Happy Birthdays: John "Hog" Hannah, Jon "Pat Patriot" Morris

[jmt57]

Charley Long (4/6/38-12/16/89)
Patriot G/T, 1961-69
Belichick would have loved Long. He was an All-Star LT, All-Star LG, both offensive and special teams captain, and also lined up at TE and even RB. Seven year starter before sidelined with injuries, member of Pats' 1960s All-Decade Team.

Chad Eaton, 45 (4/6/72)
Patriot DT, 1996-2000
Started 44 games for NE, registering 13.5 sacks. Was AFC Defensive Player of the Week after a 23-9 win at Piitsburgh when he sacked Kordell Stewart three times and forced a Jerome Bettis fumble that resulted in a Pats TD.

Jeremy Ebert, 28 (4/6/89)
Patriot WR, 2012-13
7th round pick in 2012 was released a year later after Pats drafted Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce. Bounced around NFL practice squads and off-season rosters, last with Atlanta in 2014. Was one of three draft picks (Ebert, Nate Ebner, Alfonzo Dennard) Pats received from Packers in exchange for their 5th round pick.

Cyhl Quarles, 28 (4/6/89)
Patriot SS, 2012
Quarles was on Pats' practice squad in 2012.

Adrian White, 53 (4/6/64)
Patriot S, 1993
White followed Bill Parcells from the Giants to New England in '93, playing in five games with four starts. He has since been an assistant coach in NFL Europe, college, Arena Football and with the Bills.

Jon Sawyer, 53 (4/6/64)
Patriot CB, 1987
Played in two of the 'Replacement' games in '87.

Frank Robotti, 78 (4/6/39)
Patriot LB, 1961
Connecticut native played one year with the Pats, reuniting with Mike Holovak after graduating from BC. Robotti appeared in twelve games, with two interceptions. He injured his ankle late in the season and then the Patriots drafted Nick Buoniconti - and his pro football career ended. He lives on though as the namesake of the Frank Robotti Trophy in Stamford CT.


Other New England - football birthdays:

Bill Brooks, 57 (4/6/64)
Alum of Framingham North HS and Boston University. WR/PR played 11 NFL seasons, mostly with the Colts. Had 46 TD receptions and 8001 yards receiving.

Tim Hasselbeck, 39 (4/6/78)
Don's son is an alum of Xaverian HS and BC. After a very uneventful NFL career he is now a talking head on BSPN who sidelines as a media troll on local Boston sports talk radio, while living in the shadow of his wife.


Most notable other NFL players born today:
- Sterling Sharpe, 52; 5x Pro Bowl WR w/GB, 1988-94
- Spider Lockhart (4/6/43-7/8/86); NYG S/PR 1965-75
- Donnie Edwards, 44; Chiefs LB 1996-2008
- Randall Godfrey, 44; Dallas/SD LB 1996-2007

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

LOL. I guess if you've got the only of something, youve got the best too.

Don't get it. Every team has a logo.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Charley Long (4/6/38-12/16/89)
Patriot G/T, 1961-69
Belichick would have loved Long. He was an All-Star LT, All-Star LG, both offensive and special teams captain, and also lined up at TE and even RB. Seven year starter before sidelined with injuries, member of Pats' 1960s All-Decade Team.

Chad Eaton, 45 (4/6/72)
Patriot DT, 1996-2000
Started 44 games for NE, registering 13.5 sacks. Was AFC Defensive Player of the Week after a 23-9 win at Piitsburgh when he sacked Kordell Stewart three times and forced a Jerome Bettis fumble that resulted in a Pats TD.

Jeremy Ebert, 28 (4/6/89)
Patriot WR, 2012-13
7th round pick in 2012 was released a year later after Pats drafted Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce. Bounced around NFL practice squads and off-season rosters, last with Atlanta in 2014. Was one of three draft picks (Ebert, Nate Ebner, Alfonzo Dennard) Pats received from Packers in exchange for their 5th round pick.

Cyhl Quarles, 28 (4/6/89)
Patriot SS, 2012
Quarles was on Pats' practice squad in 2012.

