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Today in Patriots History
He can tell his grandkids about his time with the Pats
when he came off the bench for an injured Drew Bledsoe
Or he can talk about the time he was two spots above Tom Brady on the Pats depth chart
He can tell his grandkids about his time with the Pats
when he came off the bench for an injured Drew Bledsoe
Or he can talk about the time he was two spots above Tom Brady on the Pats depth chart
Happy 58th birthday to John Friesz
Born May 19, 1967 in Missoula, Montana; hometown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Patriot quarterback, 1999-2000; uniform #17
Signed as a veteran free agent on April 22, 1999
Pats résumé: two seasons, two games
John Melvin Friesz was 32 when he arrived in New England; a career backup with the exception of going 4-12 as the starter for the 1991 Chargers. He got playing time in one 2000 game after Drew Bledsoe jammed his thumb; it didn't go as well as it did for another backup when Drew was injured a year later. An interception on the one-yard line of a 16-13 overtime loss to Buffalo in 2000 brought out the boo-birds, and chants for Michael Bishop. Friesz was 11-21 for 66 yards, no touchdowns and that one pick in what would be his only game with stats for the Patriots.
Friesz finished his NFL career with 8,699 passing yards, 45 TD and 42 INT. He was released in February of 2001, despite erroneous reports that claim Tom Brady's ascent up the depth chart was aided by Friesz retiring. After hanging up his cleats, Friesz returned to his hometown Coeur d'Alene Idaho area. He became an active member in the community, hosting golf tournaments benefiting the American Diabetes Association, Spinal Cord Research and was a founding board member for the Kootenai County Police and Fire Memorial Foundation.
Pretty good column on John Friesz below, from Oct 31, 2010:
Storytelling with John Friesz -- The Coeur d'Alene Press
Clad in his New England Patriots uniform at a Monday night football game in 2000, John Friesz' thoughts traveled back home to Coeur d'Alene.
"When I was at the end of my professional career, that's all I could think about was comin' back here to elk hunt in October or deer hunt in November. And here I was playin' football. I'll never forget, it was a Monday night game at the New York Jets. Tom Brady was the fourth-string quarterback and I was the back-up quarterback... It's incredible, the atmosphere. John Madden is there. It's just a huge game... The stadium, literally, you could feel it shaking. And I said to Brady, 'I don't even want to be here. The deer are runnin' back there. They're chasin' the does and that's where I wanna be.' I always knew I was comin' back (to Coeur d'Alene) for sure. And I couldn't wait to do that."
Friesz began his 11-year professional quarterback career with four teams when The San Diego Chargers chose him in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL Draft. Prior to the pros, Friesz gained national recognition for his quarterbacking excellence at the University of Idaho. Amongst many accomplishments as a Vandal, Friesz is the university's first inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.
But before the spotlight shone on Friesz as a football star, he was an easy-going North Idaho kid who loved our outdoor paradise and playing sports. Baseball was his first and favorite one.
John Friesz (17), Michael Bishop (7) and Drew Bledsoe (11)
Another good column on Friesz, Brady and Bledsoe during the 2000 season below.
Feb 7, 2021:
How ex-Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Seahawks quarterback John Friesz helped mentor a rookie Tom Brady
John Freisz, who won the Walter Payton Award in 1989 after leading the Vandals to back-to-back Big Sky Conference titles, was a relatively obscure talent void of a big-money contract and pre-draft hubbub. In the twilight of his NFL career with the New England Patriots, Freisz gave advice to a...
www.spokesman.com
Brady tended to gravitate toward the veteran Friesz because of their similar long-shot backgrounds and workman’s approach.
They often discussed nuances of the game, staying in the league, locker room politics and who downloaded the most songs onto their computers from the peer-to-peer sharing network of Napster.
“He worked very hard,” Friesz said. “He asked questions that rookies don’t typically ask. You knew there was something different about him. He was on different level, mentally.”
Buried on the depth chart, Brady still hated losing.
“I remember we had lost a game at Cleveland, and we were sitting by each other on the bus,” Friesz said. “He says, ‘I just don’t get it. Why doesn’t anybody seem to care?’ I had to explain that it is much different than college and high school. People are more out for themselves here.”
John Friesz (2007) - Hall of Fame - University of Idaho Athletics
John Friesz, Class: Induction: 2007 Sport(s): Football - One of the most prolific passers in NCAA history, John Friesz was led Idaho football to Friesz won the
govandals.com
Friesz won the 1989 Walter Payton Award as the national player of the year at the NCAA I-AA level, and a three-time All-American, including a first-team honoree each of his final two seasons. Friesz was also a three-time Big Sky Player of the Year. He led the nation in passing yards as a junior and again as a senior and still holds the NCAA I-AA record for consecutive 300-yard passing games (10). Friesz finished his career with 10,697 career passing yards, and when his career was over he ranked third in DI-AA history for career passing yards per game at 305.6. He became a part of Idaho and NCAA history in 2006, when his number 17 was retired at Idaho and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
April 24, 1990:
Chargers 'Steal' a Quarterback : NFL draft: They didn't draft John Friesz of Idaho until the sixth-round, but the team's management believes it has made the biggest theft in the 1990 college player market.
