Patriots Daily News Thread NEW ARTICLE: Thursday Patriots Notebook 5/23: News and Notes

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Thursday Patriots Notebook 5/23: News and Notes
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Phil Perry had Jim Nagy on his recent Next Pats Podcast, with Nagy providing some insight into some of the selections for New England in this past draft.

The post Thursday Patriots Notebook 5/23: News and Notes appeared first on PatsFans.com.

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[Brotherblues]

The 18th game is inevitable. It was never the plan to stick to an uneven 17.

I've been feeling for a while that the 2nd bye week has to be implemented.

Teams can then have one of their byes come before a Thursday matchup (giving both of those teams extra rest before and after their match). No more games on 3 days rest and nearly zero practice.

Just makes too much sense in my head.

 

[jmt57]

“We would do it in the context of reducing the number of preseason games,” said Goodell during a recent press conference. “We think that’s a good trade: less preseason games and more regular season games. I think most anybody would think that was beneficial. But again, those two other factors are important.”​

Sure Roger, that's good from a financial perspective. But is it good from a quality perspective?

Several players have already come out and said that in order for that to be realistic, it’s going to require the league to figure out a way to offer its clubs at least two bye weeks during the regular season. Player recovery remains the biggest factor that is being argued, with the addition of Thursday night games being a bone of contention that’s come up – and continues to be discussed – from players who are frustrated with having to play a game mere days after being out on the field.​

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As we know, it’s an incredibly long season, and it’s a little strange that each time this topic is broached, it feels like the league balks rather than trying to be mindful of the real reason fans come out each Sunday – to see their players on the field. Goodell can’t step into the bodies of these players to get a sense of what they’re dealing with, and he appears to be completely tone-deaf on the matter.​

What happened with Mr. Integrity being all about player safety? Maybe the owners want more money to cover their future concussion lawsuit payouts.

Giants Owner John Mara isn’t a fan of expanding the season, and he at least acknowledges the concerns his players have. Still, he does feel his fellow owners are on board, which probably means it’s in the league’s future at some point.​

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“I can’t say I’m necessarily crazy about extending the season,” Mara said, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. “I worry more about player fatigue and wear and tear on the players moving forward. That’s one of the reasons why we have to have the discussion with [the NFLPA].”​

Well yeah, of course you can't just go expand the season, keep the extra money for yourself, and pay the players the same annual salary.


Here's something else: playoff games during the worst weather of the year does not make for a great product. The NFL is either going to have to start playing regular season games in August, or have more games in horrible conditions for fans in attendance. The first few weeks of the NFL season have regressed in quality in recent years; even fewer preseason games will accelerate that trend.

More importantly, playoff games with teams that have twenty players who started the season with the team now on Injured Reserve does not make for a great product either. Elaborate halftime shows and celebrities in the luxury boxes may draw in new fans, but the existing core base wants to see a good quality performance by the best players on the field, not practice squad jags.

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Larry Garron​

Happy birthday to Larry Garron, who would have been 87 today
Born May 23, 1937 in Marks, Mississippi
Died September 13, 2019 in Framingham at the age of 82
Patriot FB/HB/KR, 1960-1968; uniform #40

Larry Garron went to Western Illinois, leading the Leathernecks to three consecutive NAIA Conference championships. He intended to go on to medical school, but his college coach - Lou Saban - invited Garron to tryout for his new team in the inaugural American Football League season. After battling tonsillitis and injuries Garron did not initially make the roster, but did proceed to get in on four games in the 1960 season.