Adrian White, 53 (4/6/64)
Patriot S, 1993
White followed Bill Parcells from the Giants to New England in '93, playing in five games with four starts. He has since been an assistant coach in NFL Europe, college, Arena Football and with the Bills.

Jon Sawyer, 53 (4/6/64)
Patriot CB, 1987
Played in two of the 'Replacement' games in '87.

Frank Robotti, 78 (4/6/39)
Patriot LB, 1961
Connecticut native played one year with the Pats, reuniting with Mike Holovak after graduating from BC. Robotti appeared in twelve games, with two interceptions. He injured his ankle late in the season and then the Patriots drafted Nick Buoniconti - and his pro football career ended. He lives on though as the namesake of the Frank Robotti Trophy in Stamford CT.


Other New England - football birthdays:

Bill Brooks, 57 (4/6/64)
Alum of Framingham North HS and Boston University. WR/PR played 11 NFL seasons, mostly with the Colts. Had 46 TD receptions and 8001 yards receiving.

Tim Hasselbeck, 39 (4/6/78)
Don's son is an alum of Xaverian HS and BC. After a very uneventful NFL career he is now a talking head on BSPN who sidelines as a media troll on local Boston sports talk radio, while living in the shadow of his wife.


Most notable other NFL players born today:
- Sterling Sharpe, 52; 5x Pro Bowl WR w/GB, 1988-94
- Spider Lockhart (4/6/43-7/8/86); NYG S/PR 1965-75
- Donnie Edwards, 44; Chiefs LB 1996-2008
- Randall Godfrey, 44; Dallas/SD LB 1996-2007

I know it's keeping you busy, but I - we - really appreciate this stuff.

Pats have a huge extended family, and as I'd like to personally point out to Kraft, we had a world-wide following a decade before he bought the team.

 

[jmt57]

April 7 is a slow day for Patriots' birthdays.

Bob Suci (4/7/1939-12/21/2015)
Patriot CB/PR, 1963
The greatest athlete in Genesee County history had seven interceptions in the Patriots' AFL East title 1963 season, including two touchdowns - one for 98 yards. Suci also returned 25 punts (9.3 yard average) and kickoffs (21.2 yards/return). With medical technology not being what it is now though, his pro football career was cut short due to a knee injury.

Lovett Purnell, 45 (4/7/1972)
Patriot TE, 1996-98
A 7th round pick out of West Virginia, Purnell spent most of '96 on the practice squad. He appeared in all 32 games the next two years, with seven starts. With the Pats Purnell had 17 receptions on 33 targets for 149 yards and 5 TD. The Patriots traded him to Baltimore for a 1999 sixth round pick (Marcus Washington). Purnell appeared in two games for the Ravens, was a 2000 pre-season cut by Tampa Bay, and was in the XFL in 2001.

Tim Wright, 27 (4/7/1990)
Patriot TE, 2014
The Rutgers grad was acquired from Tampa in the Logan Mankins trade, playing in all 16 games with two starts. Wright caught 26 passes on 33 targets, for 259 yards and six TD. The Pats cut him in June of 2015, and he eventually caught on with Detroit. Wright tore his ACL during OTAs in 2016 and is now a free agent.

Jemea Thomas, 27 (4/7/1990)
Patriot CB, 2014
The Pats drafted Thomas in the sixth round (206th overall) in the 2014 draft. He was cut on August 26. In 2015 Thomas spent time on the practice squads of the Cowboys, Rams and Titans. He appeared in two 2015 NFL games, one each for the Rams and Titans, and was not with any club in 2016.

Ken Price, 67 (4/7/50)
Patriot LB, 1971
Price may be the most obscure former Patriot in franchise history. All I could find was that he played in only one game (a late season 21-17 victory at Baltimore), wore #54, and lettered at Iowa in 1968 and 1970.


