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Long time New England Patriots fans are dumbfounded to learn that Mike Patrick, former punter for the team, has died early this week at the age of 55. Official sources within the New England Patriots have reported that Patrick passed away peacefully on Sunday, surrounded by family and close friends in his
Fans and former New England Patriots team mates are expected to attend his funeral service this Wednesday.
For the third year in a row, the New England Patriots’ player Tedy Bruschi will support his very own Tedy’s Team of runners in the Boston Marathon. He was the Patriots’ linebacker who gained stardom after being a resilient stroke survivor.
Known fondly as Tedy by both fans and team mates, he is confident that his runners will meet their goal to finish the 2.6 mile run and at the same time, raise awareness about being a stroke survivor. An enthusiastic Tedy will be tracking their progress via the Internet and adds that “We have goals, from three-and-a-half hours all the way to completion. We’ve stayed out there until they were breaking down the stands. I’ll just be very supportive that day.”
Tedy’s Team was created to create more stroke awareness amongst the public and he hopes to make a difference although he is not confident that he will be able to run another marathon. He was at Foxborough training for the 2008 for the past three weeks and participated in the Patriots’ offseason strength and conditioning program.
The Nashville City paper have come out with the story that the New England Patriots are interested in acquiring Adam “Pacman” Jones from the Tennessee Titans.
This came about recently with the celebration of Pacman Jones’ one-year suspension anniversary has passed. According to the paper, they reported that the Patriots have secretly contacted the Titans and are in hush hush discussions to get Pacman to join their team. Formal negotiations have yet to materialize but Pacman is said to be eager to be part of the Patriots.
The claim came after the Patriots’ agent Manny Arora casually mentioned that the Patriots might be interested in getting Pacman but ex-Patriot reporter Albert “Einstein” Breer hastily reported that the Patriots will not pursue this interest. Although Pacman is a talented cornerback, he was nonetheless banished from the NFL after a series of incidents that include “unsatisfactory conduct away from the field”.
The New England Patriots DL Richard Seymour is an avid traveler and this year he chose to go to Israel with mate Benjamin Watson and team owner Robert Kraft for his off season vacation. Seymour thanked the team owner Kraft and his family for inviting him and his wife to a trip around Israel. Richard Seymour is back at the Gillette Stadium for the off-season’s training programs.
Seymour told the reporters that he was fascinated about the sights and sounds that Israel had to offer and was longing to visit the place after reading about its rich culture and history. He also watched Big Blue Jerusalem, a strong Israeli football league team, win a game 38-0 over Tel Aviv. Seymour said that he was provided with a safer and secure environment as there was potential danger always lurking around in the peace starved nation. He also revealed that he and his wife got baptized in the Jordan River.
The New England Patriots re-signed their defensive linesman Mike Wright who was a restricted free agent and the terms of the deal has not yet been disclosed. Mike Wright has been in the NFL season for the past three years and he has represented the Patriots in all the three seasons so far. He came into the New England Patriots team as a rookie free agent in the year 2005 on Aril 29 and has so far played 38 games in NFL. He has made five starts in his three seasons with the Patriots and this 26 year old defensive linesman has made one starts in his nine games last season for the Patriots.
The year 2007 was not that productive for Mike Wright as he made 12 tackles in his nine games out of which nine were solo tackles. He was put on the reserve bench with a foot injury last season and this 6 foot 4 inch giant made his career high tackle of 32 solo out of the 47 tackles in 2006 season. He was placed in the reserve/ injury list in his rookie year and his current tally includes 75 tackles that has 51 solo and 1.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.
The veteran free agents Lewis Sanders and Tank Williams were signed by the New England Patriots. Lewis Sanders will be the cornerback and Tank will be in safety position of the team. Sanders, 29 years of age has experience from 8 NFL seasons and has played for three teams, four years for Cleveland Browns, two years with Houston Texans and last year was with Atlanta Falcons . Cleveland Browns drafted Sanders into the team in the fourth round of the NFL draft in 2000. Till date Sanders has played 87 games in his career with 25 starts and 172 tackles. While he was with Atlanta Falcons, he played 14 games before he had a chest injury.
