 inductees are Rush, Heart (which reunites their original lineup), Albert King, Donna Summer, and Randy Newman.


Storm Thorgerson, a visionary designer who created hundreds of album covers for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, The Cranberries and many more, dies of cancer at age 69. As a teen his best friend was David Gilmour, and he went to the same school as Syd Barrett and Roger Waters prior to doing Pink Floyd's artwork.








2015:
Green Day was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of the 2015 class, in their first year of eligibility. Other 30th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Lou Reed; Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble; Bill Withers; The "5" Royals; and Ringo Starr.





2017:
Court documents showed that numerous opioid painkillers were found at Prince's home shortly after his death. Some of the pills discovered at Prince's Paisley Park estate in Minnesota had prescriptions in the name of his friend and bodyguard. But the documents did not offer evidence about the source of the fentanyl that killed the singer on April 21, 2016.





2020:
The official music video for Zombie by The Cranberries became the first song by an Irish band to reach over one billion views on YouTube. The song released in 1994 was written by the lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, about the young victims of a bombing in Warrington, England, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.





2020:
Paul McCartney, Elton John, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and several other stars performed from their homes on the One World: Together At Home concert during the coronavirus pandemic. The event organized by Global Citizen of New York City and curated by singer Lady Gaga was in support of frontline workers and the World Health Organization.




2021:
The Simpsons parodies Morrissey with the character Quillougby, a British misanthrope who sings "Everyone Is Horrid Except Me (And Possibly You)" with Lisa. "I'm quite used to it," the real Morrissey replies. "I've had enough horror thrown at me that would kill off a herd of bison."




2025:
Sinners opens in theaters, with 88-year-old Buddy Guy playing a character he inspired: a musician who goes through hell to become a blues legend and open his own club in Chicago. The film picks up several awards, including an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

1775:
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere; One if by Land, Two if by Sea


British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured: Dawes left the city via the Boston Neck peninsula and Revere crossed the Charles River to Charlestown by boat. As the two couriers made their way, Patriots in Charlestown waited for a signal from Boston informing them of the British troop movement. As previously agreed, one lantern would be hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two lanterns would be hung if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge. Two lanterns were hung, and the armed Patriots set out for Lexington and Concord accordingly. Along the way, Revere and Dawes roused hundreds of Minutemen, who armed themselves and set out to oppose the British.


Revere arrived in Lexington shortly before Dawes, but together they warned Adams and Hancock and then set out for Concord. Along the way, they were joined by Samuel Prescott, a young Patriot who had been riding home after visiting a lady friend. Early on the morning of April 19, a British patrol captured Revere, and Dawes lost his horse, forcing him to walk back to Lexington on foot. However, Prescott escaped and rode on to Concord to warn the Patriots there. After being roughly questioned for an hour or two, Revere was released when the patrol heard Minutemen alarm guns being fired on their approach to Lexington.

About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, a handful of Americans lay dead and several others wounded. The American Revolution had begun.


True story: the direct descendants of Revere and Dawes were both friends of my father, and members of the church I went to in my youth. Mr. Revere's daughter Paula was my sunday school teacher one year, and Mr. Dawes was our town's animal control officer (or as we called that position then, the dog catcher).





1906:
The Great San Francisco Earthquake

At 5:13 am the deadliest earthquake in U.S. history struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires across the city. Nearly 4,000 people died, and about 75% of the city (250,000 people) were left homeless by the quake, which was estimated to have reached as high as 8.3 magnitude on the Richter scale. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.


San Francisco’s brick buildings and wooden Victorian structures were especially devastated. Fires immediately broke out and–because broken water mains prevented firefighters from stopping them–firestorms soon developed citywide. At 7 a.m., U.S. Army troops from Fort Mason reported to the Hall of Justice, and San Francisco Mayor E.E. Schmitz called for the enforcement of a dusk-to-dawn curfew and authorized soldiers to shoot to kill anyone found looting. Meanwhile, in the face of significant aftershocks, firefighters and U.S. troops fought desperately to control the ongoing fire, often dynamiting whole city blocks to create firewalls.