One other New England football-related birthday:

Chuck Gorecki, 53 (4/7/1964)
Gorecki was a DE on a very good Boston College defense alongside Mike Ruth and Bill Romanowski. That Eagle team was more well known for its offense though, which included future pro football players Doug Flutie, Gerald Phelan, Brian Brennan, Kelvin Martin and Troy Stradford, among others. Gorecki played in three NFL games as a backup linebacker with Philadelphia in 1987.


Notable NFL players born on April 7:
- Tony Dorsett (63)
- Ricky Watters (48)
- Steve Wisniewski (50)
- Ronde Barber (42)
- Tiki Barber (42)

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Notable NFL players born on April 7:
- Tony Dorsett (63)
- Ricky Watters (48)
- Steve Wisniewski (50)
- Ronde Barber (42)
- Tiki Barber (42)

I think the Barbers are related

OK That's definitely NOT Floyd

Tony's nickname is "Touchdown"; here he is against us in '78


What the heck, Happy Birthday too to Jackie Chan, Russell Crowe, former Sox Adrian Beltre, Jumpin' Jerry Brown, and remember the late James Garner, Ravi Shankar, and Billie Holliday!

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Ken Price, 67 (4/7/50)
Patriot LB, 1971
Price may be the most obscure former Patriot in franchise history. All I could find was that he played in only one game (a late season 21-17 victory at Baltimore), wore #54, and lettered at Iowa in 1968 and 1970.

Look at it this way:

- He wore the legendary #54
- He was undefeated as a Patriot
- He was a teammate of Julius Adams
- I can pronounce and spell his name, which has same number of letters as TB12

Quite a dossier.

 

[jmt57]

I think the Barbers are related.

I have had the good fortune to meet more than my fair share of professional athletes.

One was at one of several annual not-inexpensive charity events, with before and after individual hob-nob and chit chats with several dozen pro athletes.

Ronde Barber was the only athlete from any of those dinners that was, shall we say, less than cordial.

To me it wasn't the same as a guy like Warren Sapp walking past kids asking for an autograph after a training camp practice. It was a charity event, for which the only reason he was there was to give a bit of time, hang out, talk to and share stories with fans or corporations that were paying for time with athletes for a worthy cause.

It was as if he wanted to get credit for required community service, without having to perform any.

 

[resdubwhite]

Great thread. Thank you

 

[jmt57]

April 8 edition:

Fred Smerlas, 60 (4/8/1957)
Patriot NT, 1991-92
The Waltham MA native and BC alumni spent the final two of his 13 NFL seasons in his native New England. Buffalo selected Smerlas in the second round (32nd overall) of the 1979 draft. He started 158 games for the Bills (including six playoff games) and was named to five Pro Bowls. Smerlas has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame multiple times (including 2016), but has yet to make it to the final round. The Bills enshrined Smerlas to their team HoF in 2000.

Frank Sacco, 53 (4/8/1964)
Patriot LB, 1987
Sacco was one of the strike replacement players in '87, appearing in two games. He has had a very successful business career in the tech industry. Sacco is now VP of Global Software Sales at NCR, and previously held high ranking executive positions at Infragistics, Progress Software and Oracle. He has also kept some ties to football, being named in 2013 as his alma mater Fordham University's Gridiron Club president.

Pat Coleman, 50 (4/8/1967)
Patriot WR/KR, 1990
Coleman only played one game for New England, returning two kickoffs. Houston had originally drafted him in '90 out of Ole Miss. He rejoined the Oilers for the next four seasons, ending up with 42 receptions with 2 TD, 31 punt returns and 35 kick returns. After one year with Toronto in the CFL he retired from pro football. Coleman now works with the Harrison County Department of Education in Houston as a Coordinator for At-Risk Students, giving back to disadvantaged youths.


Other New England area pro football players:

Joe Pellegrini, 60 (4/8/1957)
The Hingham native went to Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree MA (perhaps about the time @patfanken coached the Bishops?) and then Harvard. He spent five seasons in the NFL and was the starting LG for the Jets in '83. Pellegrini was set to compete in the Olympics in 1980, but the US boycotted those games being held in Moscow. Pellegrini was under the impression that he could return to football after the Olympics but coach Joe Restic said he had a policy of not allowing players who take a year off to return to the team. Pellegrini somehow bucked odds of being out of football for two years plus coming from a small-time college football program. He spent six seasons on NFL rosters, and was a starting LG for the Jets in '83. After getting his MBA from Columbia, Pellegrini has had a long and successful career in the investment banking industry.

