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Today in Patriots History
Lawyer Milloy released
Lawyer Milloy released
September 2, 2003:
Bill Belichick cuts Lawyer Milloy five days prior to week one game, after Pro Bowl safety refuses to accept a pay cut
At the time I was irked by what was, in reality my own personal bias towards short term rewards. My thinking then was that if the Patriots were under the salary cap, then why this immense urgency to create more cap space? Legitimate super bowl contenders gather proven veterans, rather than prioritize future salary cap space; the focus should be on this year, rather than down the road. Lawyer Milloy was a four-time Pro Bowl safety, and still only 29 years old.
The performance in that game played five days later validated those thoughts for several days after.
Of course it all worked out in the end, but at the time this move appeared to be a major blunder.
Some backdrop, from Feb 10, 2000:
Pats shower extra money on Milloy
The New England Patriots used some of the money they saved by waiving Pro Bowl tight end Ben Coates and offensive lineman Bruce Armstrong to sign Lawyer Milloy to a long-term contract Thursday that makes him the highest-paid safety in the NFL.
Milloy, the only defensive player from the Patriots to make the Pro Bowl, will earn $35 million over seven years, according to his agent, Ray Anderson. The deal is structured so that it will only count $1.95 million against the $62.2 million salary cap in the 2000 season, Anderson said.
To make room for Milloy and four other unrestricted free agents, the Patriots on Thursday released Armstrong, a six-time Pro Bowl selection who had refused to take a pay cut. The announcements came one day after the they released Coates, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, who complained about his diminishing role during the season and also refused to take a salary cut.
"I have a lot of respect for Ben. He was a crucial part of this team," Milloy said. "I understand this was a business. It's not up to me to keep players or let players go. "I know Ben. He'll be all right wherever he lands."
But the Patriots also have to worry about signing four more potential free agents -- cornerback Steve Israel, linebacker Tedy Bruschi and wide receivers Shawn Jefferson and Troy Brown -- as well as restricted free agents and their draft choices. The team does not have a first-rounder this year because it was given to the New York Jets as compensation for Belichick.
Giving Milloy his money makes it more difficult for the others to get theirs.
Fast forward to Sept 2, 2003:
Four-time Pro Bowler refused paycut
The Patriots announced Tuesday morning that they have released four-time Pro Bowl strong safety Lawyer Milloy because of his refusal to take a paycut.
www.espn.com
Four-time Pro Bowl strong safety Lawyer Milloy was released by the Patriots on Tuesday after refusing to take a paycut.
Milloy, 29, was in the fourth year of a seven-year, $35 million contract and was scheduled to make $4.5 million this year. He had a $5.856 million cap number, which New England was trying to reduce. The Patriots will lose $4.05 million off of next year's salary cap because of the remaining proration of his contract.
"This is a player and person I have immense respect for, and he meant a lot to this team and organization," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "Unfortunately he's a casualty of the system. The timing is not good. We tried to find a way to make it work. In the end, we weren't able to get to that point."
Belichick said the negotiations for a revised deal have been ongoing since April. Belichick said this is not the way he wanted the relationship to end, adding that a player of Milloy's caliber can't be replaced.
"Has it ever been this quiet in here? I don't think it has," linebacker Tedy Bruschi, Milloy's rookie roommate in 1996, said. "I think 'shocked' is the word. ... You sort of just shake your head and ask yourself, 'Why?' "
"It is scary in the timing," cornerback Ty Law said. "There's such a thing as good business and bad business. I don't know what category this one falls under. But to my eyes, and being selfish, at this late in the game and in regard to him and his family, I'm quite sure this is something that could have been done a long time ago."
Milloy played 106 consecutive games and has been the Patriots' captain the past three seasons. The Patriots signed strong safety Rodney Harrison to work with him during the offseason; Harrison has been working at free safety.
Antwan Harris and Chris Akins will compete for the strong safety job. There are no plans to bring in another player from outside the organization.
Below is an excellent retrospective of what fans were thinking that day:
Release of Milloy a Huge Risk for Belichick
Once again, we are reminded that this is a vicious game.
www.patsfans.com
What if the Patriots defense lays an egg on Sunday in Buffalo? Do the wheels fall off the cart very quickly around Foxboro? Does the trust that the players have in Belichick and his coaches to do the right thing begin to disintegrate quickly?
And if the wheels do begin to fall off; does the release of Milloy become the modern day equivalent of Belichick benching popular hometown quarterback Bernie Kosar in Cleveland during his tenure in the early 1990's? After benching Kosar, Belichick lost the support of Browns fans and never recovered while in Cleveland. Could this be the end of the honeymoon that Patriots fans have had with Belichick since the Super Bowl victory? We've trusted every move that he has made since then but this one is a real head-scratcher. I'm sure that in Belichick's mind this made sense from a long-term salary cap sense; but it is still difficult, any way you slice it, to find a silver lining. On Tuesday, the Patriots instantaneously went from the potential to be an elite team this year to having to struggle to reach 10-6. Such is the void that will be left with Milloy out of the lineup.
And now we hear that the Bills are seriously pursuing Milloy. Can you imagine Milloy walking into Orchard Park tomorrow and begin his stay in Buffalo by asking "Is anybody interested in the Patriots game plan on Sunday?" And don't put it past Milloy to do just that. Over the years, there have been few, if any, players that have had the competitive fire and leadership that Milloy brought to the defense. If you don't think that he wouldn't love to stick it to Belichick and Bob Kraft, just wait. If I have an accurate read on Milloy, right now, more than any money he may make this year, his one goal is to stick it to the Patriots and prove that they made a terrible, terrible mistake.
