June 1 in Pats History: Foxboro Stadium

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Foxboro Stadium is Demolished​

June 1, 2002: the demolition of Foxboro Stadium, which had begun in February a couple weeks after the AFCCG victory over Pittsburgh, was officially completed.

15 years later, Foxboro Stadium is best remembered by its football finale

On June 1, 2002, the demolition of Foxboro Stadium was finished. The place that the Patriots called home for more than three decades was officially no more. Years later, Foxboro […]

www.boston.com

Remember This? Demolition of Foxboro Stadium Began 13 Years Ago This Week

Share your memories about the old Foxboro Stadium and learn some fun facts about Gillette Stadium.

patch.com

Foxboro Stadium was officially demolished 15 years ago today

It has already been 15 years since the Patriots moved from their old Foxboro abode to their new digs at Gillette Stadium.

www.espn.com

Local military man has brush with fame

HAMPTON — While 2000 Winnacunnet graduate Scott Beebe is heading toward Afghanistan with the Marine Corps, another U.S. soldier from Hampton took a break last month to mingle with the stars in Europe…

www.southcoasttoday.com

On February 18, 2002 the demolition of Foxboro Stadium commenced, one month after the last game at the old stadium occurred. On that night clutch field goals by Adam Vinatieri in a blinding snowstorm resulted in the Patriots defeating Oakland. That historic playoff game is known as the Snow Bowl in New England; to everybody else it is the Tuck Rule Game.

Construction began on June 15, 2000 for CMGI Field. The company with the naming rights was an internet incubator that unfortunately had a penchant for backing the wrong horse. For example, they operated companies like Alta Vista (rather than Google) and uBid (instead of eBay). Those wrong choices resulted in their stock price dropping from $160 to $40. This in turn caused the dot com to quickly bail from the naming right in order to stop the financial bleeding, and Boston based Gillette stepped in to fill that void by purchasing the naming rights.

 

[jmt57]

While we are on the subject, I would like to share a few comments on the old stadium from a 2020 thread:

Today in Patriots History: Demolition of Foxboro Stadium

Today in Patriots History: Demolition of Foxboro Stadium John Morgan On February 18, 2002 the demolition of Foxboro Stadium commenced. One month earlier the last game at the old stadium occured. Clutch field goals by Adam Vinatieri in a blinding snowstorm resulted in the Patriots defeating...

www.patsfans.com

Supafly:
Nice memory. I have a set of cufflinks that are from the last game that I keep meaning to put in some type of display box, but keep forgetting. I think they’d look nice on a shelf somewhere in the home office.

Clonamery:
What? You don’t have the other goalpost? Would look freakin’ awesome in the “home office.” Cuff links.

denverpatsfan:
Loved that old stadium. It had character and was loud unlike the new place. I was at the Snow Game. Many fond memories. We bought our seats too. I turned it into a bench for the patio.

FCB02062:
I was there, along with probably many others on this board, and it was an incredible day/night/game. We got to the stadium around 3:30 and it started snowing shortly after, perhaps even as we were unloading my brother's truck to start our tailgate. We had 4 in our usual crew and we each had assigned "duties" to unload/setup - one guy assigned to each - the grill, the speakers (set up and connect to car radio), our flag poles (American Flag, Pats Flag, Italian Flag), table/chairs, cooler, etc. This was our 8th or 9th season as season ticket holders, so we had it down to a science by then.

Anyway, as we're unloading the snow starts (iirc), but this I'm sure of - these were some HUGE snowflakes, like so big that you could almost make out their geometric shape. It was not THAT cold out - there've been many other much colder games, and there wasn't much wind. All I remember is those massive snowflakes falling from the darkening Foxboro sky. By mid tailgate we've got accumulating snow in the parking lot (we always tailgated in Lot A, which was south of the stadium).

