PatsBlog: A Patriots Blog

The NFL announced today the shutting down of NFL Europa, leaving many German fans without their pigskin fix.  Going the way of the dodo, the XFL, Professional Women’s Soccer, the Canadian Baseball League, the Negro Leagues, and the United Soccer League.  The NFL brass put a positive spin on the decision saying that more focus will be put on the top flight NFL playing regular season games abroad. 

          The concept of spreading American football abroad intrigues me and I see a connection between this and the development of soccer in America.  World class soccer teams come every summer for exhibition games in New York, New England, Utah, Los Angeles and other places and people do follow soccer leagues in Europe on cable.  But the real hope for more interest in American soccer is the success of the MLS.

         Having more regular season NFL games played abroad can help but it can only be a stepping stone to create a large enough market for domestic leagues abroad, with domestic talent from those countries participating.  I think this is definitely an uphill climb for the NFL, since European cultures seem to only agree on soccer and, to a lesser extent, basketball, and both those sports have a similar structure. 

        I do hope more people abroad can learn the game because it is great fun to watch. As the most popular sport in America I can’t see any reason why more people around the world should not catch on to football. 

       After all, its a hell of a lot more entertaining than cricket.

So it is a little slow around Foxboro these days so I thought I’d discuss the new Hall at Patriot Place which will be opened next year to honor former Patriots players.  Fans can vote for who they think deserves to be inducted. The Patriots have announced 3 candidates for the Hall of fame: running back Ron Burton, tight end Ben Coates, and wide receiver Stanley Morgan.

Ben Coates played from 1991 to 1999 for the Pats and had some great years catching passes from quarterback Drew Bledsoe.  In 1994 he caught 96 passes, a single-season NFL record that stood for ten years when Tony Gonzalez caught 102.  He’s also the Pats’ all-time leading receiver at Tight End (wikipedia).

Stanley Morgan played from 1977-1989, drafted by the Patriots in the first round.  He helped the Patriots to Superbowl  XX following the 1985 seasib and appeared in the Pro Bowl four times.  In 1979 he led the NFL in receiving touchdowns.

 Ron Burton was an old schooler at running back who played for the Boston Patriots from 1960-1965, being their first draft choice ever.  He doesn’t possess the gawdy numbers running backs put up these days, his highest single season total was 548 in 1962 (tho over 1000 all purpose yards that year), but he blazed new ground for the Patriots.  He has the first 100+ yard rushing performance in a game for the Patriots.  He is also in the Northwestern University hall of fame as well as in the College Football hall of fame.

As one can tell from the amount of words I spent on Burton he would be my pick this time around. You can vote at patriots.com

The 2007 NFL Supplemental draft will occur on July 13, 2007.  This year, there will be two prospects in the draft, Paul Oliver and Chris Patrick.  Here is the process to the selections:

- Each team chooses what player(s) they want, and what round and what pick they want them in.

- A lottery for picking order is held.  All teams under 6 wins have a selection lottery, that is weighted from worst record to best record.  Then the same thing happens for the non-playoff teams.  Then finally, there is a weighted lottery to select the order for the playoff teams.

- If a team uses a pick in the supplemental draft, they forfeit that pick in the next years draft.

 More supplemental draft coverage coming soon!

I know this is a Patriots blog, but I needed to get my opinion out there somehow.  If you’re a Celtics fan, you’ve probably heard the trade rumors for Kevin Garnett.  Supposedly, a deal has been made with the Celtics or the Suns, and it’s rumored to include Celtic’s forward/center Al Jefferson.  A possible scenario is:

Al Jefferson + Wally Szczerbiak + Theo Ratliff + Sebastian Telfair + 5th overall <–> Kevin Garnett + Troy Hudson

When I see this, I almost want to puke.  The Celtics are getting rid of almost every tradeable asset they have (especially if Gerald Green is thrown into the package) and get a 31 year old star who is on the tail-end of his prime.  In the process, they are giving up Al Jefferson, the best young low post scorer in the league, who is nearly 10 years young than Kevin Garnett, but is only a points and a couple rebounds behind.  In my opinion, Al Jefferson is the best back to the basket player to come to the NBA, since Tim Duncan in 1997.  Celtics fans can moan that they didn’t get Greg Oden, and if Danny Ainge gives up Big Al, the fans better moan about that too.

What makes the whole trade scenario even scarier, is that Garnett can opt out of the contract next season.  And if he doesn’t, the Celtics will be paying him a combined $46 million.  Big Al will only chew up four million over the next two seasons.

If you put it in perspective, would you rather have the Celtics get Garnett, maybe compete in the East for three years, get crushed by the West, and be exposed to a terrible team with no one to build around in 5 years, or would you rather have a team that could compete with the West (if you drafted someone like Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, or Spencer Hawes) in 2 - 3 years.

Say Al Jefferson retires when he’s 40, as a Celtic.  He would have enjoyed 20+ years with us, and at that time, Kevin Garnett would be 49 going on 50.  Hmm… which would I prefer?