March 19, 2008:

Alumni Spotlight: Larry Garron

“We were the last team in the league to develop,” said Garron. “[The other teams] said we were a rag-a-muffin team, not knowing that in our minds we wanted to be as good as anyone out there.”​

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Another of the original AFL teams was the Buffalo Bills, and the Patriots-Bills rivalry was born immediately.​

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“It was always rough,” said Garron, recalling the early AFL matchups between the two teams. “Not only on the field but off the field. I remember the locker room; we always got nervous when we went there, because kids would break into the locker room and take things.”​

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The fans in the stands weren’t any warmer to the upstart Patriots, who beat the Bills in Buffalo in the first-ever AFL preseason exhibition.​

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“Sitting on the bench on the field, the spectators were right behind you,” said Garron. “Lou Saban told us to keep our helmets on, but we didn’t know why.”​

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“All of the sudden we had beer bottles flying out of the stands at us, and we were going ‘Ok. Now we know what he was talking about.’”​

Garron added weight to his frame in the offseason and it paid dividends. In 1961 Garron shared rushing duties with Billy Lott and Ron Burton, averaged 5.6 yards per carry, scored five touchdowns and was named to his first All-Star team.

In the Patriots 1961 home meeting with the Bills, Garron raced 85 yards for a touchdown on a draw play. That dash remains the longest rushing play in Patriots history. He totaled 116 yards on 10 carries in that game, forging an 11.6-yard rushing average that was a Patriots single-game record when he retired. And that average didn’t even include his 80-plus-yard kickoff return that day.​

http://talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/1963-Fleer-01-Larry-Garron dot
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For an encore Garron averaged 5.9 yards per carry in 1962, and scored the second touchdown of his career on a kickoff return. His all-purpose yardage increased from 1,168 yards to 1,314, despite missing three games due to injury.

In 1963 Garron's workload increased. He averaged 16.1 yards on 26 receptions with two touchdowns, while also more than doubling his amount of carries. Garron had a career-high 1,168 yards from scrimmage, and led the AFL with 1,884 all-purpose yards. He was a major factor in the AFL East title game, the franchise's first postseason game. On two occasions his receptions (59 yards and 17 yards) set up field goals, as the Patriots won their first playoff game in team history, 26-8 at Buffalo.

In 99 games with the Patriots, Garron scored 42 touchdowns (8th most in team history) and totaled 5,483 yards from scrimmage (10th most in team history). After all these years Garron still ranks ninth all-time in team history with 2,981 yards rushing. When he retired he held the team record for yards per rush in a single game (11.6), which occured on the same day he ran a kickoff back 80 yards. Larry Garron still holds the Patriot record for longest rush (85 yards).

Larry Garron was a four-time AFL All-Star, the team MVP in 1963, member of the Patriots All-AFL, All-Decade Team of the 1960s, and a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame. His 5.9 yards per carry in '62 is still a franchise record. Garron ranks third among all-time AFL players in career all-purpose yards gained (7,805), third on average kickoff return yardage (25.8), and second for career kickoff return touchdowns.

​

For more, please check out these articles:

Sept 9, 2016:

Two former Patriots recall the team’s first season - The Boston Globe

Long before the New England Patriots won four Super Bowls, Gino Cappelletti and Larry Garron played for the fledgling 1960 Boston Patriots.

www.bostonglobe.com

June 2, 2014:

Former Patriots player tells Clinton students of mid-'60s boycott over racism

CLINTON — Larry Garron is enshrined in sports history books.

www.telegram.com

May 25, 2011:

Ex-Patriot Larry Garron now excels at martial arts

The Patriots have hiked the ball 51,738 times since their inception in 1960. But no Patriot has run the ball farther from scrimmage on one play than Larry Garron, who scampered 85 yards for a touchdown against Buffalo on Oct. 22, 1961.

archive.boston.com

Garron quickly developed into a fine running back and receiver. In his nine years with the Patriots, he rushed for 2,981 yards, and he had 26 receiving touchdowns, the most by a Patriots running back. Garron was known for his smarts. In 1963, the Patriots made their first playoff appearance. On a slippery field in Buffalo, he put on baseball shoes with rubber cleats and ran circles around the Bills in a 26-8 victory that sent the Patriots to the AFL championship game against the Chargers.​

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But before the San Diego game, Garron had a real bad vibe during practice. He noticed some young men in the stands taking notes. He saw the same faces on the Chargers sideline on game day. The Chargers beat the Patriots, 51-10, in what might have been the original “Spygate.’’​