We go through our tailgating routines - we drank lots of beer, ate our usual menu of grilled chicken, steak tips, burgers, dogs - basic tailgate fare. And then we'd get our area going as one of us would "preach". I don't know how or why we started doing this, but one of our group would stand up on a cooler and basically get everyone's attention and pump up the area. Sometimes we'd burn a shirt or paraphenelia from the other team, but mostly it was just "The Pats are gonna beat the schitt out of such and such and blah blah blah" (we were in our early-mid 20s, it was fun, don't judge ). And after our preaching we'd play a song that keeps the area pumped up - usually Song 2 by blur or Machinehead by Bush (very popular high energy tunes at the time) as both made appearances on the in Foxboro stadium game day soundtrack.
By now it's time to break everything down and load up the truck. We always grabbed a "roadie" for the walk into the stadium. At the old stadium you had to walk up a hill (steepness depended on how hammered you were) from Lot A and other lots on the south side of the stadium, and I remember it being quite slippery from the now accumulated snow.

Now we're talking 18 years ago, so some of this may be foggy.

My seats were in 223, about the 5 or 10 yard line on the Pats sideline closest to the south end zone. IIRC, the game tying drive was going right to left in front of us. When the "tuck rule" play happened, and Oakland recovered the ball, many folks in our section got up and left. I sat there in several seconds of disbelief at what just transpired in front of my eyes. I was pissed. I turned to my left and said to my brother as I raised from the bench (bench seats back then) "let's get the **** outta here." And literally just that moment Walt Coleman announced "the previous play is under review". I still wanted to leave because there was no way that wasn't a fumble. My brother wanted to stay and hear the call. I agreed to stay. We couldn't believe the call reversal. It was an amazing turn of events. So then they go on and Vinatieri makes the most incredible kick in football history.

Pats get the kickoff and now they're moving to the end zone farther away from us. I remember there was a run by Antowain Smith around the right side in which it looked like he might be able to run it in for a td as the play was transpiring. But he got tackled for a 9 or 10 yard gain down inside the Oakland 10. At this point I'm thinking just don't fumble. When Vinatieri made the game winner it was absolute pandemonium - hugging guys you don't know in your section. It was insane.

After the game we did some more tailgating, sparked up the grill, drank some more, and my brother and I called our father from the parking lot as we always did. My brother dropped me off at my house maybe around 1 or 1:30 and I remember I watched SportsCenter highlights and commentary until 3 am. I still have the ticket stub from this game.

Patriot Missile:
Good riddance, have some good memories from that place but there is no denying that place was a dump.

Hyped:
I won't miss the cold metal benches and the insane lines for the bathroom....hell I even had to pee downhill towards the old race track outside the bathroom through a chainlink fence because my next option was to pee in my pants....

FCB02062:
Another memory/oddity of the old stadium...

As we would leave our seats/bench after the game, we'd exit the stadium proper at the first stairway to the runway/walkway abutting the stadium. There was a fence, maybe 6 feet high running along the length of this walkway. On the other side of the fence was a fairly steep hill leading down to the parking lot. Sometimes people would give up waiting to get to the front exit as the throngs left after the game, and they'd hop the fence. Every game someone would be schitfaced and fall off the fence and roll down the hill...

Also, the back doors to the many of the concessions opened up to this exit walkway...there was this one dude pretty close to the "end" of the stadium towards the route 1 side that'd give out papa gino pizzas to passers by. These are the litte "Junior Gino" pizzas (IIRC) that they used to sell at the stadium. I was the recipient of several of these through the years...

Tunescribe:
My seats were in sec. 204. The snow was like feathers and piled up vertically on people's heads and shoulders. I remember short catches by Wiggins, Patten and Troy Brown comprising much of the Pats offense while field conditions hindered the explosiveness of Oakland's Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. The trajectory of Vinatieri's game-tying kick was so low and it was snowing so hard we couldn't tell he made it 'til the refs' arms went up. Of course, those were the days before metal detectors at the entry gates: one guy a few rows down from us had two aerosol air horns he held up and blasted whenever Oakland had the ball. I still have a souvenir hat I bought at that game embroidered with the date and team logos.

