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Today In Patriots History: October 29
October 29, 1961:
The Patriots win the first of what would be back-to-back victories over the Dallas Texans, 18-17 at the Cotton Bowl. Rookie Don Webb, who would go on to play eleven years with the Pats, got things started by recovering a fumble and running it back 40 yards for a touchdown. The Texans – who would move to Kansas City and become known as the Chiefs a year later rather than compete head to head with the other new pro football franchise in Dallas – scored 17 unanswered points and held a ten-point lead in the 4th quarter. Former Packer Joe Johnson scored on a four yard pass from Butch Songin and after the Pats converted the two point conversion, the deficit was cut to two points. Gino Cappelletti, who also led the Pats with four receptions for 55 yards, kicked the game-winning 24-yard field goal and the Pats improved to 4-3-1 for a first place tie with the Houston Oilers in the AFL East.
October 29, 1967:
The Boston Patriots nearly pull off a big upset but fall to division rival New York 30-23. The Pats led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and 20-7 late in the first half but Jim Turner kicked three field goals for the Jets to tie the score. Joe Namath then hit Pete Lammons on a 7-yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter for the game winning score. The Jet defense was stout, limiting the Pats offense to only one touchdown, a 16-yard pass from Babe Parilli to Gino Cappelletti. The rest of the scoring came on three Cappelletti field goals and a 35-yard interception return by John Charles. Cappelletti and Art Graham both had five receptions, for 49 and 52 yards respectively, while Jim Nance had 56 yards on 16 carries for the Patriots. The Jets thoroughly dominated the game, gaining 409 total yards to just 170 for the Patriots, but Gang Green kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. Don Maynard led the Jets with 132 yards receiving.
October 29, 1972:
Brian Dowling scores on a one-yard run in a loss to the Jets. The Yale grad most well known for being the opposition to Vic Gatto in the ‘Harvard beats Yale 29-29‘ game (and the inspiration for 'BD' in the comic strip Doonesbury) would be one of the very few NFL modern era quarterbacks with more career touchdowns rushing (3) than passing (2).
October 29, 1978:
The Patriots win their sixth straight game and throttle the Jets by the score of 55-21 at Schaefer Stadium. The Pats absolutely dominated, scoring the most points ever in the long running history of games between these two teams. New England jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and kept their foot on the accelerator with three more touchdowns in the second quarter to go in to halftime with a 41-7 lead. The Jets entered the game just one game behind the Patriots in the AFC East hoping to move into a first place tie. Instead the Patriots made a loud and clear statement as they rolled for a whopping 529 total yards of offense while holding the Jets to about half that, 276. Steve Grogan had the same number of touchdown passes as incompletions (four), Harold Jackson had 118 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and Don Calhoun ran for 89 yards on just ten carries. Horace Ivory ran for two touchdowns, Russ Francis had a touchdown catch, and Mike Haynes had a 50-yard interception.
October 29, 1989:
The Patriots beat the Colts 23-20 in overtime on a 51-yard Greg Davis field goal at the Hoosier Dome. The winning kick was Davis’ third long field goal of the game; he had previously connected from 47 yards and 48 yards out. Steve Grogan threw for 355 yards, Eric Sievers had seven receptions for 113 yards, John Stephens ran for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Cedric Jones had an 8-yard touchdown reception; on defense Vincent Brown, Brent Williams and Gary Jeter each had a sack.
October 29, 1995:
John Kasay‘s field goal with 7:52 remaining in overtime gave the Carolina Panthers a 20-17 victory over the Patriots. It was a bitter loss for the Pats as they fell to 2-6 – one win less than the two expansion teams, the Panthers and Jaguars. The Pats continually dug themselves in a hole with poor punts by Pat O’Neil (32.4 yard average), including a 32 yard line drive to set up the game winning drive; a Dave Meggett fumble at the Carolina 6 with 2:57 did not help matters either. Curtis Martin led the Pats with 85 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
October 29, 2015:
The Patriots improve to 7-0 with a Thursday night week 8 36-7 rout over the Dolphins. Tom Brady threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns. TB12 set an NFL record with his 19th game with four TDs and no picks, breaking a three way tie with Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals to make it 27 straight in the regular season, breaking Adam Vinatieri’s team record of 25. Ghost also extended his NFL-record consecutive extra points streak to 439.
