I wish this spot went to Michael Bishop... #7 - High Millen, QB Millen was a third round pick out of Washington by the Los Angeles Rams in 1987, and finished his career with the Rams with a 100% completion percentage....ok he threw only one pass but, hey, silver lining! After making a stop in Atlanta for three seasons, Millen made his way to Foxboro where he started 13 games for the Patriots. Unfortunately, his completions percentage was not as good as it was with the Rams. Millen sported a 60% completion percentage in 1991 to go along with a 1:2 touchdown to interception ratio (9-18). He was 5-8 that season. In 1992, he started seven games, losing all of them but improving his TD:INT ratio to 4:5 that year (8-10). Millen spent some time backing up some great quarterbacks, as he served behind both Troy Aikman and John Elway. (Despite never throwing a pass during his time with the Cowboys.) His final season was 1995, with the Denver Broncos. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com
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Guys, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I actually feel bad that I posted such a horrible player. So today, instead of giving you another punter, let's go with a quarterback that the NFL has become very familiar with, especially lately. #8 - Brian Hoyer, QB That's right, the STARTING QUARTERBACK for the CLEVELAND BROWNS. You know what that means? Johnny Football is not starting. Hoyer was undrafted in 2009. The Michigan St. product assumed the role of clipboard holder for the Patriots, getting playing time only when Tom Brady had already put up 137 points on the opponent. However, when he played, unlike Ryan Mallett, he actually looked pretty good, which made him a surprise cut before the 2012 season. After bouncing around the league a little bit, Hoyer appeared to find a home in Cleveland, until they drafted Manziel with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Coming off an ACL tear in 2013, Hoyer still was able to win the starting job from the rookie this preseason. How long will that last? Who knows. But Brian Hoyer is your best #8 for the Patriots, despite having only 42 passing attempts with the team. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #9 - Bryan Wagner, P Wow. I really wish Ted Williams played even a snap for the Patriots so I could use him. This is ugly. My other option was a kicker who only made 11 out of 22 field goals in a season and even missed two extra points. Anyway, Wagner played nine seasons in the NFL. He was with the Patriots for one season. In that year, he had 74 punts for an average of 38.9 yards. He also led the league with four blocked punts. Unfortunately, that does not mean he blocked four. Wagner played from 1987-1996. He played for the Bears, Browns, Patriots, Packers, and Chargers. He is now a phsical education teacher at Willetts Middle School in Ohio, where he is so the football coach. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com Is it too soon to put Jimmy Garoppolo in this spot? Yes? Fine. Sorry, Jimmy Football, maybe next season. #10 - Jabar Gaffney, WR Gaffney was the second overall pick of the Houston Texans. He was selected in the 2002 NFL Draft, after the Texans took David Carr with the first overall pick. However, his time in Houston was less than spectacular. The Patriots signed Gaffney in 2006 after the Eagles signed and cut him before the season. He played three seasons for the Pats. His best season with the Patriots came in 2007 when he put up 449 yards and five touchdowns. His best performances came in the 2007 playoffs when he put up back-to-back 100 yard receiving games. He would go on to sign a four year deal with the Broncos, but play only two with them before moving onto Washington. His best game came as a Bronco when he caught 14 passes for 213 yards in 2009. 2009 and 2010 proved to be his best seasons. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #11 - Drew Bledsoe Drew Bledsoe was the number one overall pick in 1993 out of Washington State. He played for the Patriots from 1993-2001, losing the job to some kid named Brady. Bledsoe led the league in many categories in 1994, but it was still not a season to brag about. He led the league in attempts, completions, interceptions, and yards per game. His best season came in 1997 when he threw 28 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. Bledsoe never actually lived up to the expectations of the first overall pick. He was a decent quarterback but nothing great. However, we all love him for getting rocked by Jets' defender Mo Lewis in 2001 and making way for the best quarterback in the history of the NFL. Bledsoe did come into the AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001, throwing a touchdown pass (although Brady put him in great position to do so). Bledsoe retired in 2006 after spending time in Buffalo and Dallas. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #12 - Tom Brady, QB Another late round quarterback pick, am I right? Not this time...this one turned out differently. Where do I start? Do I even need to say anything? Everybody knows this guy. Brady was the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft, a chip he has carried on his shoulder for his entire career. In a 2001 game against the New York Jets, Mo Lewis injured Drew Bledsoe, Brady took over, and the rest is history. He would go on to lead them to the Super Bowl and upset the greatest show on turf, the St. Louis Rams. And he won again in 2003. And again in 2004. And has been to two Super Bowls since. To put it simply, he is the best. In addition to all of his winning, he has put up some of the best numbers in football, despite not having a star studded receiving corps like Peyton Manning. He has done more with less for his entire career. Two time MVP. Nine time Pro Bowler. Most playoff wins by a quarterback in NFL history. Every Patriots passing record you can think of. Had one of the greatest seasons of an offensive player in the history of the game. The list goes on and on. He tore his ACL in 2008 and came back in 2009 to throw 28 touchdowns, lead a mediocre team to the playoffs, and win the comeback player of the year award. Isn't is usually the second full season that a player truly returns to form after an ACL injury? Well in 2010 he was the first and only unanimous choice as the MVP, throwing 38 touchdowns to only four interceptions. Here are some of my favorite Tom Brady moments... A beautiful flee-flicker... One of the best punts you'll ever see... One of many last second game-winning drives... And my personal favorite, and I'm not sure it is even close, is this sweet move he put on one of the best linebackers in the league. In New England, we spell stud T-O-M. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #13 - Ken Walter, P Ugh. Walter wasn't even good. He was a punter in the NFL from 1997-2006. He had two stints with the Patriots, 2001-2003 and the final year of his career. Walter was a punter who would make you think about going for it on fourth and 15 because even if you only pick up 13 yards, there is a legitimate chance that you would be giving the opponent worse field position than if Walter punted. He averaged 38.6 yards per punt in with the Patriots and had two punts blocked. The few highlights of his career were the holds for Adam Vinatieri field goals. He held the kick in the 2001 Divisional Game against the Oakland Raiders, in the snow bowl/tuck rule game as well as the game winning kicks in the first two Super Bowls. That's something to tell your grandkids about. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #14 - Steve Grogan, QB Here we go, a good quarterback! Steve Grogan was a fifth round pick out of Kansas State in 1975. He played 13 games as a rookie, starting seven of them. While he stole the job from Jim Plunkett as a rookie, he was still fighting for his job for just about his entire career. Notice I said good quarterback, not great. (And he was good compared to the previous quarterbacks we've seen and some we'll see coming up.) Grogan played from 1975-1990, all with the Patriots. His best season came in 1979 when he led the league with 28 touchdowns and threw for over 3,000 yards for the first and only time in his career. Grogan is actually fourth on the Patriots all-time rushing touchdowns list with 35 behind running backs Jim Nance, Sam Cunningham, and Corey Dillon. He led the franchise in passing yards and passing touchdowns until some guy name Tom Brady came along and demolished both numbers (after Drew Bledsoe passed him in the yards category.) Grogan retired in 1990. He was elected to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995 and currently resides in Foxboro, MA. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #15 - Babe Parilli, QB Well there is one thing that I can tell you without looking at a single stats; Parilli is not the most famous person to sport the name "Babe." There's this Ruth character you may have heard of. Parilli was drafted fourth overall in 1952 by the Green Bay Packers. He bounced around quite a bit, going from the Packers, to the Ottawa Rough Riders, back to the Packers, back to the Rough Riders, to the Raiders, and finally the Patriots. He would finish his career with the Jets. Parilli played for the Boston Patriots from 1961-1967, the longest stretch he had with any team. His best season came in 1966 when he threw for 3,465 yards and 31 touchdowns (and 27 interceptions), all numbers that led the league. He was named to the AFL All-Star game where he won the MVP. He actually went to the AFL All-Star game three times (1963, 1964, 1966), all with the Patriots. He was a part of one of the greatest upsets of all time when, in 1968, the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III. Of course, he was just on the team. Joe Namath, another name you may have heard once or twice, was the Hall of Fame quarterback that led them to victory. And yes, that is Fenway Park pictured above. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com #16 - Matt Cassel, QB This was such a tough decision. Jim Plunkett played for the Patriots longer than Cassel did. Scott Zolak is a great personality who had one of the greatest calls of all time. However, I must go with the guy who came out of nowhere to lead the team to 11 wins. After not playing a snap at USC, Matt Cassel was drafted in the 7th round by Bill Belichick and the Patriots. For the first three seasons, he stood on the sideline holding a clipboard, with the exception of preseason, where he did not look very good at all. Then the worst happened; Brady got hurt. Here comes the guy who looked horrible in the preseason and...he leads the team to 11 wins?! Cassel finished 2008 with 21 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. After they somehow did not make the playoffs, Cassel was franchised and traded to the Kansas City Chiefs along with Mike Vrabel for the 34th overall pick of the 2009 draft, a pick the Pats would use on safety Patrick Chung. I know it is not really fair to do this, but players picked after Chung include Jairus Byrd, LeSean McCoy, and Mike Wallace. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest on sam-pericolo.weebly.com |
SAMUEL PERICOLOSam is a graduate of Assumption College where he studied History, Marketing, and Political Science and was a Co-Producer on a weekly sports talk television show. Archives
March 2018
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