Richard Bishop (3/23/1950-9/2/2016)
Patriot DL, 1976-1981
Uniform #64
After high school Bishop spent two years in junior college before transferring to Louisville. He was selected in the 5th round of the 1974 draft by Cincinnati but never played for the Bengals. Bishop spent two seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Rough Riders before finally signing with the Patriots as a free agent at the age of 26 in 1976.
Bishop was an impact player as a rookie, helping the Pats make the playoffs for the first time in thirteen years. He played a major role in one of the most famous (or more appropriately, infamous) plays in franchise history. That ’76 team was a juggernaut, finishing the season on a six-game winning streak. The offense averaged 27 points per game and 5.0 yards per carry and the defense was equally productive, forcing 50 turnovers. The Patriots made the playoffs as an 11-3 wild card team, and met Oakland in the playoffs; the Pats had pummeled the Raiders earlier in the year, 48-17.
The officiating in the game was a travesty. Oakland was permitted to get away with one non-call after another. All world tight end Russ Francis was the primary target for the Raiders. On one play George Atkinson broke Francis’ nose with no flag thrown, and on another key play he was so blatantly held by Phil Villapiano that he could not raise either arm – again with no penalty called.
The non-call led to a long missed field goal with the Patriots up by four with four minutes remaining. Oakland drove but after a Mel Lunsford sack and two incompletions the Raiders were faced with a 3rd-and-18. The defensive play call was for a stunt with Bishop drawing defenders and leaving an open lane for Ray Hamilton. Ken Stabler got the pass off just as he was about to be sacked, but Ben Dreith flagged Hamilton for roughing the passer even though replays showed that was the incorrect call.
Back to Richard Bishop. He was a very solid player for the Pats, appearing in 86 games with 50 starts from 1976-81. While he is not a member of the Patriots All-Decade Team of the 1970’s, to me he was good enough to earn at least an honorable mention.
In 2014 Bishop was one of fifteen players to
file a federal lawsuit against the NFL for negligence and purposeful concealment of knowledge that a direct relationship existed between concussions and the development of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and ALS.
Richard Bishop passed away six months ago at the age of 66.