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“They knew every play we ran before we ran it,’’ he said. “Babe Parilli finally drew up a play in the dirt in the huddle. “It was a wedge and we scored on it.’’​

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In the AFL All-Star Game in 1968, he took a Joe Namath pass and eluded several tacklers for a 26-yard gain that set up the East’s winning score. He and Namath had a history. It was Garron who was sent by the Patriots to recruit Joe Willie at Alabama.​

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“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Do you have a stadium?’ ’’ recalls Garron. “We were playing at BU at the time. Bear Bryant had a look at me and he said, ‘I think we have a little better offer.’ ’’​

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After his retirement, Garron taught management, marketing, and economics at Bunker Hill Community College in Charlestown for nearly 20 years.​

May 19, 2008:

Alumni Spotlight: Larry Garron

Sept 14, 2019:

Original Boston Patriots RB Larry Garron passed away

The New England Patriots are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of former Patriots running back Larry Garron, an original member of the Boston Patriots from 1960 through the 1968 season.

www.patriots.com

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
He shares a record with Tom Brady,
and is responsible for the Pats drafting Drew Bledsoe​

Happy 58th birthday to Jeff Carlson
Born May 23, 1966 in Long Beach, CA
Patriot QB, 1992; uniform #17
Signed as a veteran free agent on November 10, 1992

Jeff Carlson was one of four (Hugh Millen, Tommy Hodson, Scott Zolak) players to start at quarterback during **** MacPherson's second and final year as head coach in Foxboro. The former Weber State Wildcat started the final two games (both losses), completing 37% of his passes with one touchdown and three picks. His most memorable play came in the final game of that dreadful 1992 season.

In the final game of the season against Miami, Carlson took a bad sack that took the Patriots out of range for what could have been a game-winning field goal. It was just as well though, because that loss gave the Pats the tiebreaker over Seattle for the first pick in the 1993 draft, and New England ended up with Drew Bledsoe rather than Rick Mirer. On a side note, both wins that season came when MacPherson was hospitalized, and Dante Scarnecchia took over head coaching duties.

Jeff Carlson has four New England Patriots claims to fame:
1.) He is responsible for the Patriots drafting Drew Bledsoe, not Rick Mirer.
2.) Carlson is the last Pats starting quarterback to sport Pat Patriot on his helmet as part of a season long uniform, excluding the couple of annual throwback unis.
3.) Jeff is the Pats only left handed starting quarterback.
4.) Carlson's most recent claim to fame is being the original member of an extremely exclusive club: one of only two quarterbacks to ever start for both the Pats and the Bucs. (Vinny Testaverde becomes a third member if you exclude the 'starter' portion of that group.)

After leaving pro football Jeff Carlson returned to Tampa, where he has worked in pharmaceutical sales since 1996. He has also had a long time side job as a sports analyst for the local Tampa area cable news company.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-carlson-26727910

https://www.bucpower.com/carlson-gb91h dot
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BUCPOWER.COM

Weber State announces 2015 Hall of Fame Class - Weber State University Athletics

Four former standout athletes and one former coach make up the 2015 class of inductees to the Weber State University Athletics Hall of Fame. The WSU Wildcat ...

weberstatesports.com

Jeff Carlson was a four-year standout quarterback for the Weber State football team from 1984-88 and helped lead the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in school history.​

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Carlson came to Weber State out of Cypress, Calif. He only played in four varsity games for the Wildcats as a freshman and sophomore but exploded in his final two seasons as the Weber State starter.​

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During his junior season of 1987, he led the Wildcats to a 10-3 overall record, still the best winning percentage in school history. Under head coach Mike Price, Weber State was 7-1 in Big Sky play that season, finishing in a tie for first in the league standings. The Wildcats also advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs for the first time in school history where they defeated Idaho in the first round before falling at Marshall.​

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During the year Carlson threw for 3,044 yards, at the time the second most in a season in school history. He also threw 19 touchdowns and finished the year seventh in the nation in total offense and eighth in the country in pass efficiency.​

