Today In Patriots History September 5, 1993: Drew Bledsoe's first NFL game

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Today in Patriots History
Bill Parcells' first game as Pats' Head Coach
Drew Bledsoe, Troy Brown make NFL debut​

On September 5th, 1993 Bill Parcells made his regular season debut as head coach of the New England Patriots, with rookie quarterback Drew Bledsoe also making his first start in a real NFL game. This was also the first game for an eighth-round draft pick from Marshall. Troy Brown's first NFL play was a 1-yard punt return, and he followed that up with a 29-yard kickoff return.


Sun Sept 5, 1993 at 1:00
Week 1, Game 1 at Rich Stadium
Buffalo Bills 38, New England Patriots 14
Head Coaches: Bill Parcells, Marv Levy
QBs: Drew Bledsoe, Jim Kelly
Odds: Buffalo favored by 14


This game was actually much closer than the final score would indicate. After Drew Bledsoe threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Greg McMurty, the Pats trailed by just three points midway through the third quarter. The crowd of nearly 80,000 fans in Orchard Park were stunned, expecting reserves to be playing late in the game. After all, the Patriots were coming off a two-win season and had won as many games in the last four years combined (14) as they had lost the previous season. The Bills on the other hand ruled the AFC, with five consecutive playoff appearances and three straight conference championships. This was just supposed to be a warmup game, something along the lines of Ohio State hosting the Akron Zips for their home opener.


Buffalo had some extra incentive for this game: three years earlier Parcells' New York Giants defeated the Bills in Super Bowl 25 in Tampa, 20-19. That was the game made famous by Whitney Houston's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, and made infamous by the final play of the game, Scott Norwood's "Wide Right". The Bills were 6½ point favorites that night, but Parcells and DC Bill Belichick were able to neutralize a Buffalo team that was, quite frankly, more talented than the Giants.


The Patriots held their own in this game, controlling the clock (33:13 time of possession), converting nine 3rd-and-4th down opportunities. Bledsoe did a nice job of spreading the ball around to six different players, but the Pats turned the ball over three times, while forcing just one interception by Jim Kelly - who threw four touchdown passes, including two in the fourth quarter. Two of those turnovers were fumbles that directly led to Buffalo touchdowns as the Pats were outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter. The Bills added another TD late on a 47-yard punt return for the final score.

Bills 38, Patriots 14 - UPI Archives

Jim Kelly threw four touchdown passes Sunday, three of them going to Andre Reed, helping the Buffalo Bills spoil Bill Parcells' New England coaching debut...

www.upi.com

Jim Kelly threw four touchdown passes Sunday, three of them going to Andre Reed, helping the Buffalo Bills spoil Bill Parcells' New England coaching debut with a 38-14 victory over the Patriots.​

New England trailed by only seven points going into the final quarter, but Kelly hit Reed with two touchdown passes in the final period and Russell Copeland returned a punt 47 yards for a score to blow open the game.​

Kelly completed 13 of 22 passes for 167 yards as the Bills embarked on their bid to reach the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.​

The victory was Buffalo's sixth straight on opening day and the Bills' sixth straight over the Patriots at Rich Stadium.​

New England's Drew Bledsoe, the top overall pick in the NFL draft this year, went 14 for 30 for 148 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Patriots dropped their season-opener for just the third time in 10 years.​

Parcells was coaching his first game at New England after having won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants. He spent two years out of coaching before taking the Patriots' job.​

Kelly threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Bill Brooks to give Buffalo a 10-0 lead in the first period and hit Reed with a 41-yarder with 2:07 to play int he half to put the Bills in front at intermission, 17-7.​

Then, after New England cut the deficit to a touchdown, Kelly found Reed with fourth-quarter touchdown throws of 22 and 14 yards.​

The Bills' first points of the day came on a 28-yard field goal by Steve Christie early in the second quarter.​

New England scored on two touchdown passes from Bledsoe -- one of 54 yards to Ben Coates in the second period and another of 2 yards to Greg McMurtry midway through the third period.​

Buffalo capitalized on a key fumble recovery in the second quarter to get its offense going. With the Bills leading, 3-0, Cornelius Bennett returned a fumble 49 yards to the New England 25, setting up Buffalo's first touchdown of the game.​

Then, with New England having gained momentum with its third-quarter touchdown, the Bills began to put the game away with a 75-yard drive that ended four seconds deep in the final period.​

Kelly completed a 20-yard throw to Reed on 3rd-and-3 which carried to the Patriots' 33-yard line and moments later he hit Reed again with the 22-yard scoring pass that gave the Bills a 14-point cushion.​

The Patriots promptly fumbled the ball away on their own 31, setting up the second Kelly-to-Reed touchdown pass of the quarter.​

Box Score, Stats and Play-by-Play:

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills - September 5th, 1993 | Pro-Football-Reference.com

