Today In Patriots History Feb 9, 1981: **** Steinberg hired as Director of Player Development

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Today in Patriots History
**** Steinberg​

February 9, 1981:
**** Steinberg is hired to be the Director of Player Development


From the 1981 Patriots Media Guide:

Regarded as one of the NFL's top talent hunters, **** Steinberg rejoined the Patriots' organization when he was named Director of Player Development on February 9, 1981. In his new capacity, he is responsible for directing the Patriots' overall scouting operation and use of the Patriots' computer system in the accumulation and management of scouting data.​

Steinberg rejoined the Patriots after departing his position as a Patriots scout to become Director of College Scouting for the Los Angeles Rams in June, 1976. he remained in that post until being promoted to the position of Director of Player Personnel, a post he held until June, 1980.​

After his four year stay with the Rams, Steinberg joined then General Manager Steve Rosenbloom as Vice President of Player Personnel with the New Orleans Saints. Steinberg later resigned that post on January 20, 1981 before rejoining the Patriots.​

A native of Philadelphia, Steinberg played football and majored in physical education and health at Temple University. In addition to serving a two year tour of duty with the U.S. Army in France, Steinberg served as a high school coach at Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High (1960-61) and at Stauntan (VA) Military Academy (1961-64). He then entered the collegiate ranks as an assistant at Vanderbilt (1964-67) and Kansas State (1967-69).​

Following a brief stint as a scout with the Cowboys in 1969, Steinberg spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi (1970-72) before joining the Patriots as a scout under then Director of Player Personnel Bucko Kilroy (who was also a scout with Dallas when Steinberg was there). Steinberg served with the Patriots from 1972 to 1976 before departing for the Rams.​

The Patriots were respectable in 1988 (missing the playoffs by only a game), but then the 1989 season was a disaster. Three of the best players on defense (Andre Tippett, Garin Veris and Ronnie Lippett) were injured in the same preseason game. None of the combination of Tony Eason, Doug Flutie, nor Steve Grogan emerged as the primary starting quarterback, each rotating in and out as the starter throughout the season. Eason was later traded during the season, leaving Flutie and Grogan to battle for the job. The Patriots finished the season 5–11.

Soon after Flutie left for the CFL, and Steinberg bolted to take a similar job with the Jets. Berry was fired and replaced by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Rod Rust for 1990 - and everything got much worse in 1991.


Sept 5, 1984:

AFC EAST

This was traditionally one of the most ferociously competitive divisions in football, but now it's a two-tiered society. The Bills, the Jets and Colts are the

vault.si.com

The Steinberg cycle. **** Steinberg was a scout for the Patriots in the Chuck Fairbanks era, when New England went from nowhere to the playoffs as Steinberg came up with a heavy load of talent. Then he moved to the Rams as director of college scouting, and three years later they were in the Super Bowl. He has been back with the Patriots as chief scout for three years now, and the talent influx is ready to take hold. They have players—lots of them.​

Dec 19, 1989:
Patriots and Jets battling each other over contracts - imagine that.

Jets Hire Dick Steinberg as GM; Patriots Threaten Legal Action

**** Steinberg, former director of player personnel for the Rams who later helped build the New England Patriots into a Super Bowl team, was hired as general manager of the New York Jets Monday amid threats of legal action by the Patriots.

www.latimes.com

**** Steinberg, former director of player personnel for the Rams who later helped build the New England Patriots into a Super Bowl team, was hired as general manager of the New York Jets Monday amid threats of legal action by the Patriots.​

Steinberg, 54, accepted a contract estimated at five years for nearly $3.25 million to become the Jets’ first general manager in 15 years.​

Patriot General Manager Pat Sullivan, interviewed on WBZ-TV in Boston, said director of college scouting Joe Mendez was appointed to replace Steinberg and that the team was going to take legal action over the way the Steinberg matter was conducted.​

Sullivan said the Patriots would seek compensation of some kind, maybe in a trade or monetary form. “We basically felt there are provisions in this contract . . . that were violated,” Sullivan said.​

The Jets are 4-11, their worst record in seven seasons under Coach Joe Walton.​

Although Steinberg’s role with the Patriots had not changed under new owner Victor Kiam, he did not have the power there he will have with the Jets.​

