Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
Steve has been advocating for Russ Francis and Chuck Fairbanks to be added to the Patriots Hall of Fame for quite some time now. I personally agree wholeheartedly.
Perhaps it is time we add a third HOF nomination:
Ernie Adams.
Not long after the Dynasty docuseries was over, we wrote here that we could have watched hours more of Ernie Adams, Bill Belichick’s lifelong friend, mystery man (Pink Stripes), and the Director of Research, which is a mystery in itself. On Julian Edelman’s “Names With Games” podcast, Adams shared some great tidbits on facing Peyton Manning in the early days of the Patriots’ Dynasty, where Manning and Brady dueled often.
“The one that was most impressive in pregame, hands down, was Peyton Manning,” Adams said.
Adams watched Manning during his pregame warmups and was impressed with his footwork and timing of his throws with his receivers; Adams knew that he had to put in extra time studying the Colts.
“I made a point, at least an hour a day, to study the Colts,” Adams added. “Everyone was trying to play them in Cover 3 and Cover 1. They killed teams running up the seams. It was a slaughter. I said, ‘We can’t do this. We need to go in and play Cover 4.” Manning confirmed that he disliked attacking the seams and using in-cuts against that defense. Adams felt completely justified.
“I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Yes! That’s why we played in it.’ It made my day.” Well Ernie, you made ours.