New England Patriots 14 at Buffalo Bills 38 on September 5th, 1993 - Full team and player stats and box score

www.pro-football-reference.com

Detailed, 12-page synopsis below includes all the above info, plus drive chart and half time stats:
National Football League 1993 Week One Game Summary

Pro Football Archives Box Score

Drew Bledsoe throws his 1st NFL TD pass in career debut | September 5, 1993 | Patriots @ Bills
1:29 Highlight Play



30:46 Highlight Video
1993-09-05 New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills



1:54:35 Full Game
1993 WK 1 New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills





The 1993 Pats media guide had three pages dedicated to Parcells, beginning on page nine, compared to one page on Bledsoe (pg 79)

1993 Patriots Media Guide

 

[Pape]

DDDDRRRREEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

i was there. first year we had our season tickets. it was awesome. section 12 / south endzone rules!

 

[jmt57]

September 5, 2001:
Scientists discover there is a Black Hole in the Milky Way

Sept. 5, 2001: The Milky Way has a black hole

Today in the history of astronomy, NASA announces evidence of material being consumed by the black hole at the center of our galaxy, confirming its existence.

www.astronomy.com

Scientists also had an interesting discovery of where that Black Hole led

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Rosie​

Happy 48th birthday to Rosevelt Colvin
Born September 5, 1977 in Indianapolis
Patriot outside linebacker, 2003-2008; uniform #59 ('03-'07), #95 ('08)
Signed as a veteran free agent on March 11, 2003
Pats résumé: 65 games (42 starts), 26½ sacks, 1 TD; 8 postseason games; 2x super bowl champion (SB38, 39)

Patriots Boost Pass Rush With Signing of Colvin

The New England Patriots signed free-agent linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on Tuesday, apparently improving their pass rush.

www.latimes.com

The New England Patriots signed free-agent linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on Tuesday, apparently improving their pass rush.​

Colvin had 10½ sacks last season, tops on the Chicago Bears and tied for 12th in the NFL.​

Patriots sign LB Colvin

The Patriots signed linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, adding one of the most attractive free agents on the market and improving their weak pass rush.

www.tampabay.com

The Patriots signed linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, adding one of the most attractive free agents on the market and improving their weak pass rush. He chose the Patriots over several teams that pursued him.​

"They're very talented on defense. They're coming off a Super Bowl run two years ago," the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Colvin said. "I'm not the answer to any questions they have. I'm just a piece of the puzzle."​

The Patriots had 34 sacks last season. Only 11 teams had fewer. Willie McGinest and Richard Seymour led the team with 5{ each. Colvin had the second-most sacks by a linebacker, trailing only the 11 by LaVar Arrington of Washington.​

Colvin, 25, was fifth on the Bears with 72 tackles last season. He had 10{ sacks for the second straight season, the only linebacker in team history to record double-digit sacks in consecutive seasons.​

Pats from the Past: Episode 29, Rosevelt Colvin -- Patriots.com
53:58 audio interview
In this episode of Pats from the Past, we talk with former Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin. Among the highlights are Colvin's preferred choice when free agency opened in 2003, how he was "recruited" to play in New England and the life-changing moment that happened to him here in New England.




Below is an absolutely fantastic article by Jeff Howe for The Athletic, that is now unfortunately behind a paywall.

It recounts how Bill Belichick convinced Rodney Harrison and Rosevelt Colvin to sign with the Pats in 2003, what those players mindsets were, etc. It's extremely detailed, well worth reading.

Colvin was originally dead-set against coming to New England. He wanted to either play in warm weather, or on turf. And whereas other teams spared no expense courting him, he was picked up at the airport 'by some scout in a Ford Taurus', and put up 'in a Residence Inn'.

How free agency in 2003 allowed Patriots to lay key building block for a dynasty

The signings of Rodney Harrison and Rosevelt Colvin created a snowball effect that helped make New England a destination for veterans.

www.nytimes.com

“He pulled up film of me in Chicago,” Colvin said. “He pulled up film from Purdue. He asked me what I was thinking, what kind of play, what was the call, what was my responsibility, all this other stuff. We just talked football. After that, he was like, ‘We really like you as a player.’ He had some (Lawrence Taylor) references about the history of the defense they run. I’m like, ‘Is this dude trying to tell me I’m going to be the next Lawrence Taylor?’​

“I go back to the hotel. Every other hotel I’m in, it’s a Ritz-Carlton, a five-star (hotel). Man, they dropped me off at a Residence Inn. I got on a flight the next day to go back home. I told my agent, ‘Man, I told you I didn’t want to go out here. This isn’t the place for me.'”​

Belichick had done plenty of homework and had gotten a strong recommendation from Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, who was a Giants scout in the 1980s when Belichick was the defensive coordinator. Belichick wanted to pair Colvin with McGinest to bookend his 3-4 defense.​

Belichick offered Colvin a seven-year, $30 million contract. At the time, it was the biggest contract ever for a linebacker to switch teams in free agency. Colvin made the decision once he returned home to Chicago.​

His career did not get off to a good start. And though I shared concern with the writers below at the time, thankfully the 2003 season did not end in September.