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As a senior in 1988, he threw for 2,998 yards and 26 touchdowns, at the time a school record. In a win over Southern Utah, he threw for 434 yards, at the time the second most yards in a game in school history. He threw six touchdowns in a game twice that season to set a Big Sky record.​

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Carlson ended his career as Weber State's career leader in passing yards with 6,147 yards, which now ranks third in school history. He threw for 47 touchdowns in his career with the Wildcats, still third most in school history.​

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Following his Wildcat career, Carlson was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams, which was the highest a Big Sky quarterback had ever been drafted. He played four seasons in the NFL with Tampa Bay, New England and Denver. He currently resides in the Tampa area.​

Happy 50th birthday to Duane Starks
Born May 23, 1974 in Miami
Patriot CB, 2005; uniform #23
Acquired in a trade with the Cardinals on March 3, 2005

When Ty Law departed as a free agent after ten years in Foxborough early in the 2005 offseason, the Patriots had a big hole to fill at corner. New England attempted to fill that void by trading away a third round pick for Duane Starks, who had been the tenth overall pick of the 1998 draft. After seven very underwhelming games Starks was placed on IR with a shoulder injury, and released the following February just after the start of the new league year.

Patriots make deal for Arizona's Starks

The New England Patriots acquired cornerback Duane Starks from the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday in exchange a third-round draft pick this year. The teams also will exchange fifth-round picks as pa…

www.southcoasttoday.com

Patriots notebook: Starks the pick at corner

www.milforddailynews.com

Pats cut Starks

The Patriots cut CB Duane Starks after he spent just one season with the team.

www.boston.com

The team announced it has released cornerback Duane Starks.​

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The move is not surprising, considering that Starks was set to count $5.1 million on the team’s salary cap, the sixth highest figure on the club.​

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Starks played in seven games, with six starts in 2005. He struggled at times, and was benched for the second half of a loss to the Colts on Nov. 7. He was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury Nov. 10​

Patriots release cornerback Starks

Read more on ESPN

www.espn.com

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The New England Patriots released veteran cornerback Duane Starks after his lone season ended in injury.​

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Starks was placed on injured reserve Nov. 10 because of a shoulder injury. He was released on Saturday.​

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The Patriots acquired the 31-year-old Starks in an offseason trade with Arizona. He intercepted 25 passes in his first seven seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and Cardinals, but had no interceptions in seven games with the Patriots.​

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New England had envisioned Starks as a replacement for Ty Law, who left the Patriots after the 2004 season. Baltimore drafted Starks in the first round, 10th overall, of the 1998 draft.​

Happy 59th birthday to Tom Toth
Born May 23, 1962 in Blue Island, Illinois
Patriot guard, 1985
Pats 4th round (102nd overall) selection of the 1985 draft, from Western Michigan

Tom Toth injured his ankle during a training camp scrimmage, and spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. He was waived as part of the final roster cuts prior to the start of the 1985 season. Though he never made it with the Pats, he did play for five seasons with the Dolphins and Chargers. In his post-NFL days he has worked as the owner/personal trainer of a fitness and weightlifting facility in the suburban Chicago area.

Tom Toth

Tom Toth Sport : NFL Teams : Western Michigan University, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots Thomas Toth, a former American football offensive lineman, played five seasons in...

www.champions4childrenswfl.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-toth-94112254

Viewer - Patriots - See page 98 for bio from the 1986 Pats media guide.

Other pro football players with New England area connections born on this date:

Bruce Laird, 71 (May 23, 1950)
Born in Lowell, grew up in Scituate; Scituate High School and American International College in Springfield.
Laird was named to the Pro Bowl his rookie season when he led the NFL with 303 punt return yards. He played in 164 games with 127 starts at strong safety over twelve seasons, mostly with the Baltimore Colts, accumulating 19 interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries.

Donnie Fletcher, 31 (May 23, 1990)
The CB went to Boston College, and was with the Jets for a while in 2012. He later spent a couple seasons in the arena league.

Reggie Rust (May 23, 1909)
Tailback for the 1932 Boston Braves.


