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Today in Patriots History
The Undertaker
The Undertaker
The Pats have never played a game on January 9, but there are six former Patriot players that were born on this date.
Happy 57th birthday to Vincent Brown
Born Jan 9, 1965 in Atlanta
Patriot LB, 1988-1995; uniform #59
Pats 2nd round (43rd overall) selection of the 1988 draft, from Mississippi Valley State
Vincent Brown played in 123 games for the Patriots, missing just five games over his eight years with the Pats. He registered 811 tackles, 16.5 sacks, ten interceptions, seven fumble recoveries, six forced fumbles, and scored two touchdowns. "The Undertaker" led the Patriots in tackles five times, a genuine star player on teams that were not very deep with talent.
Since 2001 Brown has been coaching, mostly at the college level. He spent one season as a linebacker coach with the Dallas Cowboys, and has also been a position coach at the University of Virginia and Richmond, and defensive coordinator at UConn and Howard. Brown is currently the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at William & Mary.
The columnist below doesn't hold back his opinion about the treatment Vincent Brown received from Bill Parcells and Bob Kraft:
Brown earned better than he got from Pats
Does loyalty exist in professional sports? No. If it did, Vincent Brown still would be employed by the New England Patriots. Vincent Brown, 31, is a rare commodity in professional sports today. H…
www.southcoasttoday.com
Although the Patriots hierarchy will not confirm it, the beginning the end of Brown’s Patriot career came last Aug. 1, when team physician Bert Zarins performed arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. At Parcell’s urging, Brown was asked to stick it out for the benefit of team. Now, they are sticking it to him.
The Patriots have not publicly stated the reason why he was released, but he had potential problems with his surgically repaired knees and was scheduled to make $2.25 million this upcoming season.
The irony in all of this is that Brown was always behind the scale when it came to compensation. For years, he was considered by his peers to be underpaid. Because he was always the best defender on one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL, he never got chosen to appear in the Pro Bowl. Consider for a moment how much better he would have been had he played behind the likes of Bruce Smith, Howie Long or Green Bay’s Reggie White (certainly not to be confused with the Patriots Reggie White).