Patriots Football Weekly Blog

Quick Kicks: HS coach high on Hightower

When Marshall County (Lewisburg, TN) High School principal and assistant football coach Keith Stacey is asked to recall Dont’a Hightower, one memory jumps out at him.

“We were playing Columbia Central High School. They were in a bigger conference. It was a Friday night game, and we were not picked by many to win. We did end up beating them,” Stacey began, almost as an afterthought.

“They ran an iso [play], and Dont’a was playing MIKE. He met the fullback in the A-gap and ran through him. I mean he just tackled the fullback and knocked the tailback for a loss at the same time… Totally blew the play up. That wound up on his highlight reel… it was devastating. He folded the fullback up right in the hole.”

Stacey said he has countless other stories about Hightower making a big hit, knocking the ball loose, running with it and scoring or just getting the ball back for the offense – an area Hightower, the ferocious linebacker, knew a thing or two about.

You see, his talent on the field wasn’t just limited to defense. As a sophomore, Hightower, according to Stacey, was competing for the starting running back job as well as his natural linebacker position. The role eventually went to a senior.

“I don’t think anyone ever doubted that Dont’a could win the job,” Hightower explained. “He’d go in and spell the starter, often play slot receiver, too. He was a man among boys. He could’ve been the starter at running back from Day One. The other guy was just older, and a lot of times, they get the bulk of reps. And Dont’a always played defense anyway.”

However, late in the year, that senior running back suddenly quit the team. So, Hightower finally had a chance to play both ways.

All he did, in Marshall County’s final four games, was rush for more than 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns. That drew national interest in Hightower, the phenom from a small, small town an hour south of Nashville. He eventually settled on Alabama for college, but always made a point of going back to his hometown.

When he did, it was clear to those who knew him that he was destined for the NFL.

“I think he matured a lot at Alabama,” Stacey continued. “Physically, he got bigger. First time he came back, his freshman year at Alabama, he just looked so much more massive. He had become a man. We thought he was a man when he left us, but he was even more so. His attitude was very focused, he was of a singular mind, and very driven. When he tore his knee up his sophomore year [in Tuscaloosa], it gave him more resolve and determination to return better than ever.”

That’s exactly what Hightower did, and today, he’s about to embark on his professional career in earnest by taking part in his first Patriots practice.

To read more of Stacey’s reflections on Hightower and a profile of each of New England’s 2012 draft picks, check out the current issue of Patriots Football Weekly that’s on newsstands now. To subscribe call 1-800-494-PATS or go to PFWonline.com

From the Hart: Vrabel says Ebner is able

Mike Vrabel knows a little something about what it takes to make it in New England. He also has some perspective on developing from an unknown commodity into a key contributor.

As such, the former Patriots star and current Ohio State defensive line coach probably has the best viewpoint from which to judge New England sixth-round pick Nate Ebner.

Ebner is of course the world-class rugby player who walked on for the Buckeyes football team. By the end of his time in Columbus he was a key special team presence and leader for the Ohio State squad. Add in an impressive Pro Day, and he earned himself a draft spot in New Englnad.

Beginning this week Ebner will be at Gillette Stadium trying to prove he has what it takes to make it in the NFL. Vrabel not only thinks that Ebner has a chance to make it as a core special teamer at the professional level, but that given the hours he’ll have now to devote to the craft that he may even develop as a contributor on defense.

“I think if they’re looking to develop a talented player into something that they think can play a bunch of different spots, then I think it’s the right fit. I hope it’s the right fit,” Vrabel said of Ebner landing in his own former NFL home. “Certainly the way they develop people, the coaching staff’s ability and understanding how to develop a talented player that maybe doesn’t know all the techniques, doesn’t have all the experience, they’ve proven it’s a good place to start in New England.”

While Ebner is just starting his career in Foxborough, he’s finishing up a time at Ohio State that ended with him as one of the most respected members of the at times troubled program. Nothing showed that respect more than Ebner being chosen to carry the flag and lead his team out onto the field last season during a special ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

“He just led because of his style of play,” Vrabel said. “People respected it. Our players respected the way he played the game. He was a major contributor. Now people look at that and say, ‘well how many touchdowns did he have or how many interceptions or how many sacks?’ People who know football don’t look at it like that. They look at the contributions that he made on special teams and on the practice field and in class and his work ethic. He was a major contributor for our football team.”

Clearly Vrabel is pulling for his former pupil turned Patriot, who he expects to be a fan favorite from day one in New England.