September 19, 2003 - after the week two 31-10 victory at Philadelphia:

Loss Of Colvin Most Crippling Of All

The timing, naturally, stinks. The Jets are heading to Foxborough this weekend.

www.patsfans.com

This might just have been the work of Pedro Martinez.​

Lawyer Milloy is released five days before the season opener, and morphs suddenly into a Patriot opponent. Strike one.​

Ted Johnson sustains a severe foot injury and is out for about six weeks. Strike two.​

Now, ahead in the count 0-2, here comes the knee-buckling changeup which Martinez is famous for.​

Rosevelt Colvin sustains a severe hip injury against Philadelphia while recovering a key Donovan McNabb fumble. Out for the year.​

Strike three, the Patriots are out.​

Well, calling the Patriots "out" might be a little extreme, but it certainly seems like a typical Martinez ponchado. Three key members of the Patriot defense are now gone, and one has to wonder how much more severely the Patriot depth, especially at linebacker, will be tested.​

The loss of Colvin, the prize free agent catch of the offseason, might be the worst of them all. Calling it "crippling" is hopefully not prophetic, if medical reports are to be believed and a worst-case scenario is envisioned. Right now, Colvin is merely lost for the season. It remains to be seen if this hip injury is also career threatening. If normal blood flow cannot be resumed to the hip region, it could cripple Colvin for life.​

September 21, 2003 - after a week three 23-16 win over Jets:

What Kind of Win Is This?

Patriots do just enough to win against the Jets

www.patsfans.com

At this rate, if this pattern of injuries to Patriots defensive starters continues, Head Coach Bill Belichick might be signing Patriots Hall of Famer Mike Haynes by week eight. Let's see. Lawyer Milloy gets released before week one. Ted Johnson breaks his foot in Buffalo. Rosevelt Colvin breaks his hip and is gone for the season last week. And now, we have injuries to Ted Washington, Mike Vrabel, and Ty Law to deal with. Obviously, the Colvin injury is the most devastating out of all of these. And his absence was very evident during the 23-16 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday. Overall, the Patriots defense played well enough to win and made up for a mediocre game by quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. Against a better team, the outcome on Sunday might have been different.​

Jan 15, 2007:

Rosevelt colvin on sports final

was asked about LT's comments..said they were chipping and chatting all game and weekk...and said he didnt want to shake his hand either..he wanted to get back to the room and get out of there..its unfortunate he felt that way but hey ..see you next season" then they showed him coming of the...

www.patsfans.com

Jan 20, 2007:

Rosevelt Colvin Appreciation Thread

Big pick up, unfortunate hip injury that could have ended his career. He came back..got more and more involved and over last 2 years hes been very good for us. Hes fast, good in coverage and a leader. Rosie..were glad your with us. He worked his ass off to get back from a very serious injury and...

www.patsfans.com

Dec 2, 2008:

Rosevelt Colvin in Foxboro today [merged]

Patriots hosting Colvin today - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com The Patriots are hosting free-agent outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on a visit today at Gillette Stadium, according to a league source. Colvin, who played for the team from 2003-2007, has not played a game this season after...

www.patsfans.com

Jan 20, 2009:

A Rosey Future: Guess what's next for Colvin

Here's a little poll, just for fun I guess, to see what we think is next for Roosevelt Colvin.

www.patsfans.com

Sept 5, 2013:

My Convo with NFL Super Bowl Champ, Entrepreneur, and Sports Parent Rosevelt Colvin | Jackie Bledsoe | Bestselling Author & International Speaker\

jackiebledsoe.com

May 12, 2020:

Catching up with former Bears and Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin

Rosevelt Colvin reminisces about what could've been in Chicago and the lessons he learned in New England.

www.nytimes.com

Oct 21, 2022:

How Rosevelt Colvin helped kick off the Patriots dynasty

Rosevelt Colvin holds a special place in NFL history.

www.windycitygridiron.com

Nov 29, 2023:

Legacy Boilers: Interview with Rosevelt Colvin

From a microwave society to Thanksgiving spent in the gym, Rosevelt discusses life as a Purdue alum and now parent.

www.hammerandrails.com

Sept 26, 2024:

Bill Belichick shares hilarious story of when a Patriots player broke the coach's rib | Sporting News

New England's former coach got back at a player after the player injured him.

www.sportingnews.com

This week, on his "Coach with Bill Belichick" podcast, Belichick shared a hilarious story of a time he was on the practice field with former Patriots pass rusher Rosevelt Colvin, and things got a bit too physical.​