Could this feel any worse? Could your stomach fell any more upset over the prospect of Lawyer Milloy suiting up for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday against the only team he has ever played for? Frankly, the last time I felt this badly about the loss of a Patriot was when Curtis Martin was signed by Bill Parcells in 1998. Football is a vicious, vicious business. It is vicious on the field. It's vicious in the locker room. And especially today, it's vicious in the front office.
If you dust off your Super Bowl DVD, you will notice one player madly embracing Bill Belichick at the end of the game.
That man was Lawyer Milloy.
And then there was that initial game of the 2003 season, five days later. Milloy had signed with the Pats first opponent, Buffalo.
Buffalo wings Patriots in opener
By JOHN WAWROW The Associated Press ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. Safety Lawyer Milloy needed less than a week to stick it to his former team. Quarterback Drew Bledsoes wait was
www.rutlandherald.com
Safety Lawyer Milloy needed less than a week to stick it to his former team. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe's wait was longer, but the victory just as sweet. The two former Patriots stars combined for a dominating performance, sparking the Buffalo Bills to a 31-0 victory over New England in their opener Sunday. The win snapped Buffalo's five-game losing streak against New England. And it capped a hectic, emotional week after the Bills snagged Milloy, a four-time Pro Bowler, on Wednesday, a day after the Patriots released him for salary cap reasons.
Milloy, a Patriots defensive captain, not only started despite getting in only two practices with Buffalo, but also made an impact, causing an interception, recording a sack and taking part in five tackles. Bledsoe engineered scoring drives of 80 and 90 yards on his first two possessions. Acquired in a 2002 trade with New England, Bledsoe won his first so-called "Bledsoe Bowl" in three tries, and finished 17-of-28 for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The game was effectively over when the Bills went up 21-0. Travis Henry's 1-yard plunge, Dave Moore's 7-yard reception, and defensive tackle Sam Adams' 37-yard interception return put the Bills up by that margin early in the second quarter. Henry scored a second time on a 9-yard scamper in the fourth quarter and Rian Lindell added a 44-yard field goal. As season openers go, it was Buffalo's largest margin of victory since a 40-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams in 1992. It was also the second regular-season opening shutout, and first in any game for the Bills since a 26-0 win over Philadelphia in 1999.
Bills, with Lawyer Milloy, rout Patriots 31-0 in opener - The Boston Globe
Five days after his release, Milloy helped the Bills, quarterbacked by Drew Bledsoe, to a surprising shutout win against the Patriots, who were humiliated.
www.bostonglobe.com
The outcome was a marked turnaround from how the Bills stumbled through two losses to New England last year, in which the Patriots outscored Buffalo by a combined 65-24, and flustered Bledsoe. The Patriots managed a mere 51 yards in the first half and six first downs, two by penalty. How bad were they? Six minutes into the second quarter, the Patriots had registered minus-4 yards of offense. Tom Brady, who replaced Bledsoe as the Patriots' starter in 2001, had an abysmal outing. He finished 14-of-29 for 123 yards and threw four interceptions, tying a career high; he also threw four against Denver in 2001.
Brady wasn't alone among the blundering Patriots. There was a holding penalty against tight end Fred Baxter, which negated a Bills punt and gave Buffalo an automatic first down, leading to Moore's score. Then, on New England's first drive of the second half, the Patriots were called for an illegal shift during a fourth-and-1 attempt. And the Patriots couldn't even score on two tries from the 1 in the final 20 seconds, the game ending when Antowain Smith was stuffed for no gain. The Bills' revamped defense, whose newcomers include Adams and linebacker Takeo Spikes, played up to its expectations. Spikes had two interceptions and six tackles, while Adams' interception return was the second of his career and first by a Bills defensive lineman since Pat Toomay in 1975.
And Milloy didn't look like he lost a step when he helped force an interception. With Brady attempting to hit David Patten on a deep post route, Milloy closed quickly and got his hand up to deflect the ball at the goal line. The ball bounced up and was brought down by Bills cornerback Nate Clements.
It would be eight years until Buffalo could defeat the Patriots again - with Tom Brady coincidentally throwing four picks again, blowing a 21-0 lead as Ryan Fitzpatrick rallied the Bills to a last second win in 2011.
After the game ESPN's Tom Jackson infamously stated that the Patriots "hated their coach", arrogantly arguing that 'he knew, because he had played the game'. His comments had the opposite effect, unifying the team as they went 17-1 the rest of the way to win their second super bowl championship.
Pats not troubled by hate
If the New England Patriots are a team that hates their coach they didn't show it on Sunday.
"We're all here for a common goal and that's to win" linebacker Willie McGinest said yesterday a day after the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 31-10.
The win helped erase the memories of last week's 31-0 season-opening loss to Buffalo. Just five days earlier Belichick decided to cut four-time Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy to make room under the salary cap; Milloy signed with the Bills and helped them shut out the Patriots.
On Sunday ESPN's Tom Jackson reported that Patriots players were so angry about Milloy being cut that "they hate their coach." Some of the players saw the report before they left for the stadium for their late-afternoon game.
"I respect Tom Jackson but that is one of the stupidest things I ever heard" Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said yesterday. "He has no idea what we think about Belichick."
After the super bowl win at Reliant Stadium, Bill Belichick was approached by two people from ESPN for an interview, but he refused. Chris Berman, who was a friend of Belichick's, then asked - and the Hoodie agreed. But when the two walked over to the set, Tom Jackson was already there. Jackson reached out to shake Belichick's hand - and not only did not shake hands, but told Jackson "f-ck you". Berman and ESPN did get their interview - but only after Jackson slithered away, like a bad puppy dog with his head down and tail between his legs.