Scott Mersereau, 52 (4/8/1965)
Mersereau makes this list because he went to college at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. He is one of only 11 SCSU Owls to make it to the NFL, and the second most successful after Joe Andruzzi. He was a 5th round pick in the '87 draft by the Rams and played for the Jets for seven years, starting 91 games at DT. Mersereau is the player that the late Dennis Byrd collided with in '92, leaving Byrd paralyzed. Ironically Mersereau's career also ended due to that play, but not right away. He suffered three cracked vertebrae on that hit, that went undetected until he failed a physical with Green Bay in 1993. He now works as a financial adviser in Boca Raton, or at least he did before this happened.


Other notable NFL players born today:
- Mark Clayton (56), 5x Pro Bowl WR with Dan Marino-era Dolphins caught 84 TD passes.
- Ricky Bell (4/8/55-11/28/84), #1 pick of the '77 draft tragically died at age 29.
- Miller Farr (74), 3x Pro Bowl CB in the '60s.
- 'Jungle' Jim Martin, played on four NFL championship teams in the 50s.
- Cliff Avril (31), Seattle DE.
- Lito Sheppard (36); 10-year vet CB is cousin of Jabar Gaffney.

 

[jmt57]

Today and tomorrow are extremely slow Patriot/New England area football related birth dates.


Ken Toler, 58 (4/9/59)
Patriot WR, 1981-82
Uniform #82
The Patriots selected Toler in the 7th round (185th overall) in the 1981 draft. At the time he ranked as the second all-time leading receiver at Ole Miss. Toler was a core special teams player for Ron Meyer, appearing in 25 games. In two seasons he had seven receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Toler went back to the University of Mississippi, earning his MD in 1991. He is an ophthalmologist at Magee General Hospital, specializing in diseases and surgery of the eyes, cataracts, and LASIK refractive surgery.

Bob White, 54 (4/9/63)
Patriot C, 1990
White is a central Massachusetts native. He was born in Fitchburg, went to high school in neighboring Lunenburg, and is a University of Rhode Island alumnus where he was twice a team captain. White was drafted by the Jets in the 7th round in '86 but waived at the end of training camp. He then spent three years with Dallas, appearing in 24 games with ten starts. The Patriots signed him as a free agent in 1990 and was on the roster for three games that season.

**** Capp, 75 (4/9/42)
TE/LB and 17th round (147th overall) selection by Patriots in 1966 draft.
Capp is orinally from Portand Maine, and a graduate of Worcester Academy and Boston College. Thanks in part to the AFL and NFL competing for the same players, the Pats had many players on no-cut (guaranteed) contracts; the common draft was still a year away. Free agents and late round picks like Capp were at a disadvantage, and he never got beyond the practice squad. A year later he got a Superbowl ring with the Packers, and in 1968 he played in all 14 games for Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh. Capp was cut the following year. After that he worked with a brokerage firm, in commercial sales for Proctor & Gamble, and as a sales trainer.


Other notable NFL players born today include:
- Curley Lambeau (4/9/1898); Hall of Fame founder, player and coach of the Green Bay Packers
- Clarence Scott (68); Browns' CB 1971-83 had 40 interceptions
- Aaron Smith (41); DE started 152 games from 1999-2011 with Steelers
- Jeff Reed (38); Pittsburgh's kicker from 2002-2010.
- Willie Colon (34); Steeler/Jet OL 2006-2015.
- Paul Robeson (4/9/1898); more known for his acting and musical talents than his two years in the NFL.

Also born today: Hugh Hefner (1926), Carl Perkins (1932), Dennis Quaid (1954), Kristen Stewart (1990) and Paulina Porizkova (1965).

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Dennis Quaid (1954)