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Pro Bowl Player
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Russell Ross Francis (born April 3, 1953), drafted by the New England Patriots in the 1st round (16th pick) of the 1975 NFL Draft, despite sitting out his senior season at Oregon. He grew up in Hawaii. At 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 242 lb (110 kg), Russ was the first Patriot tight end with three career receptions on fourth down plays. Francis is the only Patriot player with three receptions from a pass thrown by a wide receiver, and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection from 1977 to 1979. Yes, he's not in the Pats' HOF because its system relies on local media and online (fairweather) fan voting.
He set the national high school record for the javelin as a senior at Pleasant Hill High School, southeast of Eugene, in 1971 at 259 feet, 9 inches; the record stood until 1988. Francis qualified for The Superstars final and the World Superstars in 1980 and 1981, finishing second in the 1980 final and fourth in 1981. He won the football preliminary in 1981 and set a record of 23.91 seconds in the 50 yard swimming event. The record stood until 1986 when it was broken by Greg Louganis.
Francis appeared in a 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania 2 along with other NFL stars...Eat your heart out, Gronk. The son of wrestling promoter Ed Francis, he briefly competed full-time in the American Wrestling Association after retiring from football. He also competed in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hawaii where he held the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship one time with his older brother, Billy Roy Francis.
Following the 1980 season, Francis retired from professional football. Two things that Francis has said contributed greatly to this decision were, one, when the Patriots refused to give him his promised bonus for making the Pro Bowl (because his injury from a motorcycle accident kept him out of the game); and, secondly, when his roommate, Darryl Stingley, was paralyzed by a Jack Tatum hit, the Patriots tried to cancel Stingley's medical insurance. Francis was the first Patriot player at Stingley's side immediately after the hit. Francis has said it was tough to play after that.
He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a draft pick that the Patriots used to select future Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett.
No, I don't think his circling around the stadium in a helicopter one day at practice will ever be topped.
Last time I spoke with Steve Grogan, he said Russ now lives in Wyoming. No word on how many "Whuffo"s are there ("Whuffo you jump out of parachutes?")
("Um, we don't jump out of parachutes. That would be really dumb.")
On a side note, has it occurred to anybody how really psyched all the players, including Brady, Edelman, Hightower and the rest will be, if we wear throwbacks all season in 2017? Not to mention everyone else.
He set the national high school record for the javelin as a senior at Pleasant Hill High School, southeast of Eugene, in 1971 at 259 feet, 9 inches; the record stood until 1988. Francis qualified for The Superstars final and the World Superstars in 1980 and 1981, finishing second in the 1980 final and fourth in 1981. He won the football preliminary in 1981 and set a record of 23.91 seconds in the 50 yard swimming event. The record stood until 1986 when it was broken by Greg Louganis.
Francis appeared in a 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania 2 along with other NFL stars...Eat your heart out, Gronk. The son of wrestling promoter Ed Francis, he briefly competed full-time in the American Wrestling Association after retiring from football. He also competed in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hawaii where he held the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship one time with his older brother, Billy Roy Francis.
Following the 1980 season, Francis retired from professional football. Two things that Francis has said contributed greatly to this decision were, one, when the Patriots refused to give him his promised bonus for making the Pro Bowl (because his injury from a motorcycle accident kept him out of the game); and, secondly, when his roommate, Darryl Stingley, was paralyzed by a Jack Tatum hit, the Patriots tried to cancel Stingley's medical insurance. Francis was the first Patriot player at Stingley's side immediately after the hit. Francis has said it was tough to play after that.
He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a draft pick that the Patriots used to select future Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett.
No, I don't think his circling around the stadium in a helicopter one day at practice will ever be topped.
Last time I spoke with Steve Grogan, he said Russ now lives in Wyoming. No word on how many "Whuffo"s are there ("Whuffo you jump out of parachutes?")
("Um, we don't jump out of parachutes. That would be really dumb.")
On a side note, has it occurred to anybody how really psyched all the players, including Brady, Edelman, Hightower and the rest will be, if we wear throwbacks all season in 2017? Not to mention everyone else.