Update: Not Happening!  Thank god…

From the Herald: 

   A private person, Brown has kept largely tight-lipped this offseason. Sources close to the receiver yesterday reiterated his desire to play next year, preferably with the Patriots, who seem to be taking a wait and see attitude towards his health.  ‘‘My intention is to play,’’ Brown told the Associated Press earlier this offseason. ‘‘That’s what the deal is. We’ll see what happens. I’m not writing anything in stone but my intentions are to play.’’  Brown’s represenatives in the offices of agent Gary Uberstine declined comment, and the receiver could not be reached.

So it looks like Belichick and Pioli are just sitting and waiting to see how Mr. Reliable recovers.  I’d prefer if they just signed him to a contract now, to take away any risk of him walking to another team.

Could the Patriots acquire disgruntled Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield via trade?  The Pioneer Press seems to think they can:

If the Vikings trade outspoken cornerback Antoine Winfield, the Patriots, who have two first-round draft picks next spring, would seem a logical destination. New England cornerback Asante Samuel, by the way, is holding out for more guaranteed money.

Although it seems like a good fit, is Antoine Winfield worth a first round pick?  If Asante Samuel is traded, it seems like it would be.  If you got another first rounder via a Samuel trade, our own first round pick would become expendable.  Maybe a better scenario would be 2008 second rounder, 2008 fourth rounder, 2009 conditional draft pick.  I would go for that.  Also, if the trade got done before Asante was resigned or traded, it could show Asante that he is no longer needed (and won’t be franchised next season), so he may just play.

And for those of you who heard the Asante Samuel to the Jets rumors, don’t worry.  Remember when Deion Branch tried to seek a trade to the Jets last season, the Patriots stopped it (and ended up getting a better pick too).  The Patriots only problem could be if the Jets offer the Patriots the clearly better trade, and Asante the best contract.  Then a grievance could be filed (as in Deion’s case), and it may force a trade to New York.  However, consider that the Patriots would likely demand first round picks from the Jets, making the trigger hard to pull on both sides.

Well, I finally purchased a domain name and got hosted, so we’re moving to patriotsblog.net.  I’m still working on getting a lot of things to work, but hopefully things will be fully functional in a day or two.  Also, on a side note,  PatsBlog now has 25,000 hits!  By the way, everything still runs through wordpress, so it doesn’t matter what domain you enter.

Likely to fill the gap in depth left by the passing of Marquise Hill, the Patriots have announced the signing of two defensive lineman, Rashad Moore and Kenny Smith.  Both are over 300 pounds and each have a decent amount of playing and starting experience. 

Moore, 28, has started 18 career games in 48 appearences and has racked up a total of 87 tackles.  His numbers are pretty solid, and he should have a legitimate shot at making the roster. 

Smith, 29, is an interesting story.  In four years with the Bucs, he only played in 30 games, with 10 starts.  In those 30 games he recorded a very respectable 69 tackles.  In 2005, he was on injured reserve with Oakland, before spending 2006 out of football.  If he is still in shape, could he be a nice fit? 

This is certainly football’s most boring time of the year.  For the next month and a half, there is going to be nothing to report.  Free agency, the draft, and the minicamp season are all over.  Next up, is training camp.  Until then, the Patriots might make a move for a veteran or two, but thats about it.  Here’s my June/July outlook:

1. Randy Moss will choose his jersey number

Definately the most anticipated breaking story of the summer.  Will Randy Moss choose his jersey number?  We will certainly all wait in extreme anxiety and we’ll bring you the scoop as soon as it happens

2. What to do with the vets?

Two players are expected to sign with the Patriots, but have yet to do so.  Vinny Testaverde, quarterback, participated in all of the Patriots minicamps, but has yet to sign with the team.  Bill Belichick said that Troy Brown would be part of the team next year, but we have yet to see him resigned.  Maybe the Patriots will resign these two guys this summer.

3. Asante Samuel’s Contract Situation

This is an obvious problem.  Asante has threatened to hold until week 10, and he seems very determined to do so.  There may be a remote chance that the Patriots get something done with Asante early this summer, however, I doubt it.

4. Look at Some More Free Agents

The Patriots have been rumored to be speaking with runningback Chris Brown and his agent, but reportedly, Brown is playing a wait and see game.  I think he would be a nice compliment to Maroney if the Pats signed him.  There is also Daunte Culpepper.  If the Dolphins release him, the Patriots have been rumored to be in a line of suitors for his services.

I found this rumor very interesting.  Could the Patriots possibly sign Daunte Culpepper as a backup for this season.  From the South-Florida Sun Sentinel:

“I feel it is necessary to obtain a release rather than seek a trade so that I would not bring the excess baggage of my present contract to a new team,” he said. “I feel like my next team should have the opportunity to get to know me as a man and a player before they make any long-term commitment.”

Teams who possibly could be in the market for Culpepper’s services are the Jaguars, Patriots, Raiders, Rams and Ravens.