“I would hope he’s going to work as hard and hopefully he becomes as savvy as Larry Izzo on special teams and he can find a way to block punts and find a way to cover and do a lot of those things,” Vrabel concluded.

To read more of Vrabel’s thought’s on Ebner and a profile of each of New England’s draft picks, check out the current issue of Patriots Football Weekly that’s on newsstands now. To subscribe call 1-800-494-PATS or go to PFWonline.com

From the Hart: Revis calls out Belichick, Brady

Earlier this offseason Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis responded with “jerk” when asked about Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a word association game he played on SportsCenter alongside New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Revis expanded on that comment on Thursday and stood by his original sentiment. And then some!

“I gave my honest opinion,” Revis told the New York Daily News and other New York reporters. “You guys know me very well. This isn’t the first time me speaking what I need to speak about something. I talked about the Randy Moss stuff… It’s just how I felt. That’s how I feel. I feel that people let him slide when he says his smart remarks (on) certain things. He says comments about us like he never coached here…. He did. That’s just how I felt. So they told me to sum it up. I gave one word. He can take it how he wants. He can say (whatever) he wants to say back.

“Even if he says something back,” Revis added. “I’m not going to get into a jawing (match) with him. I said what I had to say. He still has to coach and I still have to go out there and play.”

Revis claimed to respect Belichick, but that he was unhappy with the coach’s comments after beating the Jets last season.

“I have respect for him. Winning is winning,” Revis told the Daily News. “But sometimes things are disrespectful. When you say certain comments about the Jets, some stuff is disrespectful. It’s okay to have a rivalry. It’s okay to compete. But when it gets personal, you’re getting disrespectful. I didn’t start this battle. The smart remarks sometimes he says are ignorant. It’s ignorant to this organization.”

He would not specify the comments that irritated him.

“I don’t know… Talking about the best defense … All that stuff. That’s just ignorant. Why go there? You won fair and square. Hey, we shook your hand after the game. We’ll see you in New England or wherever in the playoffs, ok. But when you start saying stuff like that… no… it gets too personal. You don’t have to say that. … Did anybody else say anything like that? No… not from our side. Bart (Scott) said his thing… “Can’t Wait” thing. But he still didn’t disrespect. He just said that they feel like they’re better than us. That’s okay. It’s personal. It’s disrespectful.”

Revis also seemed to agree with teammate Antonio Cromartie’s past “ass”-essment that Tom Brady is an “a—hole.”

“Sometimes he do (like that that) on the field,” Revis said. “That’s his personal opinion about him. If that’s how he acts on the field. That’s how he acts. He wants to throw a touchdown and point at our sideline. That’s disrespect, man. That’s not sportsmanship. Now do people say words on the field to each other? Yeah… that’s in between the lines. But then when it’s getting out of hand…  Come on, man. Come on. Sportsmanship.”

If the rivalry and all-out border war with the Jets needed any extra fuel, Revis seems to be doing his best to stoke the fire.

From the Hart: Cunningham on the clock

Heading into his third season, former Patriots second-round pick Jermaine Cunningham is clearly at some sort of crossroads in his career.

After starting 11 of 15 games played as a rookie in 2010, last fall was a lost season for the former Florida Gator. He played in just nine games, with no starts. He was inactive for three games and then landed on injured reserve in December.

Amazingly, he finished the year with just a single tackle as a non-factor for a defense that seemingly needed all the help it could get for most of the season.

That’s why Pro Football Weekly (you know, the other PFW!), put Cunningham atop its list of “Third year AFC East players entering a crucial season.”

“This could be Cunningham’s last shot to make the squad…” the fake PFW writes.

I completely agree with them. Though the defensive end/outside linebacker spot remains a bit thin, the additions of Chandler Jones, Trevor Scott and Dont’a Hightower along with the possible return of Andre Carter could leave Cunningham on the outside looking in.

Bill Belichick has a history of cutting former second-round picks in their third NFL season, and Cunningham will have to prove something this summer if he’s going to avoid being the next name added to that list.

What do you think of Cunningham? Will he make the team? What’s his future hold? Let us know with a comment below!

From the Hart: Jones Daoust with praise

Patriots rookies will hit the practice fields in Foxborough this week (and the media will get a chance to watch some of the workouts on both Friday and Saturday) as they embark on their professional careers in New England.

Obviously one of the players with the most attention on him from now right on through the regular season will be top pick Chandler Jones. Beyond simply being the team’s first first-round pick, he’s also the first playmaker on the edge that Bill Belichick has taken atop the draft.

