June 18 in Pats History: Jake Bailey

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Jake Bailey​

Happy 24th birthday to Jake Bailey
Born June 18, 1997 in Phoenix
Patriot P/K, 2019-; uniform #7
Fifth round selection of the 2019 draft (163rd overall), from Stanford

On April 27, 2019 the Patriots gave Philadelphia the 246th overall pick of the draft in order to move up four spots in the fifth round, swapping their 163rd and 167th picks in that draft. At the time the move appeared to be one of those random, overthought transactions that occur in every draft. Thus far that transaction has turned out to be a very favorable one for the Pats.

As a rookie Jake Bailey made fans forget about the decision to let Ryan Allen go early on. For example in week two he was called on to punt three times, with the results being a 52 yard punt downed on the Miami 8-yard line; a 39 yard punt with enough hang time it resulted in a return of zero yards, at the Dolphins 15; and a 53 yard punt with a five yard return. Bailey finished the season with a punt of at least 53 yards in all 17 games, including the playoff loss to Tennessee. The only time he averaged less than forty yards per punt was in week seven at the Jets, when four of his seven punts ended up inside the twenty yard line. Bailey seemed to excel in that regard against gang green, with nine punts inside the twenty in the two games versus the AFC east rival. In week three five of his seven punts were downed inside the twenty, forcing the Jets to start drives at the 12, 10, 8, 8 and 1 yard line.

Other 2019 highlights were in week nine at Baltimore (45.2 yards net on five punts, with three inside the twenty); the next game at Philadelphia (46.0 net on eight punts, with six inside the twenty - including a 55 yard punt that gave Philly the ball on their own six yard line with 4:07 to play, and then a 54 yard punt that pinned the Eagles on their own 12 yard line with 34 seconds to go and no timeouts); and week 15 at Cincinnati (five punts for an average of 48.2 yards; the net of 42.4 would have been higher had somebody been able to down a 65 yard fourth quarter punt before it rolled into the end zone). The Stanford grad earned special teams player of the week honors twice, in the week three game against the Jets and for the week 11 game against the Eagles.

In addition to being the team's punter and holder on field goals and extra points, Bailey was pressed into service to handle kickoff duties as well when Stephen Gostkowski went on injured reserve with a bad hip after week four. Bailey finished the season with an average of 61.1 yards on 65 kickoffs, with 38 touchbacks, and 44.9 yards gross/41.3 net on 81 punts, with 36 inside the twenty. There were no punts blocked, and zero flubs due to the hold on the 79 attempts for a filed goal or extra point.

Bailey followed up a solid rookie season with a spectacular outing in 2020. The gross yards per punt increased 3.8 yards to 48.7 (third in the NFL), and the net yardage went up by 4.3 yards to a league best 45.6. For the year Bailey attempted 55 punts, for a gross average of 48.7 yards per boot. Of those punts, only five went into the end zone as touchbacks, five went out of bounds, 18 were fair caught, and 15 were downed by the Pats own coverage unit. There were only a league low 12 punts that opponents were actually able to run back, for a total of 71 yards (second best). As a point of comparison the Patriots returned punts for 357 yards in 2020, a net difference of 286 yards. That 2020 performance earned Jake Bailey first team All Pro honors as well as his first Pro Bowl.

Jake Bailey - Football - Stanford University Athletics

Jake Bailey (14) Punter - Career Accolades • Three-time All-Pac-12 • second team (2017, 2018), honorable mention (2016) • Two-time Pac-12 All-Academic

gostanford.com

Patriots punter Jake Bailey starting NFL career on high note

FOXBORO — Famously all-business at his press conferences, Patriots coach Bill Belichick once in a while cracks a window to the sarcastic wit that friends say he uses with great skill off stage. One…

www.bostonherald.com

Patriots' most valuable rookie has been ... punter Jake Bailey?

The fifth-round pick has just one touchback and 10 punts inside the 20, and he has helped shift field position when New England has been pinned deep.

www.espn.com

With Stephen Gostkowski gone, could the Patriots turn to Jake Bailey to do it all? - The Boston Globe

While it's unorthodox to combine the kicking and punting roles, Bill Belichick likes to do unorthodox things.

www.bostonglobe.com

In Year Two, punter Bailey looks to kick it up a notch

Catching up with New England's punter as he prepares for his second season in Foxborough.

www.patriots.com

Patriots notebook: Jake Bailey looking like Pats’ secret weapon yet again

Patriots punter Jake Bailey should again rank among the NFL’s best if he improves, plus notes on Damien Harris, the rookie tight ends and Tom Brady.

www.bostonherald.com

Jake Bailey punts to the top of NFL leaderboard

Bailey has been unflinchingly reliable in a Patriots season defined by inconsistency.

www.masslive.com

Patriots Jake Bailey ‘over the moon excited’ about Pro Bowl honor

Patriots Jake Bailey ‘over the moon excited’ about Pro Bowl honor

www.providencejournal.com

The geeky data from a site called Puntalytics showed Jake Bailey had a helluva good season in 2020.