RB Dion Lewis had 112 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in his first game back from an abdominal injury, and LeGarrette Blount had 72 yards rushing on 14 carries. Julian Edelman had seven catches for 81 yards and two touchdown receptions, and Rob Gronkowski added 113 yards on six catches and a TD. For Gronk it was his his 19th career 100-yard game, tying linguistically challenged Shannon Sharpe for sixth-most in NFL history by a tight end.
October 29, 2017:
The Patriots improve to 6-2 on the season heading in to their bye with a 21-13 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady went 32-47 for 333 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon. Patriot running backs combined for 14 catches and 163 yards, led by James White (5 catches on 6 targets for 85 yards, 17.0 ypc) and a now-healthy Rex Burkhead (7 receptions on 7 targets for 68 yards). The Patriots won despite the absence of Dont'a Hightower (torn pec), corners Eric Rowe and Stephon Gilmore, and an off day by Stephen Gostkowski, who missed a pair of 43-yard field goals.
Patriot E, 1960
Uniform #87
Long grew up in Marlborough MA and went to college at Brandeis. At the age of 21 he was an end for the 1960 Patriots. He played in the first two games in franchise history, catching two passes for ten yards. Long was not only an original Patriot, but also the original Gronk, the first Patriot to wear #87. When Long got a $500 signing bonus from the Patriots, his first move was to buy kegs of beer for a celebration at Brandeis. Long eventually became a stock trader, played rugby, married a French woman, had two children, and owned a restaurant in southwest France for years.
Ralph Cindrich, b. October 29, 1949
Patriot LB, 1972
Uniform #55
The linebacker was a 5th round draft pick by the Falcons in 1972, but was released at the end of training camp. The Patriots claimed him off waivers and he played in twelve games for the Pats that season. After retiring from pro football Cindrich became one of the NFL's most impactful player agents, known for negotiating top dollar contracts for his clients - and warning teams with reputations of not paying players well to not draft his clients.
Steve Clark, b. October 29, 1959
Patriot DE, 1981-82
Uniform #65
The Patriots selected the Kansas State defensive end in the fifth round of the 1981 draft, 130th overall. Clark was with the Patriots for two seasons, appearing in seven games. He was plagued by knee injuries which eventually curtailed his NFL career, landing on injured reserve for half of 1981 and all of the 1982 season.
Greg Davis, b. October 29, 1965
Patriot K, 1989
Uniform #5
Davis played in 169 games over 12 seasons in the NFL. In nine games with the Patriots he scored 61 points, going 16-23 on his field goal attempts and 13-16 on extra points. Interestingly he was better from long range: 2-2 on FG attempts of 50+ yards, but only 5-9 from the 40-49 and 6-9 from 30-39 yards out. Davis is the co-holder of the NFL record for most successful field goals of 50 or more yards in a single game, with three.
One other player with New England area ties:
Omar Easy, b. October 29, 1977
Easy was the Massachusetts Player of the Year in 1996 while at Everett High School. The fullback was a 4th round draft pick by the Chiefs in 2002, and played four NFL seasons with Kansas City and Oakland. Easy later became the Director of Player Personnel and Development in Football at Penn State. Since 2012 he returned home to put his PhD in Education to better use, and become Vice Principal at Everett High.
Other notable NFL players born today include:
- Andy Russell, b. 10/29/41. Linebacker played in 168 games with the Steelers from 1963-76 and was named to seven Pro Bowls.
- Michael Carter, b. 10/29/60. Nose tackle for three 49er Super Bowl championship teams from 1984-92.
- Andy Dalton, b. 10/29/87. Quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals is still looking for his first playoff win; not sure that will ever happen as long as Marvin Lewis remains head coach.
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October 29, 1946:
Peter Green was born in London. Green replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and then founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967. Here’s Fleetwood Mac doing a song few know that they actually wrote, performed at the old Boston Tea Party in 1970: