They did lack a certain killer instinct though, and I admittedly say that in retrospect. Having one of the greatest teams ever (Steelers), and very good to great Raiders, Dolphins and Oilers teams in the same era didn't help matters.
Happy Anniversary Mr. Kraft!!
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They did lack a certain killer instinct though, and I admittedly say that in retrospect. Having one of the greatest teams ever (Steelers), and very good to great Raiders, Dolphins and Oilers teams in the same era didn't help matters.
Ironically The guy we got rid of to go with Grogan (Jim Plunkett) did eventually win one with the Raiders (after being cut by SF)
Grogan makes my all-time tough-guy list. When he was running with the ball and was about to be tackled by a cornerback or safety, he didn't do the chicken-sh*t, knee first slides like Roger Staubach. He used to put his head down and fire himself into the tackler just like a running back.
I only wish I could like this post a hundred times!! They didn't make them any tougher than Steve Grogan. I love the two quotes from HOF guard John Hannah: "the difference between Steve Grogan and Tony Eason was Grogan looked for his pass receivers and Tony Eason looked for the pass rush" and " Grogan wore a football uniform and Eason wore a skirt".
To this day, I'm still pissed at Raymond Berry for starting Eason over Grogan in Super Bowl XX. Yes, the Bears still would have kicked the Pats asses all over the Superdome, but I thought out of respect Grogan should have got the start.
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story...ated-new-england-patriots-20-years-highs-lows
Excellent Mr. Kraft article.
Excellent Mr. Kraft article.
Bob Kraft- the man who saved football in New England.
With all due respect to the Patriots of 1976-1988 who had only 1 losing season on the field, they had a lot of instability in some other areas for years and years.
That's what Kraft brought to the Patriots- rock-solid stability, which is damn important off the field.
And of course, their climb into becoming one of the 3-5 premier sports franchise in North American sports
With all due respect to the Patriots of 1976-1988 who had only 1 losing season on the field, they had a lot of instability in some other areas for years and years.
That's what Kraft brought to the Patriots- rock-solid stability, which is damn important off the field.
And of course, their climb into becoming one of the 3-5 premier sports franchise in North American sports
Good point about having the one losing season in that time frame, however that was a bit deceiving. The one losing season was an unmitigated disaster (2-14 in 1981) that led to the firing of HC Ron Erhardt. That season included losses to the Colts to start and end the season (the only two wins the Colts had that year), and the week 16 game in Baltimore was dubbed the "Toilet Bowl". The Pats got the #1 pick in the draft and proceeded to screw that up by picking Kenneth Sims. Ron Meyer coached the team from 1982 through week 8 of 1984 when he got fired despite the team having a 5-3 record. He got fired for firing DC Rod Rust behind ownership's back. The Sullivan's then hired Raymond Berry as HC and the first thing he did was reinsert Rust as DC. Talk about dysfunctional!! Berry, of course, led the Pats to their first SB in 1985 after becoming the first team to win 3 road playoff games. Two days after the SB blowout loss to the Bears, the team was hit with a drug scandal. From there the Patriots went in a downward spiral until they hit rock bottom in 1990 (a team that I consider one of the five worst NFL teams over the last 40 years), a year that also included a sexual harassment scandal. So yes, this organization had some good moments BK (before Kraft), but they also had some of the ugliest moments (on and off the field) over their then 34 year existence.
