Today In Patriots History August 28, 2013: Pats waive Ras-IR Dowling

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Don McKinnon​

In memory of Don McKinnon, who would have turned 85 today
Born August 28, 1941 in Arlington, Mass.
Died January 25, 2015 at the age of 73 in Wakefield, Rhode Island
Patriots linebacker/center, 1963-1964; uniform #51
Pats 10th round (79th overall) selection of the 1963 draft, from Dartmouth
Pats résumé: two seasons, 17 games, plus two postseason games


Like many Boston Patriots, Don McKinnon was a local guy. He grew up in Arlington, went to Matignon High School in Cambridge, then went up to Hanover, New Hampshire for college at Dartmouth. Don played in all 14 regular season and two playoff games in his rookie 1963 season, then three more games in '64.

At some point Don McKinnon switched from 52 to 51, or was it 51 to 52?
For some reason this 1964 Topps football card has him with the wrong jersey number​

Don McKinnon, 73 | Block Island Times

At Dartmouth, the soft spoken, likable recruit studied sociology and helped lead the ’62 football squad to the Ivy League championship as team captain and an All-American center on the Big Green’s offensive line. It wasn’t easy; McKinnon came off a severe injury - two ruptured tendons and a broken bone in his ankle - to lead Dartmouth to its first undefeated season in almost 40 years.​

“Tackled by McKinnon” sounded like a tape recording at most Dartmouth games. On big plays, he routinely shed blockers and made tackles for losses. Besides selection to the All-America national collegiate football team, he was named to the All-East, All-Ivy and All-New England teams. What’s more, he won the George H. “Bulger” Lowe Award as the best Division I college football player in New England.​

The pros were calling, and the “Big D” as he was known, was drafted by the New York Giants and the Boston Patriots. He signed with his hometown Patriots. As a 22-year old rookie, McKinnon beat out veteran linebackers and played in 17 games over the 1963-1964 seasons before being hobbled by injuries. He fractured his hip during training camp but continued to play. “He’ll be a great one,” predicted Patriots Coach Mike Holovak. But it wasn’t to be. Leg injuries cut short what many expected to be a Hall of Fame career.​

After leaving the Patriots, Don acquired a stockbroker’s license. He started his new career with Wainwright & Co in Boston. He wed Nancy Hailer, a Lesley College graduate and budding professional model. They soon found themselves in Manhattan, where Don took an executive position with Becker Paribas heading its trading, convertible and over-the-counter desks. He then moved to Moseley Hallgarten & Estabrook where he served as vice president and sat on the board of directors. From there, he rose to Executive Director of Nomura Securities International’s equities division in New York. He headed American stock trading for the Japanese giant, traveling often to Tokyo before retiring in the mid-1990s.​

In retirement, McKinnon dabbled in films, playing minor roles in acclaimed Hollywood director Wes Anderson’s movies, “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Life Aquatic.” He appeared with stars such as Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Owen and Luke Wilson. The famous Wilson brothers’ father, Bobby Wilson, was Don’s longtime friend from Dartmouth.​

Don McKinnon Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Don McKinnon. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McKiDo20.htm

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[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Reyna Thompson​

Happy 63rd birthday to Reyna Thompson
Born Aug 28, 1963 in Dallas
Patriots cornerback, 1993; uniform #21
Signed as a veteran free agent on April 24, 1993
Pats résumé: one season, 15 games (four starts)


Reyna Thompson was a ninth round draft pick out of Baylor by the Dolphins in 1986. After three years with Miami he played with the Giants for four seasons. While there he won one super bowl and was named to the 1990 Pro Bowl as a special teamer.

Thompson had played for Bill Parcells for two years with the Giants, and was one of many players who reunited with Tuna in New England. Reyna Thompson played in 15 games with six starts for the Pats in his final NFL season, with one interception and one sack.

In his post-NFL life Thompson taught high school English at Olympic Heights Community High School in Boca Raton, Florida. In 2015, Thompson served as the head football coach for West Broward High School, leading the Bobcats to its first District playoff in the school's history. He has also served as the head coach for Hollywood Hills High School in south Florida.