Just when the Chargers were getting used to embracing Billy Joe Tolliver as the team's quarterback of the future, another fresh, young arm has come to town.
www.latimes.com
"I heard I was high on a lot of draft boards and when I didn't go until the sixth round, it confused me," Friesz said. "It got to the point I didn't know what the rumor was about me or if there was one.
"Several other teams said that they would take me with their second pick, but they didn't think I would still be there. After they didn't pick me on their fifth pick, I got a little confused. Tampa Bay and Seattle called to ask if I was injured or if there was some other problem they didn't know about. I told them, 'Nothing new with me; I'm just waiting.' "
The Chargers were waiting, too, hoping Friesz would fall far enough so that they could draft him. With no choices in the fourth or fifth rounds, they had to sit and hope teams would keep passing him by.
Nine quarterbacks went before Friesz, including Craig Kupp of Pacific Lutheran--who GM Bobby Beathard said he had never even heard of
April 23, 1999:
PATRIOTS SIGN FRIESZ, SEND SHAW TO BROWNS
The Patriots finally made it official Thursday, announcing quarterback John Friesz had signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract. The Patriots also announced they had traded running back Sedrick Sha…
www.courant.com
The Patriots finally made it official Thursday, announcing quarterback John Friesz had signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract.
The Patriots also announced they had traded running back Sedrick Shaw to the Cleveland Browns for past considerations.
The signing of Friesz (6 feet 4, 223 pounds) signals the end of Scott Zolak's eight-year career with the Patriots. Friesz will back up Drew Bledsoe.
"We wanted to find somebody that had some background in the system," coach Pete Carroll said. "John had that with Washington. We felt we could make a good fit with this."
Friesz, 31, has played 66 games, starting 38, in nine seasons with the Redskins, Chargers and Seahawks. He has 8,633 career yards and a .547 completion percentage, with 45 touchdowns and 41 interceptions.
In 1998, Friesz played five games with Seattle. In his only start, he completed 14 of 21 passes for 234 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown, in a 27-20 victory over San Diego.
"We liked the way he came off the bench last year in a couple of games," Carroll said. "I would think he can give us an upgrade at the spot."
Michael Bishop, a seventh-round draft pick from Kansas State, is expected to be the other quarterback on next season's roster.
Ian weighs in on these November 2000 articles detailing the John Friesz vs Michael Bishop debate, in the wake of Drew Bledsoe's injury:
Patriots Lose 16-13, Lose Bledsoe
The Patriots dropped their 7th game of the 2000 campaign by losing 16-13 in overtime to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury to his right thumb early in the first quarter, and gave way to back-up John Friesz who looked shakey during the game.
www.patsfans.com
Patriots QB Bishop Not Ready To Win Yet
A rational person may realize one thing if they've been paying attention to what's being said about Michael Bishop by both head coach Bill Belichick and his fellow players. The Patriots can't win with Bishop. At least not right now.
www.patsfans.com
Feb 22, 2001:
Patriots release quarterback Friesz, two others
FOXBORO — The New England Patriots yesterday released veteran backup quarterback John Friesz and linebackers Marc Megna and Olrick Johnson. Friesz, 33, who appeared in two games in his two seasons …
www.capecodtimes.com
The New England Patriots released backup quarterback John Friesz and linebackers Olrick Johnson and Marc Megna Thursday.
Last season Friesz played in the Patriots 16-13 loss to Buffalo in Week 10 when Bledsoe left the game with a thumb injury. Friesz completed 11-of-21 passes for 61 yards, threw one interception and was sacked three times. In his only other appearance, which came in Week Eight of 1999, he played the final 5:25 of New England 27-3 win over Arizona, but he did not attempt a pass.
John Friesz (2020) - Hall of Fame - Big Sky Conference
John Friesz, Class: 1989 Induction: 2020 Sport(s): Football - John Friesz – Idaho, Football, 1986-89 Friesz became the Big Sky’s first Walter Payton Award Winner
bigskyconf.com
North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame -- John Friesz
John Friesz Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com
Get John Friesz Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.
www.pro-football-reference.com
Pro Football Archives -- John Friesz Player Profile
Pro Football Archives -- John Friesz Transactions
John Friesz - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