​

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Harry the Thump​

Happy birthday to Harry Crump, who would have been 81 today
Born June 18, 1940 in Framingham
Patriot FB, 1963; uniform #31

Harry Crump (L) posing for a photo; (C) playing defense and laying a hit on an opponent; (R) part of a 1963 bottle cap collection​

Harry Crump grew up in Westborough, and went to Boston College in 1958. Pats head coach Mike Holovak brought Crump in after having seen him first hand at Chestnut Hill. "Harry the Thump" rushed for five touchdowns in a season that saw the Pats make it to the AFL championship game. He was waived near the end of training camp the following August and decided to get a 'real' job, thus ending his brief time with the Patriots.

In his post football career Harry became the president of American Flexible Conduit Company in New Bedford. He also served on the board of directors for Roger Williams University, Special Olympics, and two clubs in Miami. Mr. Crump passed away last September at the age of 80.

Below is a great article on Harry the Thump, well worth the few minutes it takes to read it.

Westborough’s Harry Crump ‘thumped’ his way into the football history books

A TV show based on the football playing days of the late Harry Crump would likely be a hit. Small-town boy makes a name for himself as a ...

www.communityadvocate.com

A TV show based on the football playing days of the late Harry Crump would likely be a hit.​

Small-town boy makes a name for himself as a fullback for the Westborough Rangers, Class of 1959. Goes on to star at Boston College. Makes the Boston Patriots in the early 1960s. Plays in the 1963 AFL championship game.​

“As a senior, Harry was 205 pounds, and that was big for the time,” said Donald Ayres, Crump’s high school teammate. “Somebody from the opposing team’s secondary would try to tackle him, and he would run right over them. They would bounce off. He wouldn’t have to go around them. That was just him.”​

A newspaper photograph of Crump at BC tackling Syracuse’s 1962 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis is still in Ayres’ possession.

​

“He was on the [Westborough High School] team for six years, a rarity,” Ayres added. “That’s how talented he was. He was also on the baseball team from the seventh grade on. And as good as he was in football, in my opinion, he was even better [as a catcher] in baseball. In college [football], he played in the Senior Bowl and made a great showing.”​

Today in Patriots History
Who's Harry Crump?

​

Happy 55th birthday to Rodney Rice
Born June 18, 1966 in Albany, Georgia
Patriot CB/KR, 1989; uniform #43
Pats 8th round (210th overall) selection of the 1989 draft, from BYU

Rodney Rice played in ten games for the Patriots. He had one fumble recovery and returned 11 kicks at an average of 22 yards. In 1990 he signed with the Bucs as a Plan B free agent, and was out of pro football after that.

Rodney Rice Athlete Profile - FTB

Personal Born in Georgia ... parents are Rochelle and Marion ... brother Rocky played for Texas A & I and brother Stan played for the University of Cincinnati ... recruited by San Jose State, Pacific, Oregon, Virginia, the Air Force Academy, South Carolina State, UNLV and Utah ... majored in...

byucougars.com

Rodney Rice - Co-owner, personal trainer | Game Changers Sports Las Vegas

While studying for two years at Merced Junior College and playing football, Rodney achieved several football accolades and was recruited by several Division 1 schools for football. Rodney eventually accepted a scholarship for football at Brigham Young University. The next three years led him to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work and drafted in the NFL by the New England Patriots where he played his first season. Rodney also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a year and ended his football career with the Detroit Lions.​

When the football days ended, Rodney put his NFL connections and his degree to work and started a Behavior Health company that served at-risk kids. He then established a therapeutic program in Utah named A Better Way, and then a therapeutic boarding school in Western Samoa called Coral Reef Academy. His program in Samoa is still running and impacting families to this day. He has been self-employed for over 20 years. Rodney gives credit for his success to his family, his upbringing, and his wife of 22 years who has stood by his side through thick and thin. They have not only built a successful business overseas for the last 20 years but are in the process of raising four wonderful boys towards becoming good young men.​