Theoretically, he fills the team’s biggest need. The comparisons to Willie McGinest and Jason Pierre-Paul are already being bandied about. And Jones himself says he models his own style after Julius Peppers and Aldon Smith.

Pretty high expectations for a guy who had just 10 sacks in his Syracuse career and never had more than five in a season. But according to his position coach with the Orange, the expectations should be pretty high. In some ways Tim Daoust came to the realization of just how good his now former player was in the pre-draft process as Jones’ stock was on the rise.

“The more phone calls that rolled in and the more tape that I reflected upon watching Chandler, I said, ‘Holy smokes, maybe we didn’t know how good we had it.’ Because he was certainly a great player for us and a dynamic young man. I think NFL teams saw what we saw, that he’s a kid that’s going to continually get better,” Daoust said.

Daoust knows that Jones will have to take everything to a higher level in the NFL. That includes things like maturity and work ethic off the field, as well as getting stronger and better with his hand placement and technique on it. But the coach has little doubt that Jones is up to the challenge.

“I think every time you jump from level to level, from high school to college and from college to the NFL, there is a whole other level of maturity that’s demanded of your on the field and off the field. And I think Chandler has the tools do that and getting into a model franchise like New England I think that will be demanded of him very quickly and get around guys in that locker room that will help him do that. He’ll have to take his work ethic to another level,” Daoust said.

“But Chandler, one of his strong points is his ability to learn and take coaching. If you tell him something, ‘hey, Chandler you need to improve this,’ he will take to it immediately and get to work on it.”

That work begins this week in Foxborough. And everyone — from Todd McShay and Mike Mayock to his college coach – agree that the sky is the limit for Jones.

To read much more from Daoust on Jones, check out the most recent Patriots Football Weekly on newsstands now. To subscribe to PFW call 1-800-494-PATS or go to pfwonline.com

Just how good do you think Jones can be? Which comparison for Jones’ potential do you think is most apt? Let us know with a comment below!

Quick Kicks: Seau is SI cover story

Junior Seau’s tragic story is the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Photo courtesy Sports Illustrated

There is a reaction piece from the San Diego community, as well as quotes from former teammates and NFL players. Seau was known not just for his on-field excellence, but also his involvement in community works, particularly through his charitable organization which catered to youth programs. Former Rams and Bears lineback Pisa Tinoisamoa, who benefited from a Seau-led outreach effort called Gangbusters, reflected on the influence that Seau and his reach had on his life.

“That saved my life. It had people around me and help set me straight…. June was behind that. I saw him on my birthday last July, and he came in playing his ukulele and singing Happy Birthday. I didn’t get to tell him personally what he meant to me, but he knew. He saw the success I had, and he was proud of me. Whenever I saw him, he would talk about how good I was. He was always positive. That’s why everyone loved him. They felt they were friends with June. He had that status about him, but to us he was just a man of the people.”

Seau’s former Chargers teammate, LaDainian Tomlinson, lamented that he couldn’t help Seau in his final days of despair.

“I feel awful that Junior didn’t feel he was close enough to anybody that he could say, ‘Look, something isn’t right.’ He didn’t feel there was anybody, and we all need someone we can go to and say, ‘There’s something going on with me.’ That’s the sad thing, but that’s who Junior was. He didn’t want us to know he was hurting on the field, so off the field he certainly wasn’t going to say anything.”

The issue also contains features on the correlation between depression and football, as well as the idolization of sports figures like Seau.

From the Hart: Gronk on reality TV!

According to Entertainment Weekly, Patriots frat boy, fun-loving All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski is among those taking part in FOX’s new celebrity dating show “The Choice.”

Other notable NFL names to appear include Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp.

The show, which has already been taped, debuts on FOX on June 7, just three days before New England’s veteran mini-camp in Foxborough. Five episodes will include male celebrities, such as Gronkowski, going on dates with female contestants. One episode will feature female celebrities, including Carmen Electra.

Quick Kicks: Light’s out

During an hour-long ceremony at The Hall at Patriot Place, Matt Light said his final farewells to Foxborough.

The 11-year veteran, an anchor at left tackle for the Patriots since his rookie year in 2001, officially announced his retirement this morning. Introduced by owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick, both of whom  gave humorous accounts of their relationship with the notorious jokester, Light, too, kept the mood relatively, well, light. There was one moment when he appeared to get emotional, while thanking the many individuals — some of whom were present — who have touched his life over the past 11 years.

