Today in Patriots History
JAGs and Relatives
Happy 41st birthday to Billy Yates
Born April 15, 1980 in Fort Worth
Patriot G, 2004-2009; uniform #74
Signed to the practice squad on September 12, 2004
After being undrafted out of Texas A&M, Yates was originally signed by Miami. He played in three games with the Dolphins in '03. The Pats signed him to their practice squad in '04, then activated him for Super Bowl 38. He spent most of '09 on the practice squad before being promoted when Dan Koppen went on IR with a shoulder injury.
Yates appeared in 22 games with 11 starts with the Patriots from 2005-2008, including seven starts in '08 when Stephen Neal was injured.
Detroit Lions - Billy Yates
Billy Yates joins the Lions for his first season in the William Clay Ford Minority Coaching Assistantship role. After working as the assistant strength coach at Texas Tech from 2013-15, he was named head of strength and conditioning at Bowling Green State University in 2016 before entering the NFL coaching ranks.
Bowling Green - Billy Yates
Billy Yates was named head strength and conditioning coach for the BGSU football program in January, 2016. Yates had previously served as the assistant strength coach at Texas Tech for three years.
After a playing career at Texas A&M, Yates enjoyed an eight-year career in the National Football League. During his eight seasons, Yates played for three different franchises including a five-year stint with the New England Patriots where he helped them to a Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XXXIX. He spent his final two seasons with the Cleveland Browns before retiring in 2010. Yates made 14 starts and played in 41 total games during his eight seasons in the league.
After retiring from the NFL, Yates began his career as a strength and conditioning coach at Texas A&M. After one season with the Aggies, Yates spent three seasons in Lubbock.
Happy 52nd birthday to Steve Gordon
Born April 15, 1969 in Fort Ord, California
Patriot C, 1992-1993; uniform #64
Pats 10th round (277th overall) selection of the 1992 draft, from Cal
Gordon has no stat line with the Patriots. He was presumably cut at the end of training camp, or perhaps was on the Pats practice squad. Gordon later spent time with San Francisco, Denver and Cleveland; he appeared in 13 NFL games, all with the Niners in 1998.
According to LinkedIn, since his NFL days ended Gordon has been a Major Account Manager with Sharp, a Regional Manager for Konica Minolta, Branch Manager with Ray Morgan and now is the Regional Sales Manager for CenterVue for northern California, Nevada and Utah.
Nevada Union Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2017: Steve Gordon
Gordon’s prowess on the offensive line earned him a scholarship to play at the University of California, Berkeley, where he shifted to center and was a starter for four years. While at Cal, Gordon helped the Bears to a Copper Bowl championship in 1990 and a Citrus Bowl title in 1991. He was named an All-American in 1991 and was also earned the “Tiny Bates Award” which is awarded by the University Alumni Association and given to Cal football’s to the Most Outstanding Player of the Year.
In 1992, Gordon was drafted in the 10th round by the New England Patriots. He would bounce around the NFL for eight years, eventually landing with the 49ers where he garnered substantial playing time and a handful of starts. He wrapped up his playing career in 2000 with the Cleveland Browns.
After his playing days concluded, Gordon couldn’t stay away from the field and dabbled in coaching. He coached for the Folsom Junior Bulldogs program for eight years, winning seven championships along the way. He also spent a year coaching offensive line at Rocklin High School, and logged five years coaching his daughter in AAU youth girls basketball.
Happy 24th birthday to Isaiah Zuber
Born April 15, 1997 in Stone Mountain, Georgia
Patriot WR, 2020-; uniform #19
Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent from Mississippi State on April 27, 2020
Zuber spent most of 2020 on the practice squad, activated to four games with 26 offensive snaps in 2020. He had four touches (three for first downs) with 50 yards from scrimmage.
Happy 50th birthday to Rich McKenzie
Born April 15, 1971 in Fort Lauderdale
Patriot LB, 1996 offseason
Signed as a free agent on April 18, 1996
Rich McKenzie was a 6th round draft pick by the Browns in 1993, from Penn State. He appeared in eight games for Cleveland under Bill Belichick in 1995, and moved with the franchise to Baltimore the following spring. The Patriots waived McKenzie on August 20, 1996; he spent most of the 1997 offseason with Tampa Bay before his NFL career came to an end early in the Bucs '97 training camp.
Now for some relatives:
Brock Huard turns 45 (4/15/76)
The QB went 0-4 in 8 games from 2000-03; a 3rd round pick of the '99 draft, he is the brother of
Damon Huard, Patriot QB from 2001-2003.
Tom Graham was born 4/15/50.
The linebacker spent seven seasons in the NFL during the seventies, all but one year with AFC West teams. Tom is the father of former Patriot TE
Daniel Graham, who was with the Pats from 2002-2006.
Andre Caldwell turns 36 (4/15/85)
The Bengal and Bronco WR spent seven seasons in the NFL; he is the younger brother of bug-eyed former Patriot WR
Reche Caldwell (RIP).
A couple other players born on this date with New England connections:
Amari Spievey (4/15/1988)
Middleton CT native started 26 games at strong safety for Detroit from 2010-12.
Jeff Williams (4/15/1955)
Williams is a graduate from Gloucester High School and the University of Rhode Island. The offensive lineman was a 5th round draft pick by the Rams in 1977 and played in 56 NFL games from 1977-82.
April 15, 1961:
In a minor move the Patriots traded away their starting RDT Art Hauser and backup OL/LB Bill Striegel to Denver. The Pats received two backups in return: DHB Al Romine and DL Don King, who combined to appear in just one game for the Pats. None of the four played pro football beyond the '61 season.