Oct 25, 2017:

Las Vegas gym provides training and mentoring to at-risk kids

They’re not running with gangs. They’re not running into trouble. They’re not running away. They’re just … running. Legging it out. Thundering down the gym floor turf....

www.reviewjournal.com

Preparing to officially unveil its status as a nonprofit organization on Nov. 3, followed by an open house on Nov. 4, the free, ongoing program supervised by those co-owners — former Navy SEAL Mel Spicer III, former NFL player Rodney Rice, probation officer Lamont Hicks and businessman Manus Edwards — provides strength and agility conditioning and sports coaching for boys and girls ages 6 to 18. About 30 kids have been through the program, and 12 are currently enrolled. Additional components, such as nutrition education, are planned.​

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
A pair of pass catchers that didn't catch on​

Happy 41st birthday to Visanthe Shiancoe
Born June 18, 1980 in Birmingham, England
Patriot TE, 2012; uniform #80
Signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 24, 2012

After nine NFL seasons with the Giants and Vikings, the Pats signed the 6'4 tight end just before the start of the 2012 training camp to a one year, $1.2 million deal. In a move that was questioned at that time by many fans, four days prior to week one he received the team's sole IR 'with designation to return'. Visanthe Shiancoe was activated on November 10, after an injury to the player that would later be known as inmate 174954. Shiancoe appeared in four games, with zero receptions on one target for the Patriots. On December 12 he was released, to make room on the roster for the re-signing of Deion Branch. Over 11 NFL seasons Shiancoe had 245 receptions and 27 touchdowns.

Happy 39th birthday to Michael Jenkins
Born June 18, 1982 in Tampa
Patriot WR, 2013 off season; uniform #10
Signed as an unrestricted free agent on March 28, 2013

The Pats signed the 6'4, 31 year old veteran on the second day of free agency in 2013, after seven consistent seasons with Atlanta and two with Minnesota. His signing was lost in a news cycle that was dominated with the addition of Tim Tebow, as he, Austin Collie, Donald Jones, Danny Amendola, LeGarrette Blount and Leon Washington were all brought in to compete for roster spots after the departures of skill players Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead, Brandon Lloyd, and later on inmate 174954. Jenkins did not make it to the final cuts though, as he was released in mid-August. The former first round pick from Ohio State finished his NFL career with 354 receptions for 4,427 yards, and 25 touchdowns.

June 18, 2013: Police obtain a warrant and search Aaron Hernandez' home in connection with an investigation into the shooting death of a friend, Odin Lloyd, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the back and chest in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez' house.




Other pro football players with New England connections sharing a June 18 birth date:

- Angelo Bertelli (6/18/21-6/26/99); Springfield born and raised, Angelo went to high school at Springfield Cathedral. Bertelli was the first Notre Dame player to win the Heisman Trophy, with the Irish winning by an average of 43-5. Football had to wait though, as he was called upon to enlist in the Marines. Although he was the first overall pick of the 1944 draft - despite his war obligations - Bertelli's pro football career was ruined by injuries leading to multiple knee surgeries. In a bit of trivia, his son 'Bob Bert' became a drummer for several bands, including Sonic Youth.

- Charley Malone (6/18/10-5/23/92); a pro bowl end for the Boston (and later Washington) Redskins, he led the NFL in receiving in 1935.

- Mike Micka (6/18/21-1/4/89); FB/QB/HB/DB for the 1945-48 Boston Yanks was the 8th overall pick of the 1944 draft.

- Joe Watt (6/18/19-6/27/83); HB/DB for the 1947 Boston Yanks.

- Freeman Rexer (6/18/18-4/19/64); end for the 1944 Boston Yanks.



Other pro football players born on this date include:

- Bruce Smith, 58 (6/18/63): Hall of Fame defensive end was named to 11 Pro Bowls with Buffalo.

- Antonio Gates, 41 (6/18/80); 116 TD and nine consecutive Pro Bowls with the Chargers.

- Jeff Saturday, 46 (6/18/75); six-time Pro Bowl center played in 231 games.

- Chris Harris, 32 (6/18/89); four-time Pro Bowl CB with the Broncos and Chargers.

 

[captain stone]

Great story on Harry the Thump Crump, another local dude who also played for the early Patriots...A little surprised though that he didn't have as much impact in the pros as he did in college...Wonder if he ever tried to re-start his baseball career after his football career ended..