1506:
The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid in the Vatican City by Pope Julius II.





1783:
George Washington issues General Orders announcing the end of hostilities with Britain in the American Revolutionary War, giving thanks to the Almighty, offering congratulations, and authorizing an extra ration of alcohol to the troops to celebrate.




1847:
U.S. forces defeat Mexicans at Cerro Gordo in one of the bloodiest battle of the Mexican-American War.




1857:
Defense lawyer, public speaker, debater, and writer Clarence Darrow — among whose high-profile court appearances was the Scopes Trial, in which he defended a Tennessee high-school teacher who had broken a state law by presenting the Darwinian theory of evolution — was born in Kinsman, Ohio.




1861:
Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down an offer to command the Union armies.




1909:
Joan of Arc was beatified in Rome by Pope Pius X, marking a key step toward her sainthood. This recognition followed the formal declaration of her "venerable" status in 1904 and the official Decree of Beatification in January 1909. She was later canonized as a saint in 1920.




1918:
Clifton Keith Hillegass, founder of the study guides known as Cliff’s Notes, is born in Nebraska.




1924:
The first crossword puzzle book is published by Simon & Schuster.




1934:
C.A. Tannahill opens the first US Washateria (laundromat) in Fort Worth, Texas; four electric washing machines are available for hourly rental, but no dryers are available.






1937:
Leon Trotsky calls for the overthrow of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.




1938:
Superman first appears in DC Comics' Action Comics Series Issue #1, dated June 1938.





1942:
U.S. Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers on a spectacular surprise attack on Tokyo and other Japanese cities; the Doolittle Raid, as it became known, caused little damage but boosted Allied morale.

The famous Tokyo Raid did little real damage to Japan, but it did hurt the Japanese government’s prestige. Believing the air raid had been launched from Midway Island, approval was given to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s plans for an attack on Midway — which would also damage Japanese prestige. Doolittle eventually received the Medal of Honor.

A book describing the raid, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson, was adapted into a film starring Spencer Tracy in 1944.





1945:
During the U.S. invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa during World War II, journalist Ernie Pyle, America’s most popular war correspondent, is killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the island of Ie Shima in the Pacific.






1946:
The League of Nations dissolves.




1947:
Esteemed actor James Woods is born in Utah.






1949:
The Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth.




1950:
The first transatlantic jet passenger trip is completed.




1954:
Egyptian Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power and appoints himself Prime Minister. He would remain in power until his death at the age of 52 in 1970.




1955:
Physicist Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 76.





1956:
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III were married in a civil ceremony in the prince's palace in Monaco. A large public reception, attended by some 3,000 people, was held later, concluding the first day of their two-day wedding celebration, which also included a religious ceremony at St. Nicholas Cathedral. At the end of it all, the American actress had become Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco.





1958:
A federal court rules that Ezra Pound should no longer be held at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for the criminally insane in Washington, D.C. Pound had been held for 13 years, following his arrest in Italy during World War II on charges of treason.

Pound strongly supported Benito Mussolini, believing that art flourishes under strong leaders. He worked actively against the Allies until the end of the war, when he was arrested by U.S. forces and held for weeks in an open cage in a prison camp near Pisa. The experience broke his mental health, although he produced one of his most beautiful works, the Pisan Cantos, there. When he was returned to the U.S., he was ruled unfit to stand trial and held at St. Elizabeth’s for 13 years. While Pound languished in prison, his Pisan Cantos (1948) won an award from the Library of Congress. Poets and authors rallied around him and finally gained his release in 1958. He returned to Italy, where he lived until his death in 1972.




1963:
Conan O'Brien is born in Brookline.






1976:
Clarissa Knows Best and Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress Melissa Joan Hart is born in Smithtown, New York





1978:
The U.S. Senate approves the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, effective on the last day of the century.




1983:
The U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, is almost completely destroyed by a car-bomb explosion that kills 63 people, including the suicide bomber and 17 Americans. The terrorist attack was carried out in protest of the U.S. military presence in Lebanon.





1994:
Roseanne Barr Arnold files for divorce from Tom Arnold