Russ Francis killed in plane crash

[IcyPatriot]

RIP Russ Francis

 

[raduray]

Did you notice the year that airplane was built? Spooky...

A lot of general aviation planes are old, many even older that that. The Cessna Cardinal I used to partially own was also a '76 model. We were meticulous about scheduled maintenance and thorough pre-flight inspections. The motor's air cooled, very primitive and easy to work on, with carb and pushrods, dual spark plugs for redundancy. Obviously, some sort of catastrophic failure in this case. With a power off glide ratio of 10:1 and stall speed of only 53mph I always thought I'd be able to put it down softly somewhere should I lose power. But at low altitude just after takeoff, that bet didn't pay off in this instance.

 

[raduray]

RIP Russ Francis

View attachment 53338

 

[captain stone]

RIP Russ Francis

View attachment 53338

When I'm on the Big Island in December I'll try to find a shirt like that one...

 

[Ian]

When I'm on the Big Island in December I'll try to find a shirt like that one...

My wife and I celebrate our 30th in two years. Hoping to make it to Hawaii for that one and definitely hope you have a great time.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

My wife and I celebrate our 30th in two years. Hoping to make it to Hawaii for that one and definitely hope you have a great time.

One of the many times Russ flashed this was on a Monday night in the Astrodome after scoring a TD, his last season before his first retirement.

Ray Clayborn and Mike Haynes ran into each other (either had a easy interception) and I think Barber took it for a 79-yard TD from Stabler.

Anyway, Aloha.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Kinda sucks that it takes a tragedy as this to once again ask the question: Why isn't Russ Francis ALREADY in the NEP HOF, Mr Kraft?

Not new. Julius Adams died seven and 1/2 years ago. Mosi and Darryl years before that.

Robert Kraft does not get it. For a guy whose team won six Super Bowls, he's created a legacy no better than Billy Sullivan.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

There is a major transcription error in this archived story. It says, "With the help of another controversial play - Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano held Francis with the penalty being called". It should say, "With the help of another controversial play - Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano held Francis with no penalty being called".

Strike that... it should say, "With the help of another controversial play - Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano tackled Francis with no pass interference penalty being called".

It was right in front of the ref too. Staring straight at it.

The Raiders and their fans are actually proud of 'winning' like that. They are amused.

Now, it's understandable and normal for Patriots fans to be infuriated as Pat Sullivan was nine years later in the Mausoleum, but the only effective way to combat and expose the reality of the Raiders/NFL/media/world illegitimacy is to objectively detail and expose the facts in a forum which cannot possibly be ignored, like a serious documentary which they would never air on NFL network.

People really don't know.

 

[Brewskies]

RIP

 

[AQPE]

I used to love "Magnum, P.I." (not the new rip-off version which I refuse to acknowledge), it was a fun watch, the characters were great, and I've loved Hawai'i from my several visits there. When I first saw it I had no idea who Tom Selleck was and my very first time seeing it I said to my wife that my first thought was that they have Russ Francis playing a detective.

Francis was tremendous on the field, especially before the motorcycle accident; take a look at his stats, especially yards per catch, amazing numbers for a tight end in the 1970's and 1980's. More than that he just had such a distinctive personality, as indicated I think by some of the pictures, I've seen posted these last couple of days. As maddening as they can be, I always admire people who are dedicated to living life on their terms while maintaining enough self-awareness to minimize the issues they cause to others.

Z"L Russ!

 

[turkeyneck]

Do not go gentle into that good night

Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

[captain stone]

Do not go gentle into that good night

Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thornton Melon also approves.

 

[shakadave]

One of the greats. I always thought Magnum P. I. sort of borrowed from Francis.

 

[AQPE]

EDIT: wrong thread, my apologies

 

[Patsfan1958]

 

[Ivan]

RIP Russ, hopefully you will be in the Pats HOF in the next couple years.

It was a different game when you played, but you were a True Complete TE who could catch & block.

Something you would never say About Kelce or Tony Gonzalez

He belonged in it from its inception. They should have started it with an initial class of the 10 greatest old time Patriots. I. e…. The pre 1980 Patriots like Hannah, Grogan, Francis etc…..

 

[Ian]

More on this, with a couple of additional tidbits on the accident:

Power failure led to ex-NFL TE's fatal plane crash

The small plane crash that killed former NFL tight end Russ Francis and another man at an Adirondack Mountains airport occurred after the craft's engine apparently lost power.

www.espn.com

It was apparently for a photoshoot of the aircraft he was flying. Just unfortunate

 

[Patsfan1958]

 

[patfanken]

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news about Russ Francis was "Why isn't he in the Pats HOF". So as I went through the thread I you couldn't help notice the usual suspects hammering Bob Kraft for Russ not being in the HOF, So essentially this post is to remind him that Bob Kraft doesn't choose who goes into the Pats HOF. WE do.

As a refresher, a committee of media pukes nominate candidates and WE, the fans, vote who goes in that year. So rather than blame Kraft for the injustice of Russ Francis NOT being in our HOF, we should berate the REAL culprits in this travesty. OURSELVES.

That beng said, I hope that we shortly fix this error of omission.

RIP Russ and thanks for the memories

And thanks to Patriots 1958 for finding that clip. It was great

 

[captain stone]

Love those 1976 tops with the blue w/white stripes at the bottom of the sleeves instead of on the shoulders.