(Portions of this entry appeared in Monday’s daily rundown)
Considering how much pent up animosity most fans had heading into this past weekend’s draft, former Patriots running back Kevin Faulk did a great job at easing a little bit of the frustration when he took the stage to announce draft picks for the team on day two.
The well-respected former Patriot surprised everyone when he stood up on stage and unbuttoned his jacket to reveal a Tom Brady jersey, and caused the room to erupt when he said, “The New England Patriots AND Tom Brady select … ” It likely brought a smile to everyone’s face who was watching and it certainly caught the attention of Bill Belichick and Nick Caserio, who each commented on it during their press conferences.
“That’s why Kevin Faulk is a potential member of the Patriots Hall of Fame. We all love Kevin Faulk,” said Caserio. “Kevin Faulk’s one of the best Patriots on a multitude of levels and I think he certainly showed that tonight.”
Originally drafted in 1999 by then head coach Pete Carroll, Faulk was one of the longest tenured players with Brady before hanging up his cleats during October of the 2012 season. He and Brady developed a great relationship and garnered a lot of respect from Belichick, who when Faulk retired said, “Whatever the role … the more critical the play, the better he played and the more you could count on him.”
Faulk came through again for the team this weekend, and when asked about the move Belichick said, “He always makes good decisions. Yeah, he looked sharp out there.”
The retired running back told WEEI on Saturday that the move to wear Brady’s jersey happened at the last minute and he explained exactly how it transpired, including the fact that the person who brought him out happened to be a Patriots fan and endorsed what Faulk was about to do.
“There was a process where you got on the green room, and the woman from the NFL comes to get you to bring you to the stage,” Faulk said to WEEI.com. “The person who came to get me, she was a huge Patriots fan. She said, ‘Oh, I love it.’ I got out there, and I heard some cheers and some boos. There will always be some negatives and some positives, but it was mostly positive.”
Faulk said that the move was done to support his former teammate, and there’s clearly still plenty of love between two guys who won several championships together on the football field.
“It was a move that wasn’t about me,” said Faulk. “It was a move in support of my brother. We’ve been together for a long time, and it was a way for me to show support for Tom.”
Most importantly, Faulk told Mike Reiss that he got a congratulatory text from Brady himself, who was very appreciative of the support of his former teammate.
Faulk is no stranger to coming up with big plays when the team needed to, and he certainly pulled off another great one this weekend.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