"I remember when he slapped me, he broke my rib. That's what I remember," Belichick said. "I came off the field, and I'm like 'Dog, my rib hurts. What happened?' The thing was cracked, and he slapped me and broke it. But I got even. I got even. I stuck him in a locker for the rest of the spring with one of his teammates - Matt Light. They had all their stuff together. Their pictures of their wives were right next to each other. They were jammed in the same locker. And then Colvin came to me later in the spring. He's like 'Hey, coach. I didn't mean to do it.' 'You didn't mean to do it? What did you mean to do?' 'How long am I gonna be in that locker?' I said 'You're gonna be in that locker until my rib heals. That's how long you're gonna be in there, and it looks like it's about eight weeks now, so just get comfortable.'"​

This is classic Belichick, as he's able to get back at Colvin in a funny way while also punishing a known prankster in Light.​

Full 57: 14 podcast:
Top Pass Rushers, Cadence Tricks & Tackling Techniques - Coach Ep. 4





















2007 Patriots Media Guide

Rosevelt Colvin Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Get Rosevelt Colvin Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Pro Football Archives -- Rosevelt Colvin

Rosevelt Colvin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jmt57]

Today in Patriots History
Willie "Big Play" Clay​

Happy 55th birthday to Willie Clay
Born September 5, 1970 in Pittsburgh; hometown Wheeling, West Virginia
Patriot free safety, 1996-1998; uniform #32
Signed as a veteran free agent on March 14, 1996
Pats résumé: three seasons, started all 48 games; 13 interceptions, one TD; two picks in six playoff games


When looking back at the Pete Carroll era in New England, one big mistake the head coach made was to release Clay on the eve of the 1999 training camp. I recall it being based on the logic that Chris Carter would feel less pressure, and perform better, though the article below implies it was a cap restraint move. Either way, aside from making the defense worse, it also created animosity in the locker room.

Five months later both Carroll and Carter were shown the door.


Laying down the Law: Pats goofed on Clay

Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law wanted another season for the Patriots secondary to prove it could be one of the best in the NFL. Then the team released free safety Willie Clay.​

Now Law doesn't know what to expect.​

"Willie did a lot. He did it all, and we can't expect something like that from his replacement," said Law, who arrived yesterday for the opening of New England's training camp.​

Clay, who spent three seasons with Detroit and three with New England, was released Wednesday, creating $1.3 million in salary cap space. That money helped the Patriots reach agreements yesterday with their two first-round picks, Boston College center Damien Woody and Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer.​

Clay's value as a player who gave instructions to his teammates will be tough to replace.​

"My job is easier with Willie Clay out there when he's telling me where to go and what to do," said Law, who led the NFL with nine interceptions, although the Patriots had only the 25th ranked pass defense.​

"It wasn't a good move," strong safety Lawyer Milloy said. "It hurt us. I hope we get through it but I don't understand it."​

The candidates to replace Clay include third-year pro Chris Carter, six-year veteran Larry Whigham and rookie Tony George, a third-round pick from Florida. Whigham has just one start in his NFL career, while Carter has none.​

Memorable Moments: Patriots rout Chargers in 1997 opener
50-second video on Patriots.com
Four touchdown passes by Drew Bledsoe and an interception return touchdown by Willie Clay led the Patriots to a 41-7 victory over the Chargers in the 1997 season opener.



Good article below from 2005 on Willie Clay and what his post-NFL life was like at the time:

‘Big Play’ Clay gets down to business

He was nicknamed “Big Play” Clay. Signed as a free agent by the New England Patriots in 1995, Willie Clay enjoyed three seasons (1996-98) with the team and became an immediate leader in the seconda…

www.telegram.com

For work, Clay is very busy as the owner of multiple businesses. He owns a car wash, two restaurants and a manufacturing plant. Clay got involved in business through meeting people and the various connections he has developed.​

“One of the guys I partnered up with at the manufacturing plant I have known since I was 8 years old,” Clay said. “He is an old friend. We have contracts with BMW, GM, Chrysler and companies of that nature.”​

The restaurant Clay owns, called The Waterfront, has two locations. The first he opened was in Cleveland, the second in Atlanta.​

Clay still follows the Patriots very closely and is very excited for the success coach Bill Belichick has enjoyed. In fact, one regret he has is he never had the chance to play for Belichick as a head coach.​

“The joy I really had was when coach (Bill) Belichick was the defensive-backs coach,” Clay said. “I knew he was a genius back then. When I got out of there (New England) under Pete Carroll, we had some issues, and the one thing I regret was not being able to play for coach Belichick.”​

1998 Patriots Media Guide








Willie Clay is of course not to be confused with Bill Clay
​

Willie Clay Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Get Willie Clay Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Pro Football Archives -- Willie Clay

Willie Clay - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org