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Larry Centers​

Happy 53rd birthday to Larry Centers
Born June 1, 1968 in Tatum, Texas
Patriot FB, 2003; uniform #31
Signed as a veteran free agent on July 30, 2003

Larry Centers was one of the best pass receiving backs in the history of pro football. Unfortunately he was 35 years old and had lost a step when he signed with New England, with his primary contribution coming from his still prolific blocking skills. The Pats signed Centers at the start of training camp, and he beat out Patrick Pass and Fred McCrary as the number one fullback to begin the 2003 season.

Centers had 54 yards from scrimmage on five carries and four receptions in the week one 'they hate their coach' loss to Buffalo; that would turn out to be his most statistically productive game of the year. The Patriots cut Centers in order to activate Tully Banta-Cain from PUP after a week six 17-6 victory over the Giants, where he had one carry for a loss of two yards and no receptions on two targets.

The Pats waived WR J.J. Stokes and re-signed Centers in mid-December for the final three games of the regular season. After the Colts had scored to cut the lead to 15-7 in the AFC Championship Game, Centers had a critical 28-yard catch-and-run that helped set up an Adam Vinatieri field goal and give the Pats an 11-point lead.

Centers retired after earning his first super bowl ring in the championship victory over Carolina. His 827 career receptions is most for any running back in NFL history, and at the time he retired it ranked 7th most in league history. From October 24, 1993 to October 20, 2002 Centers caught a pass in an incredible 143 consecutive games. He held the NFL record for most receptions in a season by a running back (101 in 1995) for 19 years (surpassed by Matte Forte with 102 in 2014 and Christian McCaffrey with 107 in 2018), and was the first NFL running back to have 100 receptions in one season. The three-time Pro Bowler from Stephen F Austin State University was at his peak from 1994-96 when he scored 20 touchdowns and racked up 3,390 yards from scrimmage.

Larry Centers signs with Patriots - UPI.com

Larry Centers, the NFL's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards by a running back, signed Wednesday with the New England Patriots.

www.upi.com

Patriots sign three-time Pro Bowl fullback Larry Centers

Patriots sign three-time Pro Bowl fullback Larry Centers, release Jason Hunt

www.patriots.com

Why Larry Centers should break a barrier for fullbacks in the Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame hasn't inducted a fullback since 1987. Here's why ex-Patriots fullback Larry Centers should be the one to break the barrier.

985thesportshub.com

NFL Super Bowl Champion Larry Centers pens letter about Miracle For Mom — Miracle for Mom Foundation

Last month, we lost yet another NFL player to the devastating impact of ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Dwight Clark was an incredible football player and -- from all accounts – an even more impressive human being. Seeing Dwight’s life cut short – like that of my friend Kevin T

www.miracleformom.org

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
More June 1 Patriot Events​

Happy 57th birthday to Bob Bleier
Born June 1, 1964 in Rochester, New York
Patriot QB, 1987; uniform #10

The cousin of Rocky Bleier was New England's starting quarterback when the NFL players went on strike in '87 and replacement players were used for three games. Bleier still ranks first in University of Richmond school history in most passing categories, but installing a productive pass offense in such a short time with no veterans was impossible for the coaches of the replacements in '87. Bob is now a financial adviser and active in youth charitable organizations in western New York.

University of Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame

University of Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame

richmondspiders.com

Bob Bleier was one of the most prolific passer in Richmond football history. He is first on Richmond's career lists with 1,169 career attempts, 672 completions, 8,057 passing yards and 54 passing touchdowns from 1983-86. Bleier owns three of the top five passing seasons in school history. He was Second Team All-Yankee Conference in 1986 and played in the Blue-Gray Game following that season. Bleier played for the New England Patriots of the National Football League in 1987.​

Bonadio director recognized for charitable efforts

Bob Bleier, former NFL quarterback, cited for work with Camp Good Days and Special Times.