Best Football Name Born Today:
Peaches Nadolney (May 23, 1899); a guard for the Packers and Milwaukee Badgers in the 1920s.

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Bemidgi State of Mind​

May 23, 2019:
Patriots sign an undrafted rookie free agent from some fictitional sounding place, or possibly an alt-rock band name, called Bemidji State.

Patriots Sign Rookie WR Gunner Olszewski

Patriots: Gunner Olszewski trying to catch on at receiver

FOXBORO — For Gunner Olszewski, this offseason has been trial by fire. Before signing with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent, this rookie’s football career included playing as a cornerback a…

www.telegram.com

Gunner Olszewski defies long odds, makes 53-man roster after Patriots change course

FOXBORO — In late May, the Patriots’ signing of Gunner Olszewski generated headlines for a few reasons. Olszewski was a new name, even to the most hardcore football fans. He played at what sounded like a made-up college (Bemidji S…

www.bostonherald.com

Patriots rookie Gunner Olszewski details his wild cut-down day

FOXBORO — At around 11:40 a.m. on Saturday, Gunner Olszewski’s dreams were dashed. He was notified by the Patriots brass that he hadn't made the team and was being released. The undrafted free agen…

www.patriotledger.com

The inside story of how Patriots rookie Gunner Olszewski became the NFL’s unlikeliest underdog

Olszewski overcame the offseason's longest odds to make New England's 53-man roster.

www.masslive.com

Gunner Olszewski’s wild road from Bemidji State to Patriots

FOXBORO — As Gunner Olszewski anxiously waited to learn his fate last Saturday, dozens of former teammates and coaches in the tiny city of Bemidji, Minn., followed just as closely. The Bemidji State football team was about to take t…

www.bostonherald.com

​

May 23, 2012:

Patriots sign first-round DE Chandler Jones to four-year deal

The Patriots signed first-round pick Chandler Jones, a DE from Syracuse, to a four-year deal on Wednesday, the team announced.

www.cbssports.com

May 23, 2005:

Patriots re-sign Troy Brown - UPI.com

The New England Patriots Monday re-signed wide receiver Troy Brown, who was released in March when the team declined to pay his $2.5 million roster bonus.

www.upi.com

The New England Patriots Monday re-signed wide receiver Troy Brown, who was released in March when the team declined to pay his $2.5 million roster bonus.​

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Details of the new one-year deal were not disclosed, but it was believed to involve far less money than it would have been with the bonus.​

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The 12-year veteran, who was an eighth-round draft pick out of Marshall in 1993, also served as a punt returner and defensive back last season and has helped the Patriots win three Super Bowl titles during the past four years.​

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He caught only 17 passes for 184 yards with one touchdown during 2004, but had three interceptions as a nickel back.​

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Brown holds the franchise single-season record with 101 receptions set in 2001, the club's first Super Bowl winning campaign.​

May 23, 1991:
Patriots sign punter Bryan Wagner, and re-sign corner Ronnie Lippett

Wagner's 4th Try at a 4th-Down Job : Pro football: Former CS Northridge punter resurrects NFL career in Green Bay after stops in Chicago, Cleveland and New England.

If you're a punter, dark thoughts regularly invade your head, creeping through your mind like ****roaches in the night, bringing sinister imaginings of all the things that can go wrong each time the football sails between the center's legs in your direction.

www.latimes.com

If you’re a punter, dark thoughts regularly invade your head, creeping through your mind like ****roaches in the night, bringing sinister imaginings of all the things that can go wrong each time the football sails between the center’s legs in your direction.​

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Among them:​

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-- The ball goes over your head, forcing you to stumble back after it and capture it while a charging group of 250-pound men are trying to hit you hard enough to make you think you’re Ethel Merman for the next several days.​

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-- The aforementioned group will arrive just as you follow through with the kick, charging into you with granite-hard football helmets just at that oh-so-slightly vulnerable moment when you have one leg up above your head.​

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-- You miss the ball completely and kick somewhat maniacal 233-pound teammate Eugene Lockhart really hard in the seat of his pants. The other team recovers the ball for a touchdown. Eugene is angry. The team fires you 10 minutes after the game.​