Reyna Thompson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Reyna Thompson. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ThomRe00.htm

Reyna Thompson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Cups of Coffee:
Rufus, Ricky and Russell​

Happy 36th birthday to Rufus Johnson
Born Aug 28, 1990 in Mesquite, Texas
Patriots defensive end, 2015; uniform #70, #59
Signed to a future contract on Dec 31, 2014
Pats résumé: one game in 2015


Rufus Johnson was a sixth round pick by New Orleans in 2013, where he spent most of the season on the practice squad. He made the 2015 Pats 53-man roster out of training camp, and got on the field in week two against Buffalo for 13 snaps on defense and 11 on special teams. After two weeks being inactive with an undisclosed illness, Johnson was placed on the Non-Football Illness List on October 28, ending his 2015 season. He was waived as part of final roster cuts on September 3, 2016. Initially he was signed to the practice squad, but was cut three days later for LB Quentin Gase.



Oct 28, 2015:

Patriots Add Three Safeties, Place Rufus Johnson On NFI, Cut Cornerback - NESN.com

Apparently the New England Patriots can’t have enough safeties. The Patriots claimed safety Dewey McDonald off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday. They also signed safeties Ross Ventrone and Floyd Raven to their practice squad. They now have 10 safeties between their 53-man roster...

nesn.com

Apparently the New England Patriots can’t have enough safeties.​

The Patriots claimed safety Dewey McDonald off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday. They also signed safeties Ross Ventrone and Floyd Raven to their practice squad. They now have 10 safeties between their 53-man roster and practice squad.​

McDonald, Ventrone and Raven join safeties Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, Duron Harmon, Jordan Richards, Tavon Wilson, Nate Ebner and Brandon King on the Patriots.​

To make room, the Patriots placed linebacker Rufus Johnson on non-football illness/reserve, ending his season. They also cut cornerback Brandon Dixon from their practice squad.​

Johnson appeared in one game for the Patriots this season, making one tackle. He missed practice for two consecutive weeks with an illness.​

Sept 7, 2016 - Patriots.com

Patriots sign LB Quentin Gause to practice squad; Release LB Rufus Johnson from practice squad

The Patriots announced today that they have signed rookie LB Quentin Gause to the practice squad and released LB Rufus Johnson from the practice squad.

www.patriots.com

Rufus Johnson, 26, originally was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on Feb. 6, 2015. The 6-foot-5, 280-pounder, played in one game for the Patriots in 2015 and made on tackle before being placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list on Oct. 28. He originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick by New Orleans out of Tarleton State in the 2013 NFL Draft. Johnson spent the 2013 regular season on the practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster for the postseason.​

Rufus Johnson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Rufus Johnson. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnRu02.htm

Rufus Johnson (American football) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Happy 61st birthday to Ricky Atkinson
Born Aug 28, 1965 in Middletown, Connecticut
Patriots cornerback, 1987; uniform #22
Signed as a free agent on May 1, 1987
Pats résumé: one game in 1987


A New England native, Ricky Atkinson went to Valley Regional High School, which is about 30 miles east of New Haven and 40 miles south of Hartford. He played his college football at Southern Connecticut State. Atkinson made it to the NFL for one week six game on Raymond Berry's 1987 Patriots team - the third and final Replacement Players game.


May 3, 1987:
Pats sign SCSU's Atkinson - Hartford Courant

Southern Connecticut State University announced that defensive back Ricky Atkinson has signed a free-agent contract with the Patriots​

Atkinson, a native of Deep River, was the only Connecticut player named to the Kodak Coaches' College Division II All-America team. Atkinson was also named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II team for the third consecutive year.​

Ricky Atkinson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Ricky Atkinson. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AtkiRi20.htm

Ricky Atkinson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Happy 46th birthday to Russell Stuvaints
Born Aug 28, 1980 in Pittsburgh
Patriots safety, 2004 practice squad
Signed as a free agent to the practice squad on September 7, 2004
Pats résumé: one week in a Foxborough motel


Pittsburgh re-signed Stuvaints to their active roster, off the Pats practice squad, seven days after the Patriots signed him. The Pennsylvania native and product of Youngstown State was a special teams ace who played in 23 games in two stints for the Steelers from 2003 to 2005.