www.democratandchronicle.com

J. Robert "Bob" Bleier | Montage Wealth Management

Bob is the former managing partner at Bonadio Financial Services, LLC, and is a founding partner at Montage Wealth Management. He works as a trusted advisor to individuals, as well as small- and middle-market companies in the areas of compensation, benefits planning, estate planning, financial...

www.montagewealthmanagement.com

Prior to his 28 years in the financial services industry, Bob played professional football with the NFL New England Patriots. In 1991, he was named “The All Time Greatest Quarterback” at the University of Richmond. He has been inducted into three athletic Halls of Fame: Aquinas Institute, NYS Section V, and the University of Richmond. He is a frequent keynote speaker with a number of speaking engagements stressing his lifelong message, “If the opportunity comes, take it; if it doesn’t come, make it”.​

Happy 60th birthday to Jon Williams
Born June 1, 1961 in Somerville, New Jersey
Patriot KR/RB, 1984-1985; uniform #44
Pats 3rd round (70th overall) selection in the 1984 draft, from Penn State

Williams had a rough childhood: his father was in prison on a murder charge when he was nine, and three of his six siblings wound up being drug addicts. He somehow persevered and was part of a national championship team at Penn State. Unfortunately he blew out his knee his rookie season, and his pro football career lasted only nine games. Since then he has used his life experience to council at risk boys on making the right choices, and now works in sales for Federal Express.

Jon Williams - Patriots Alumni

RB, #44 Height: 5’9 Weight: 205 Yrs/Pat: 3 Acquired: D-3, 1984 (70th) School: Penn State Major: Counseling Education Born: Jun 1, 1961 Somerville, NJ Personal At different points in his life, the path he could have taken would have led to disastrous results. But Jon Williams never let that...

patriotsalumni.com

Happy 61st birthday to Cedric Jones
Born June 1, 1960 in Norfolk, Virginia
Patriot WR, 1982-1990; uniform #83
Pats 3rd round (56th overall) selection in the 1982 draft, out of Duke

Cedric Jones played in 120 games over nine seasons with the Patriots, scoring 16 touchdowns on 191 receptions for 2,703 yards. At that time he ranked 9th in career franchise receiving yardage (it is 20th now), 9th in receptions (20th) and 10th in TD receptions (22nd). Jones averaged 14.2 yards per reception but did not get a whole lot of passes thrown his way, as he was typically the fourth option after Stanley Morgan, Irving Fryar and RB Tony Collins.

Jones did develop a niche as a trusted possession receiver. His best season was in 1989 when he had 48 receptions for 670 yards and six touchdowns. Part of his post-NFL career includes being the athletic director at the New York Athletic Club, catering in part to athletes focusing on the Olympics.

Where are they now? Cedric Jones

GREENWICH, Connecticut - He was a mainstay at the wide receiver position for the New England Patriots during the 1980's.

www.patriots.com

Ex-New England Patriot Cedric Jones named Brunswick AD

Cedric Jones played nine seasons at wide receiver for the New England Patriots and has...

www.greenwichtime.com

Happy 84th birthday to Joe Biscaha
Born June 1, 1937 in Clifton, New Jersey
Patriot end, 1960; uniform #34

After retiring from football in 1961, Biscaha spent 35 years as a teacher, coach and school administrator in Passaic County, New Jersey. He played briefly for the Giants in 1959, and Patriots in their inaugural season.

