NUMBER THIRTEEN
Ken Walter was not a very good punter during the Belichick regime, but does have the distinction of being Adam Vinatieri’s holder for two Super Bowl-winning field goals. In Walter’s first Super Bowl appearance against the Rams, he punted eight times for a 43-yard average, so that wasn’t too bad at all. He was very inconsistent during the 2003 campaign. So, the Pats decided not to resign him for the 2004 season. He played four more games for New England in 2006 when Josh Miller went down with an injury.
The great Joey Galloway wore jersey #84 for all but three games in his 16-year NFL career. In 2009, however, he wore #13 for the Pats and made seven receptions.
Tommy Hodson wore #13 for the Patriots from 1990-93 and went 1-11 as a starter during the very down pre-Parcells, pre-Bledsoe era. For anybody who thinks Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Tannehill are bad quarterbacks, they will need to watch film of LSU’s Tom Hodson. Let’s move on from one of the Pats’ worst quarterbacks of all-time to one of the best.
NUMBER FOURTEEN
Quarterbacks
Steve Grogan will not go down in history as one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history. However, he was one of the team’s five best offensive players over their first 35 years as a franchise.
Grogan’s second season may have been his finest as the Pats battled the Raiders and Steelers in the tough AFC. The Patriots lost a very controversial 24-21 game in Oakland. In that 1976 season, Grogan rushed for an NFL-record for rushing touchdowns for a quarterback with 12. He led New England to four playoff berths as their starter and one as the backup. In 1985, he got into the Super Bowl after Tony Eason was embarrassed by the Chicago Bears defense. Grogan was much better and even led the Pats to a touchdown. However, there is probably no QB that has ever lived that could have defeated the Bears on that Sunday.
In all, Grogan played 16 seasons, all in New England. Hence, the Patriots chose him for the team’s Hall of Fame in 1995.
Speaking of longtime quarterbacks, the Patriots attained Vinny Testaverde for QB depth on the 2006 team. He threw a grand total of three passes in New England in his 21-year career. He had such a prolific career, we had to mention him in our memoirs.
Punters
Tom Yewcic was a member of the all-1960’s Boston Patriots teams of the AFL. He served a lot of functions for the Pats from 1961-66, but none more importantly than punting the football. He had an excellent season for the 1963 team that made it to the AFL championship. Guys like Yewcic simply don’t play anymore. He punted, threw passes, ran and even caught some balls over his six seasons.
Another famous Patriot punter to wear #14 was a guy by the unique name of Zoltan Mesko. Mesko was born in Romania, played college ball at Michigan and punted for New England in Super Bowl XLVI. His last game after three seasons with the Patriots was dismal as he struggled against the eventual Super Bowl champion Ravens in the AFC title game.
Wide Receivers
Two very brief members of the Patriots who tried to make it as wide receivers were Chris Harper and Michael Floyd. Harper’s season-altering fumble at Denver in 2015 was his most memorable play. The undefeated Pats were leading 21-7 in a crucial late season game in the snow. The Broncos turned the fumble into points and the victory earned them home field advantage for the rematch. Denver ended up winning the Super Bowl at the end of the 2015 season.
Floyd’s reputation is not an excellent one because of alcohol issues. However, he did get a Super Bowl ring at the end of the 2016 season. He had two wonderful plays in a season finale at Miami and a bad drop in a playoff game against the Texans. That about sums up his career as a Patriot. Floyd played for Minnesota in 2017.
Brandon Fazzolari is a Super Bowl expert…@spot_Bills