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It was just Bryan Wagner’s luck that with all of the things that can go wrong on a punt, the worst one, that Eugene-kicking nightmare, came true.​

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It was Sept. 15, 1991, in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium. The Steelers had pinned New England against its own goal line (who hasn’t? ), and on fourth down the Patriots sent Wagner in to punt. Because he was limited to only a 10-yard drop instead of the regular 15 that punters use, Wagner admits he was a bit nervous.​

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And then the nightmare unfolded.​

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Inexplicably, Lockhart, one of the Patriots’ blockers, took several steps backward at the snap of the ball. Suddenly, from Wagner’s viewpoint, the charging linemen, most of the stadium and the sun were blocked out by Eugene’s rather hefty caboose. Flustered, Wagner dropped the ball during the initial phase of his leg swing and then tried to stop his leg.​

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It was too late.​

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Momentum too great.​

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Space too confined.​

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Wagner’s foot thudded loudly into Lockhart’s rear end. The Steelers’ Ernie Mills fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. The crowd of 53,703 roared with laughter, having witnessed one of the funniest moments of slapstick since Moe lodged the pronged end of a crowbar up Shemp’s nose and dragged the shrieking Stooge across the room by the nostrils.​

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Wagner didn’t have a crowbar.​

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But after the game he did get the ax.​

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He was banished by the pathetic Patriots for not being good enough, which is sort of like being fired by Roseanne Arnold for over-snacking. Wagner spent a year looking for work, trying out with several NFL teams, pushing hard for another chance.​

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And not getting one.​

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“I know it was the stigma of what happened that day in Pittsburgh,” Wagner said. “I think that’s why no one picked me up. I got some bad publicity. Any place I went for a tryout, no matter how well I did, I had the feeling they were looking at me and thinking, ‘This is the guy who kicked a teammate in the butt.’ It was really a bad deal.”​

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A bad deal, Wagner said, because he didn’t cause the botched punt.​

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“To start with, I had no room to work with. The ball was on the one-foot line,” he said. “And then Eugene starts backing up and gets way too close to me. At that point I ran out of space. I dropped the ball and tried to slow my foot down, but I got him anyway. I really got my foot into his behind.​

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“I got blamed for the whole mess, and it wasn’t my fault. After the game they released me. No chance for me to explain what happened, no chance for them to look at the film so they could see what happened. I was gone. That’s how the game works for a punter.”​

May 23, 1988:
Patriots waive kicker Carlos Reveiz again. An 11th round 1987 draft pick in 1987, the previous year Reveiz had been signed and waived by both New England and Tampa Bay. Carlos never did play in any regular season NFL games.

Carlos Reveiz’s journey from South America to Division I football

Carlos Reveiz, a former kicker for the University of Tennessee football team, journeyed from South America as a boy to achieve his dream of playing for a Division I school in the 1980s.

bvmsports.com

Patriots' drafted punters and kickers from late 70s-80s - Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

May 23, 1980
New England signs free agent WR John Kimbrough, a 1977 third round pick by Buffalo from St Cloud State.

John Kimbrough (1988) - Hall of Fame - St. Cloud State University Athletics

St. Cloud State University Athletics

scsuhuskies.com

John Kimbrough graduated from SCSU in 1976, after earning four letters in football and track. He was named All-Conference in 1974-76 and played in the prestigious post-season football all-star games like the Blue and Gray Classic and the Senior Bowl. Kimbrough went on to play in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots. His off-the-field contributions earned him the Buffalo (N.Y.) Community Service Award in 1978 and the NFL Goals for Youth Award in 1978, 1979, and 1980. Kimbrough has worked as a family counselor and youth leadership director in San Bernandino, California.​

May 23, 1973:
The Pats sign first round draft pick multi-athlete Russ Francis to a multi-year contract.

https://nbc16.com/resources/media2/original/full/1600/center/80/5da0a1d8-13dd-4baa-88a9-23d1dd4e1f74-img075 dot
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