Happy 29th birthday to Tony Washington
Born June 1, 1992 in High Point, NC
Patriot WR, 2017 offseason; uniform #17
Signed as free agent on July 27, 2017

Tony Washington during a preseason game between the Patriots and Giants on August 31, 2017 at Gillette Stadium.
The Appalachian State alum never had a chance, having been designated the cursed number 17 jersey.
​

Patriots sign WR Tony Washington and rookie DE Caleb Kidder

The New England Patriots announced today the signing of WR Tony Washington and rookie DE Caleb Kidder.

www.patriots.com

Patriots reach 53-man limit

The New England Patriots announced today that they have released 32 players to reach the NFL-mandatory 53-man limit.

www.patriots.com

Washington, 26, signed with New England as a free agent on July 27, 2017. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder was originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as a rookie free agent out of Appalachian State on May 11, 2014. He spent his rookie season on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad in 2014 and began the 2015 season on the Jacksonville practice squad before being added to the 53-man roster on Sept. 26, 2015. In his two seasons with the Jaguars and multiple stints on the practice squad and 53-man roster, Washington appeared in six regular season games as a reserve and caught one pass for 9 yards. He also had one rushing attempt for 8 yards. Washington was released by Jacksonville on May 1, 2017.​

Tony Washington - Football Coach - East Carolina University Athletics

Tony Washington, who enjoyed a four-year career as a wide receiver in the National Football League, is in his first season on the ECU staff as the offensive quality

ecupirates.com

Washington was a multi-selection to All-Southern Conference squads while at ASU and was chosen to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Senior Bowl. He earned a number of accolades for his performance in the classroom, including SoCon All-Academic, Capital One All-District Academic and ADA FCS All-Star Academic honors, along with being the 2013 recipient of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award & Scholarship. Washington was a Dean's List student at ASU who also captured the school's Science Building Most Outstanding Student Award.​

Washington, who prepped at T. Wingate Andrews High School in High Point, N.C., earned dual bachelor's degrees in architecture & design technology and construction management from Appalachian State in 2013. He graduated with a 3.83 grade point average.​

June 1, 2001: Nick Caserio is hired by the Patriots as a personnel assistant. Earlier that year he was a grad assistant at Central Michigan, and held the same position the previous two seasons for Saginaw Valley State.




One other pro football player born on this date with a New England connection:
Joe Costello, 61 (June 1, 1960)
Costello grew up in Stratford CT and went to Central Connecticut State.
The linebacker played 31 games for the Falcons and Raiders from 1986-89, and also spent some time in the CFL and USFL.



Other notable football players born June 1:
- Alan Ameche, 4-time Pro Bowl RB and Heisman Trophy winner.
- Ki Aldrich, 1st overall pick in '39 and C/LB/G for Cardinals and Washington.
- Santana Moss, WR with 10,283 career receiving yards - and cousin of Patriot RB James White.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

I hear they moved those aluminum benches to Gitmo as a tourture device!

I'm pretty sure half of my butt cheek is still attached to one of them.

 

[sean10mm]

The final game there was legendary, but the place itself was an embarrassing dump. It wasn't even a charming mess, it was just an open septic tank with bleachers that gave children tetanus.

 

[captain stone]

Today in Patriots History
Larry Centers​

Happy 53rd birthday to Larry Centers
Born June 1, 1968 in Tatum, Texas
Patriot FB, 2003; uniform #31
Signed as a veteran free agent on July 30, 2003

Larry Centers was one of the best pass receiving backs in the history of pro football. Unfortunately he was 35 years old and had lost a step when he signed with New England, with his primary contribution coming from his still prolific blocking skills. The Pats signed Centers at the start of training camp, and he beat out Patrick Pass and Fred McCrary as the number one fullback to begin the 2003 season.

Centers had 54 yards from scrimmage on five carries and four receptions in the week one 'they hate their coach' loss to Buffalo; that would turn out to be his most statistically productive game of the year. The Patriots cut Centers in order to activate Tully Banta-Cain from PUP after a week six 17-6 victory over the Giants, where he had one carry for a loss of two yards and no receptions on two targets.

The Pats waived WR J.J. Stokes and re-signed Centers in mid-December for the final three games of the regular season. After the Colts had scored to cut the lead to 15-7 in the AFC Championship Game, Centers had a critical 28-yard catch-and-run that helped set up an Adam Vinatieri field goal and give the Pats an 11-point lead.