Tank Williams had his last season with Minnesota Vikings and has played in 6 NFL seasons. He was the discovery of Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft. He has 70 career games to his credit with 59 starts and remarkable 303 tackles. Tank Williams was out of the game in 2006 due to knee injury and in 2007 he played 13 games. These two veterans are an asset to any team and Patriots have full faith in the capacity of these players.
The New England Patriots have re-signed veteran wide receiver Jabar Gaffney. The new contract was entered on March 5, 2008. Jabar Gaffney is an NFL veteran who has seen six seasons with the Houston Texans from 2002 to 2005 and the Patriots from 2006 to 2007. Jabar Gaffney is 27 years old and has played in a total of 91 games with a record of 63 game starts and 218 passes that he caught for 2,600 yards overall. He also was able to make 13 touchdowns during this time.
The exact terms of the re-signing with Jabar Gaffney remains hush-hush as of now. However, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick feels more confident having Jabar Gaffney as part of his team and in Patriots colors. “Jabar is a very good fit for our offense,” Belichick commented briefly on the newest member of his football team. Jabar Gaffney was first signed by New England Patriots as a free agent in October 6, 2006. He actively participated in 27 games and made 13 starts within the last two years. Jabar Gaffney graduated from the University of Florida where he was among the school’s team first in selection. He is 6-foot-1-inch tall and weighs 200 pounds.
The New England Patriots released their veteran player Tight End Kyle Brady but, re –signed three of its players. The re-signed players include the long snapper of the team, Lonie Paxton, Tedy Bruschi, the linebacker and Kelley Washington, the wide receiver. The patriots have not disclosed the details regarding the terms and conditions of the contract. Tedy was taken in the 1996 draft from Arizona and this will be his 13th season with the Patriots and was leading the team as captain from the year 2002. Bruschi is one of the best tackles Patriots ever had and he played very well in the year 2007. He has played 176 games and he will be the 10th player of the Patriots to spend more than 13 seasons with the team.
The last season game in which Bruschi was a co –captain allowed only 288.3 yards per game was the least for the Patriots in the past 28 years. Bruschi has a good career record with participation in many contests even in 5 super bowls. For Lonie Paxton this will be his 9th season with the Patriots and has played more than 125 games in his career. The field goal unit rate of Patriots has increased because of Lonie’s consistency in the game.
Zach Thomas who has left the Dolphins is looking for a new employer. The 34 year old Thomas, who is a popular line backer of Dolphins, is one of the most productive players Dolphins ever had in their team. But, Thomas missed most of the matches in the last season as he was suffering from migraines and concussions after he met with an accident in last October. Thomas feels that he is healthy and wants to play in 2008 with a team that has the potential of winning Super Bowl title.
The agent of Thomas, Drew Rosenhaus has announced that Thomas has got offers from different teams. They already had a meeting with the New England patriots and the team was keen to sign him right away. Zach Thomas is yet to decide on the offer made by Patriot as he has a meeting with the New Orleans Saints this week. The Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills. Denver Broncos and Houston Texans are the other teams trying to sign Thomas with them. But Thomas is not interested in Buffalo Bills or New York Jets as they were unable to qualify for the playoffs in the last season. Patriots believe that Thomas is healthy and will be able to play well this year.
Patriots head coach, Bill Belichek, is already looking to the future. He has yet to watch the film of the defeat at the Super Bowl, but he says he will look at it soon to see their defeat and learn from it. He states the team got really close to winning, but something happened and it wasn’t meant to be. He also said it was time to move on and not dwell on on the past, but rather plan for the future next time. Critics also got all over him for leaving the game early in the last final moments. He said he wanted to get over to congratulate the Giants head coach, Tom Coughlin.
He also said that as the last play was finishing that he didn’t pay any attention to the time that was left on the clock. He just started walking away. Looking ahead still to 2008, the Patriots are still at the top of the list of contending teams. They are going to need to work on their battle plans and come up with a good defense to be competitive this year one critic says. They also need to have their offense in a good position as well to take on anything that comes at them.
