Today is a rather slow day in Patriots history.
April 10 in Patriots History
Trivial Obscurities
April 10, 1978: FB Jess Phillips retires after ten AFL/NFL seasons
Phillips spent his final two pro football seasons with the Patriots, averaging 6.6 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns in that time. He was part of the 1976 team that averaged 5.0 yards per carry before being rooked by Ben Dreith in the playoffs versus Oakland.
April 10, 1984:
If there was any possible suspense on what the Patriots would do with the number one overall pick, it ended when the Pats signed
Irving Fryar to a four-year contract - despite the fact that he would not officially be drafted until May 1. New England had moved up from #16 to #1 by trading four draft picks to Cincinnati a week earlier.
Fryar spent nine seasons with the Patriots, totaling 363 receptions for 5,726 yards and 38 touchdowns; he scored the Pats lone TD in their Super Bowl 20 loss to the Bears. Fryar never lived up to his draft status with the Pats, and also had several off-field incidents. He missed the 1985 AFCCG due to a knife wound on his hand in a domestic dispute with his pregnant wife. In '88 he was arrested on a weapons charge when a state trooper found a loaded shotgun and handgun in his vehicle. A year later Fryar suffered a shoulder injury in a game against Buffalo. He left the stadium while the game was still being played, then crashed into a tree and suffered a concussion during his drive home.
At the age of 30 the Pats traded Fryar to Miami for a 2nd round draft pick and a 1994 3rd. The team had seen enough and was in rebuild mode, dumping Fryar even though they had no other legitimate receivers on the roster at the time. To add salt to the wound of the Patriots' Fryar experience, he teamed up with Dan Marino and had the best NFL seasons of his career, being named to two Pro Bowls. Fryar would later make two more Pro Bowls with the Eagles.
In 2015 Fryar and his mother were convicted of mortgage fraud in a scheme where they would apply for and receive home equity loans at a half dozen different banks, all using the same collateral. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but released after seving just eight months.
April 10, 2000: Patriots release LS/TE Mike Bartrum, and sign LS/C/G Lance Scott
Mike Bartrum handled the long snapping duties in New England from 1996-99, and also caught two touchdown passes with the Pats. He spent 13 seasons in the NFL and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2005. Bartrum also played in two super bowls: with the Pats in SB 31 against Green Bay, and with the Eagles in SB 39 against the Patriots. Bartrum was a college teammate of Troy Brown, and for many years ran a charitable kids summer camp at Marshall. Bartrum spent two years as an assistant tight ends coach for Philadelphia, and is now back at Marshall as a senior analyst and special assistant to the head coach.
FOXBORO, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced the signing of former New York Giants free agent center/guard Lance Scott today.
www.patriots.com
Lance Scott appeared in every game from '97-'98 for the Giants, starting at center while also performing on special teams as the long snapper. However he missed all of '99 with a knee injury, and went on IR again before the start of the 2000 season - paving the way for Lonie Paxton to play for the Patriots for nine seasons.
April 10, 2013: Pats re-sign Julian Edelman to a one-year contract
Jules was coming off a broken foot in December that ended his season, and a two-year contract offer from 2012 was reduced to a one-year deal. In addition the Pats drafted two wide receivers in the first four rounds, challenging JE11 to step it up. As pissed off as he was at the time, the motivation worked.
April 10, 2019: Pats sign free agent TE Austin Sefarian-Jenkins
The attempted reclamation project (one suspension, three DUIs, at least one stint in rehab) did not last long, as ASJ asked for and received his release less than three months later, citing 'personal issues'. The talented but troubled player has not been with any NFL club since.
Happy 73rd birthday to
Kevin Reilly
Born April 10, 1951 in Wilmington, Delaware
Patriot LB, 1975; uniform #55
Signed as a veteran free agent on November 26, 1975
Reilly was a seventh round draft pick by Miami from Villanova in 1973. Ironically the Dolphins acquired that pick from the Patriots at the end of training camp in 1972, in exchange for OT Wayne Mass. Reilly played in 25 NFL games, including four (with one start) for the Pats.
Reilly's career highlight came in a week 13 game versus Buffalo when he picked off Joe Ferguson and ran the pass back 54 yards. Unfortunately that and a first quarter 62 yard TD pass from Steve Grogan to Don Calhoun were the only Patriot highlights that day, as OJ Simpson ran for 185 yards for the Bills.
On a side note, we also had a bit of foreshadowing from OJ in that game as he kicked Sam Hunt while the LB was on the ground after a sideline hit the Juice did not care for. A year later he was ejected in a game against the Pats after getting into a fight with Mel Lunsford, but word has it that Mr. Simpson has not had any anger management issues since then.
Happy 73rd birthday to
Willie Osley
Born April 10, 1951 in Detroit
Patriot safety, 1974; uniform #37
Kansas City selected Osley in the seventh round of the 1973 draft, out of Illinois. He was cut early (August 7, 1973) in training camp that year, then signed by the Patriots at an undetermined time. Osley played in the first ten games of the 1974 season for the Pats, with four starts. The Patriots released him on November 10, three games after their third straight loss and fourth in five games, following a 5-0 start. Osley re-signed with KC and appeared in three games for the Chiefs, spent 1975 on IR, and ended his NFL career with a short stay in training camp for the Saints in '76.
Happy 36th birthday to
Will Yeatman
Born April 10, 1988 in Naples, Italy
Patriot TE, 2011 (offseason)
Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 27, 2011
Chris Hogan was not the first college/pro lacrosse player to also play for Bill Belichick. Yeatman was a two-sport college athlete, performing better in lacrosse where he was an All-American. The tight end was cut at the end of training camp and never appeared in any regular season games for the Pats. He later spent time as a backup with Miami and Houston, playing both TE and OT. Yeatman now works in the commercial real estate market.
This month's featured hardshell is Will Yeatman, who starred on the lacrosse and football fields for the Terps from 2009-2010.
umterps.com