Centers retired after earning his first super bowl ring in the championship victory over Carolina. His 827 career receptions is most for any running back in NFL history, and at the time he retired it ranked 7th most in league history. From October 24, 1993 to October 20, 2002 Centers caught a pass in an incredible 143 consecutive games. He held the NFL record for most receptions in a season by a running back (101 in 1995) for 19 years (surpassed by Matte Forte with 102 in 2014 and Christian McCaffrey with 107 in 2018), and was the first NFL running back to have 100 receptions in one season. The three-time Pro Bowler from Stephen F Austin State University was at his peak from 1994-96 when he scored 20 touchdowns and racked up 3,390 yards from scrimmage.

Larry Centers signs with Patriots - UPI.com

Larry Centers, the NFL's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards by a running back, signed Wednesday with the New England Patriots.

www.upi.com

Patriots sign three-time Pro Bowl fullback Larry Centers

Patriots sign three-time Pro Bowl fullback Larry Centers, release Jason Hunt

www.patriots.com

Why Larry Centers should break a barrier for fullbacks in the Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame hasn't inducted a fullback since 1987. Here's why ex-Patriots fullback Larry Centers should be the one to break the barrier.

985thesportshub.com

NFL Super Bowl Champion Larry Centers pens letter about Miracle For Mom — Miracle for Mom Foundation

Last month, we lost yet another NFL player to the devastating impact of ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Dwight Clark was an incredible football player and -- from all accounts – an even more impressive human being. Seeing Dwight’s life cut short – like that of my friend Kevin T

www.miracleformom.org

"Larry Centers for the HOF"...LOL...

 

[italian pat patriot]

I know that it was not a fantastic venue but i have to admit i would have loved to see a game or more at the old Foxboro Stadium

 

[captain stone]

​

Happy 61st birthday to Cedric Jones
Born June 1, 1960 in Norfolk, Virginia
Patriot WR, 1982-1990; uniform #83
Pats 3rd round (56th overall) selection in the 1982 draft, out of Duke

Cedric Jones played in 120 games over nine seasons with the Patriots, scoring 16 touchdowns on 191 receptions for 2,703 yards. At that time he ranked 9th in career franchise receiving yardage (it is 20th now), 9th in receptions (20th) and 10th in TD receptions (22nd). Jones averaged 14.2 yards per reception but did not get a whole lot of passes thrown his way, as he was typically the fourth option after Stanley Morgan, Irving Fryar and RB Tony Collins.

Jones did develop a niche as a trusted possession receiver. His best season was in 1989 when he had 48 receptions for 670 yards and six touchdowns. Part of his post-NFL career includes being the athletic director at the New York Athletic Club, catering in part to athletes focusing on the Olympics.

Where are they now? Cedric Jones

GREENWICH, Connecticut - He was a mainstay at the wide receiver position for the New England Patriots during the 1980's.

www.patriots.com

Ex-New England Patriot Cedric Jones named Brunswick AD

Cedric Jones played nine seasons at wide receiver for the New England Patriots and has...

www.greenwichtime.com

I always liked Cedric Jones...He probably could've posted higher career #s in a more vertical, WR-dominated offense...We sure could've used somebody like him during the Lost Decade...

 

[captain stone]

The final game there was legendary, but the place itself was an embarrassing dump. It wasn't even a charming mess, it was just an open septic tank with bleachers that gave children tetanus.

I know that it was not a fantastic venue but i have to admit i would have loved to see a game or more at the old Foxboro Stadium

Yep...For someone whose first game there was as a teenager and last game as barely 30 & still single, I thought the place was terrific.

 

[XLIX]

The evening of The Snow Bowl was a very strange night for the region in terms of weather. I was in New Hampshire watching the game and we were above freezing the entire night so while I am watching Foxboro get snowed on, we only had drizzles and light rain. I don't know what conditions were like in the city, though. If memory serves, the closer you were to the coast, the more likely you were getting rain and not snow (but don't quote me on that). Foxboro, being more inland, got the snow.