Steve Balestrieri's Archive:

But if there is one caveat to this news, is that his new extension makes no mention of a new or added title to Caserio’s name.

Art Modell fired not one, but two of the greatest coaches in football history: Belichick and Paul Brown. That alone should permanently exclude him from any consideration for the Hall of Fame.

The best social media postings from the Patriots on Valentines Day.

Happy birthday to Drew Bledsoe. The Patriots Hall of Fame quarterback was the face of the franchise from 1993 to 2000. His strong arm resulted in clutch plays and 17 fourth quarter comebacks. Bledsoe led the Pats to the playoffs four times in his first six seasons and their first super bowl appearance in eleven years. More importantly he gave fans hope and excitement after the dark period between those two AFC championships.

Happy 43rd birthday to Randy Gene Moss, the pride of Rand, West Virginia. Although he played in New England for a much shorter  time than Stanley Morgan, the argument can be made that Moss is the greatest wide receiver in Patriots history.

On February 12, 1969 the Boston Patriots held a press conference to announce the hiring of George Sauer as their new general manager. Sauer had worked with new head coach Clive Rush with the New York Jets as the director of player personnel. Both were viewed by Billy Sullivan as winners who would lead the Pats to glory, duplicating the results they experienced with the Jets defeating Baltimore in Super Bowl III.

Happy 41st birthday to Bethel Johnson. The New England Patriots kick returner, wide receiver and two time Super Bowl champion turns 41 today. Johnson is best remembered for an electrifying 41 yard touchdown reception in a freezing cold playoff game against Tennessee.

Happy 46th birthday to New England Patriots cornerback Ty Law. The Pro Football Hall of Famer had a total of 40 interceptions for the Pats, including four in the postseason.

Logan Ryan never missed a game while with the Patriots, appearing in 64 games with 40 starts. He had 13 interceptions, including a 79 yard pick-six off Geno Smith – and also appeared in ten playoff games for New England, with the Patriots going 8-2 in those contests

Slow Time of Year at PFF?- With the annual Pro Football Focus (PFF) top 101 players for 2019, the NFL’s Defensive MVP, Stephon Gilmore ranked 22nd, which raised a few eyebrows, mostly locally but a few nationally as well. The author of the piece Sam Monson, who should be familiar around these parts further raised the hackles of local fans by ranking SF 49er CB Richard Sherman 13th overall. 

Even though one of them is retired, the Peyton Manning/Tom Brady rivalry continues off the football field.

While it remains to be seen where quarterback Tom Brady will play in 2020, any leftover chance of retirement appears over.

NFL Fan Therapy returns with an all new Patriots episode featuring Francis’ thoughts on a Tom Brady return.

A look back at the three year anniversary of the Patriots Super Bowl LI championship.

Julian Edelman recruits Tom Brady to return back to New England with funny social media post.