Today in Patriots History
Day Two of the 2000 NFL Draft
April 16, 2000
65th Annual National Football League Player Selection Meeting
11:00 a.m. EDT, Sunday April 16, 2000 (Rounds 1-3)
The Theatre, Madison Square Garden, New York City
Prior to the draft, on January 27, the Patriots were forced to send their first round pick (#16 overall), fourth round pick (#101) and seventh round pick to the New York Jets for their fifth (#149) and seventh (#234) round picks. This was deemed the appropriate compensation by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. for the Patriots signing Bill Belichick, after he resigned from the Jets 24 hours after being named their head coach. It was the
first time since 1974 that the Pats did not have a first round pick, and was the lowest initial pick since 1972.
On Day One the Patriots selected OT Adrian Klemm from Hawaii in the second round (46th overall), and Arixona RB J.R. Redmond in the third round with the 76th overall pick. Day One also had three future New England Patriot players drafted: DE Shaun Ellis (#12, Jets); CB Deltha O'Neal (#15, Broncos); CB Hank Poteat (#77, Steelers).
The Patriots first pick of the fourth round (4.13, 107 overall) had been forfeited. The Pats lost that pick when
Pete Carroll exercised an option in the 1999 Supplemental Draft to select CB
J'Juan Cherry. If you are thinking about heading over to
Pro Football Reference to find more information on the Arizona State product, don't bother: there's nothing there. He was left off the game day roster for the first three weeks, then activated with no playing time for the next two games. Three days later Cherry was placed on injured reserve with a hip injury. New head coach Bill Belichick cut Cherry om May 30, 2000; his pro football career ended with his having been on the field for a grand total of zero snaps.
The Patriots were one of four teams to receive a supplemental pick at the end of the fourth round. With the 127th pick of the draft the Pats selected Michigan State OT
Greg Randall. He earned a Super Bowl ring in 2001, starting every game at right tackle for the Pats. But in 2002
Kenyatta Jones replaced Randall in the starting lineup, and before the 2003 draft the Patriots traded Randall to Houston for a fifth round draft pick. Randall played in 35 games with 23 starts for the Pats over three seasons, plus the three 2001 playoff games.
In the fifth round (5.12, 141 overall) the Patriots selected Boise State TE
Dave Stachelski. He didn't last long; the Pats waived him on August 14, 2000. The Saints claimed him off waivers and he appeared in nine games for New Orleans in 2000-2001.
Back in 1998 the Pats traded DE Mike Jones to the Rams for a 2000 fifth round pick. With the 161st pick of the 2000 draft the Patriots selected guard
Jeff Marriott from Missouri. This was another swing and a miss; Marriott was waived on August 27th. He later signed with Jacksonville and Carolina, but was never on an NFL regular season roster.
Antwan Harris is the answer to the trivia question of '
who did the Patriots select with their original pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft'? Harris played in 52 games for the Patriots, plus all three playoff games in 2001. He is most well known for two plays, both in that 2001 postseason.
Harris was a special teamer and backup safety to
Lawyer Milloy and
Tebucky Jones as a rookie. In the AFCCG at Pittsburgh the Pats led 14-3 in the third quarter, but the Steelers, favored by ten, were still confident.
Tom Brady had been sidelined with an ankle injury and the Pittsburgh defense had just forced a four-and-out turnover on downs - this coming after the Patriots had to punt on each of their first five possessions in the first half.
Kris Brown lined up for what appeared to be an easy 34-yard field goal, but the Patriots got great pressure right up the middle.
Brandon Mitchell was able to block the kick and the ball shot straight back, rolling towards midfield.
Troy Brown scooped the ball up but the kicker immediately had him in his grasp. Troy looked to his left and saw Harris running right next to him, and alertly lateraled the ball to his teammate. Antwan took it to the house, giving the Patriots a 21-3 lead - with what turned out to be the game winning points. Pittsburgh would score touchdowns on each of their next two possessions before Jones and Milloy had back-to-back fourth quarter interceptions. The result was a 24-21 victory that left the Yinzers slack jawed and speechless, crying into their yellow towels.
Next up was Super Bowl 36, with New England 14 point underdogs to St. Louis. Late in the second quarter Harris popped Rams receiver
Ricky Proehl - who had infamously looked into a camera on the sideline and proclaimed 'tonight a dynasty is born' - forcing him to fumble.
Terrell Buckley recovered and five plays later Tom Brady hit
David Patten in the end zone for a touchdown an 8-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining in the first half, to give the Patriots a 14-3 lead.
While Harris never had that type of major impact again, he was a steady performer in his reserve role for the following three seasons. Harris picked up two more rings in 2003 and 2004 before joining the Browns in 2005, where
Romeo Crenel had become Cleveland's new head coach. Harris suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on IR prior to week one that season, and never played pro football again after that.
3:30 Video:
Raleigh native, former New England Patriots defensive back and two-time Super Bowl champion Antwan Harris talks about what it is like to prepare for the NFL championship and who he thinks will win Sunday's game.
www.wralsportsfan.com
The Patriots received two more compensatory picks in the 2000 draft, this time in the sixth round.
With the 199th pick of the draft the Pats selected Michigan QB
Tom Brady.
With the 201st pick of the draft the Pats selected Purdue DE
David Nugent.
Nugent played in 15 games with one start for the Pats over two seasons.
The other guy went on to become the
Greatest Football Player Of All Time.
The Patriots had earlier received, then traded a seventh round draft pick. In 1998 the Patriots traded WR
Dietrich Jells to Philadelphia for a 2000 seventh round pick. When it was their turn to make a selection the Pats traded that pick to the 49ers for a 2001 sixth. San Francisco used that pick to select another quarterback that the Patriots had allegedly been considering if Tom Brady was not available,
Tim Rattay.
With their own seventh round pick the Patriots took New Mexico DE
Casey Tisdale. He is yet another player from the New England draft who had an NFL career trajectory quite opposite of Tom Brady's. Tisdale was waived on August 21. He later signed with the Chiefs, Texans and Ravens, but never advanced beyond the practice squad.
There were fifteen compensatory picks awarded for the seventh round. The first of those went to the Patriots, selection number 239 overall. New England chose Georgia fullback
Patrick Pass. He went on to collect four Super Bowl rings (three with the Patriots, one with the Giants) in his eight year career - a winning championship percentage that will never be equaled for that number of seasons. Utilized primarily as a blocker or on special teams, in 78 games with the Patriots Pass had 1,096 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns,