Russell Stuvaints, Steelers Safety, 2003-2006 – Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

In 2004 I was on the practice squad and I went to the Patriots for a week on their practice squad and they told me they were going to put me on their active roster when the season started. But the guy the Steelers kept over me tore his hamstring so they ended up bringing me back. It was my best year – I scored a touchdown against the Browns. LeBeau got me on the field a lot. It was a great experience and we had an excellent season before we lost to the Patriots in the championship game.​

I work now for the PCA – Packaging Corporation of America here in Pittsburgh. I have two sons – eight and six – and enjoy spending time with them and coaching them in their sports. They are making me proud – they play baseball, t-ball……​

Russell Stuvaints Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Russell Stuvaints. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/StuvRu20.htm

Russell Stuvaints - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Smaller Cups of Coffee​

Happy 43rd birthday to Nate Washington
Born Aug 28, 1983 in Toledo, Ohio
Patriots wide receiver, 2016 offseason; uniform #84
Signed as a veteran free agent on March 24, 2016

Nate Washington is part of a very long list of NFL starting veteran wide receivers that were signed by the Patriots at the end of their career, that did not make the Pats roster. Nate played in 159 games with 45 touchdowns, averaging 15.2 yards per catch with Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Houston. He was four days shy of turning 33 when the Pats released him, opting to start the season with Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell at receiver for the week one roster.

June 8, 2016:

Washington on fast track to earn a spot with Patriots

FOXBORO — Nate Washington turns 33 in August. He is obviously not “the future” for the Patriots at the wide receiver position. That would be players like rookie Malcolm Mitchell or free agent signee Chris Hogan. But Washington could be the near future. Speed — or a lack of it — becomes...

www.nbcsportsboston.com

Nate Washington turns 33 in August. He is obviously not “the future” for the Patriots at the wide receiver position. That would be players like rookie Malcolm Mitchell or free agent signee Chris Hogan.​

But Washington could be the near future. Speed -- or a lack of it -- becomes depressingly easy to notice when a wideout starts to lose it. We saw it last year during Reggie Wayne’s Patriots cameo. But Washington -- a former Steeler, Titan and Texan -- still gets down the field and out of his breaks.​

With the Patriots at the top of the wideout depth chart -- Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman -- not at full speed because of offseason surgeries, Washington will get reps. And he will get looks.​

He is a bona-fide outside receiver with a 15.2 career yards per catch average. Last season, when he was with Houston, Washington pulled in a 49-yarder against the Patriots on an otherwise bleak night for the Texans. He finished 2015 with 47 catches for 658 yards and four touchdowns.​

Aside from “how it was” elsewhere, what the Patriots “do” resembles what the Texans do since Houston head coach Bill O’Brien came up in the Patriots system.​

Nate Washington Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Nate Washington. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WashNa00.htm

Nate Washington - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Happy 32nd birthday to Scooby Wright
Born Aug 28, 1994 in Windsor, California
Patriots inside linebacker, 2019 offseason & practice squad; uniform #96
Signed as a free agent Aug 25, 2019

Philip Anthony 'Scooby' Wright III has two connections with the Patriots. He was selected by the Browns with a 7th round (250th overall) pick in the 2016 draft. The Pats had packaged that draft pick and two others in a trade to Miami on Day 3 of the 2016 draft, moving up to acquire a fifth round pick. The Pats then packaged that with a 7th in a trade with Seattle, moving up 16 spots to the fourth round. There the Pats drafted DE Deatrich Wise, and with a 7th they also received in return chose WR Devin Lucien.

Arizona signed Wright off the Cleveland practice squad, where he had spent most of the 2016 season. He bounced back and forth between the 53 man roster and practice squad, for two seasons, appearing mostly on special teams in 13 games. Wright started the final preseason game just days after signing with the Pats (and six days before final roster cuts), recording two sacks against the Giants. In retrospect he was a warm body to put on the field to eliminate risk of injury to others that were going to make the team.

Wright was added to the practice squad on September 20 when edge rusher Gerri Green was released, and FB Jakob Johnson was promoted to take the spot vacated when James Develin went on IR. Wright's time in Foxboro was an extended second tryout. He was released 11 days later, and has been out of the NFL since. On October 15 he was selected by the DC Defenders on the first day of the XFL draft.