Steinberg, the director of player development for the Patriots, has disagreed with Kiam, General Manager Patrick Sullivan and Coach Raymond Berry on some recent personnel moves, including the waiving of quarterback Tony Eason, who started for the Jets Sunday.​

Sept 25, 1996 obituary:
**** Steinberg - Staunton Military Academy Hall of Fame

“In Steinberg's tenure with the Jets, the team made one playoff appearance -- in 1991, after finishing 8-8 -- and one noteworthy trade, acquiring quarterback Boomer Esiason in 1993. But the frustrations outweighed the successes.​

“The man Steinberg hired as head coach in 1994, Pete Carroll, was dismissed after last season by the owner, Leon Hess, and replaced by Rich Kotite with no apparent input by Steinberg. Running back Blair Thomas, an all-American from Penn State, never met expectations as a first-round draft pick, and the jury is still out on other high picks like Johnny Mitchell, Marvin Jones and Aaron Glenn.​

“Among the players Steinberg signed as free agents, Ronnie Lott, Leonard Marshall and Art Monk are gone. [As of 1995] only 14 of his draft choices since 1990 are still with the team, seven of them as starters.​

“With the Rams and Patriots, however, Steinberg built teams that reached the Super Bowl. In the 1977 draft -- his first as director of scouting for the Rams -- Steinberg drafted Bob Brudzinski, Nolan Cromwell, Wendell Tyler and Vince Ferragamo, all stars on the team that reached the 1980 Super Bowl. During nine seasons as director of player personnel with New England, which went to the 1986 Super Bowl, he acquired Pro Bowl players like Andre Tippet, Brian Holloway, Tony Collins, Irving Fryar and Fred Marion.​

Another curse of being a Jet:

Jets' star-crossed draft history a bad omen as No. 3 pick draws near

The Jets select within the first three picks of the draft for the fifth time since 1967 and they've very seldom found unmitigated success.

www.espn.com

This was January, 1990. **** Steinberg, just hired to resurrect the New York Jets, was in Mobile, Alabama, to scout the Senior Bowl. He owned the No. 2 pick in the draft, and he had just watched his targeted player -- running back Blair Thomas -- win MVP honors with a brilliant performance.​

"Even my grandmother could tell you he was the best player on the field," the new general manager told me in the press box that day.​

Grandma wouldn't have made it as a draftnik.​

Thomas never came close to reaching expectations, and three players picked after him in the first round -- Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau and Emmitt Smith -- went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.​

Some more Pats history/trivia.
Why would you draft a player in the 4th round with the intention of moving him to another position - without ever speaking to him first?

Rich Gannon shares incredible story behind why Patriots traded him

Why did the Patriots trade Rich Gannon just six days after drafting him? The former NFL MVP shares his side of the wild story.

www.nbcsportsboston.com

"I went to the (NFL) Combine in 1987 and I worked out for a number of teams. The one team I didn't work out for was the Patriots," (Rich) Gannon said.​

"And of course, the night of the draft, I get a call from **** Steinberg, who's the general manager at the time, and Raymond Berry, the head coach of the Patriots, said, 'Hey, congratulations. We're excited to draft you in the fourth round, and we just want to find the best position for you.'​

"I'm sitting there on the phone and I went (drops phone), 'Wait, what? Are you serious? I'm a quarterback! I'm not a defensive back! I'm not a running back!'"​

Gannon was so put off by the Patriots suggesting they'd like him to play another position in New England that he spoke to his agent and requested a trade. The rest, as they say, is history.​

"I thought to myself, 'There's no way I'm gonna go to training camp and try to learn a different position and not make the team and be one of those guys who's the last cut, then come back the next year and (be) the last cut,'" Gannon said. "I'm like, 'You know what, forget that.'​

"So, I talked to my agent and said, 'I'm not gonna go (to New England).' Six days later, they traded me to the Minnesota Vikings."​

Looking back nearly 40 years later, it seems baffling why the Patriots would want Gannon to play another position. New England entered the 1987 season with a 34-year-old Steve Grogan and Tony Eason atop its QB depth chart and would go through a handful of quarterbacks over the next six seasons before finally landing Drew Bledsoe in 1993.​