Scooby Wright made two sacks in his only start with the Patriots​

Scooby Wright Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Scooby Wright. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

www.profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WrigSc00.htm

Scooby Wright - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Happy 33rd birthday to Trevor Bates
Born Aug 28, 1993 in Westbrook, Maine
Patriots linebacker, 2016-2017 (offseason and practice squad); uniform #44
Signed as free agent on Nov 17, 2016

Trevor Bates is a New England native, an alum of Westbrook High School and the University of Maine. He was a seventh round draft pick by the Colts in 2016, making it to the Indy roster for one game after spending the first four weeks on their practice squad.

Bates spent the last half of 2016 on the Pats practice squad; he was released on Sept 5, 2017, then spent time on the Giants practice squad. Bates then played in nine games for Detroit in 2018, logging two snaps on defense and 156 on special teams. Early in 2019 Bates refused to pay a cab fare, punched a NYC sergeant in the face, and was arrested. The Lions released him six weeks later.

Aug 22, 2017:

Former Maine linebacker Trevor Bates is a sleeper to make New England Patriots roster

Trevor Bates did a little bit of everything for the Patriots' scout team a year ago, arriving as a strong side linebacker and eventually picking up experience at all three spots.

www.masslive.com

In part due to injuries and absences, Bates got a chance to play outside linebacker with the starters during joint practices in West Virginia. He did well in pass-rushing situations on Wednesday, twice providing pressure in the Houston backfield. On one rep, Bates blasted through 240-pound running back D'Onta Foreman, who was in pass protection, and got to the quarterback. On the next rep, he won easily off the edge and would have had a sack.​

Bates was rewarded with playing time in Saturday's preseason loss to the Texans; he entered the game before veteran Jonathan Freeny, which may suggest his standing on the depth chart.​

In the second quarter, Bates played on the line as a pass rusher, dropped into coverage, and looked effective against the run. Additionally, he appeared on every special teams unit. Late in the game, Bates re-entered following Elandon Roberts' injury and called plays for the Pats defense.​

Trevor Bates Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College - Pro Football Archives

Checkout the most complete stats available online for Trevor Bates. Get info about his position, height, weight, college, transactions and more at Pro Football Archives.

profootballarchives.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BateTr00.htm

Trevor Bates - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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[jmt57]

Today in New England Football History
Other August 28 Birthdays​

Other players born on this date with a New England connection:

- Jim Lynch (1945-2022)
Draft Pick Trade
On December 30, 1964, the Boston Patriots traded a 1965 draft pick and a 1967 second to Kansas City for backup quarterback and part time punter Eddie Wilson. The Chiefs used that '97 draft pick on Jim Lynch. The linebacker from Notre Dame proceeded to play 11 seasons for Kansas City, with 17 interceptions in 151 games, and was part of the Chiefs' winning Super Bowl IV defense that held the Jets, Raiders and Viking to just 20 points combined in the 1969 postseason.


- Ken Clarke, 72 (1956)
Boston English High School
DT played in 203 games from 1978-91, mostly with the Eagles.


- Danny Lansanah, 43 (1985)
UConn
Linebacker played in 38 games from 2008 to 2015, primarily with Tampa Bay.


- Lou DeFilippo (1916-2000)
Born in East Haven, CT; Hillhouse HS, New Haven
Tackle for the 1941-1947 Giants




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[jmt57]

Today in Pro Football History
Other August 28 Birthdays​

Other pro football players born on August 28 include:

- Ben Agajanian (1919-2018)
While playing in college, Agajanian had four toes of his kicking foot crushed in a work accident and then amputated in 1939 - leading to his being given the nickname "The Toeless Wonder". He was one of pro football's first kicking specialists, and played from 1945 to 1964 - the longest tenure at that time. With a career that went from 1945 to 1964, it is ironically fitting that he lived to the age of 98.

Ben Agajanian, Square-Shoed Kicking Star, Dies at 98 (Published 2018)

Though missing four toes because of an accident, he was pro football’s first career kicking specialist, playing for nine teams until he was 45.

www.nytimes.com

Ben Agajanian - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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