GOOD TALK — Matt Light shared a smile and several laughs with family, friends, members of the Patriots organization, media, and a few lucky fans at his retirement press conference Monday. (Photo by David Silverman)

Light said he knew, heading into last season, that 2011 would in fact be his last season in the NFL. Age and health issues were beginning to take more of a toll on him, plus he wanted to spend more time with his family and on his charitable foundation. He conveyed the news of his impending departure several months ago to a select few, including teammate Logan Mankins.

“It’s a little weird. I’ve been with Matt for seven years,” Mankins reminisced after today’s event. “We played next to each other and it’s been great. He’s been a great teammate, great friend. It’s a little surreal still. You don’t believe he’s leaving. It’s hard to imagine going to practice or playing in a game and not having Matt sit behind me on the bus. We sat next to each other on the plane and he was a locker mate pretty close to me. It’s going to be a little different this season, my first season without Matt.”

In a video tribute to Light’s career, QB Tom Brady said he was going to try to talk Light into staying on longer, but the soon-to-be-34-year-old insisted he was through with playing football. He didn’t rule out, however, staying involved in the NFL in one form or another, possibly in a labor management role with the NFL Players Association.

Second-year man Nate Solder, drafted in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, is the odds-on favorite to succeed Light at left tackle. Solder is perhaps more prepared to take over that high-pressure position than Light was as a rookie in 2001. Solder gained valuable experience last season playing both right and left tackle, whereas Light had to experience a trial by fire.

“We have good, talented players, a good [position] coach [in Dante Scarnecchia], a good scheme,” Mankins pointed out. “Matt will definitely be missed, but that happens in the NFL. Guys retire and you have to move on.

“Nate, he’s done a great job for us. We were very impressed with Nate, and he’s only going to get better this year… he better get better,” Mankins stressed, “because that’s what we expect of him.”

One other interesting note from today’s farewell ceremony involved Mankins himself. The Pro Bowl left guard recently underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, but was walking around The Hall with no brace or medical device of any kind, nor was he displaying any noticeable limp. Seems he is enjoying a successful recovery.

How do you feel about the Patriots’ offensive line without Matt Light? Let us know with a comment below.

Reports: Addai rushing in

Veteran running back Joseph Addai, who paid the Patriots a free agent visit last month, is reportedly signing with New England. That according to Peyton Manning (The Boston Globe’s Greg Bedard says a source has confirmed the move).

Speaking to a Colts beat reporter at a charity event in Indianapolis today, Manning said his former teammate was joining the Patriots. The club, you may recall, considered drafting him in 2006, but elected to choose Laurence Maroney in the first round instead.

Addai would provide New England with a much-needed veteran presence at tailback. Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen are still very green as they enter their second NFL seasons, while Danny Woodhead is in his fifth.

New England also had visits with veterans Tim Hightower and Ryan Grant in April.

Share your thoughts on Addai with a comment below.

Reports: Gaffney back in New England

Late Wednesday, media reports indicated that wide receiver Jabar Gaffney had signed a two-year deal with the Patriots (the story was first reported by ESPN).

Gaffney, 31, will reunite with the club that helped resurrect his career from 2006-08. He enjoyed three productive seasons in New England before signing with Denver as a free agent in 2009. He played last season for Washington, and in the week leading up to the Redskins’ game against the Patriots, QB Tom Brady made it clear he was still a fan of Gaffney.

“Jab could do everything well. I think that’s his versatility, he’s got good size, he’s got long arms, he’s got good speed, he’s got good quickness, he plays every position, he’s smart,” Brady said last December.

“He’s just one of those guys that, from the day we got him here, he was just so reliable and dependable because he knew what to do and he did it well. You gain a lot of trust from the quarterback when all those things matchup. I was bummed when he went to Denver and I was bummed when he went to Washington.”

Presumably, Brady’s not bummed anymore because Gaffney still seems to have plenty of football left in him. In fact, Gaffney enjoyed perhaps his most productive NFL season last year in D.C., starting 15 of 16 games and catching 68 passes for 947 yards, both career bests. His five TDs tied his previous career high set in 2007 with the Patriots.

Gaffney’s return further strengthens an already deep wide receiver roster in New England, and marks the second addition of a receiver from the prolific ’07 squad (Donte’ Stallworth recently re-signed with the Patriots). This position is shaping up to be one of the most competitive heading into training camp, if not the most, much like defensive line was last summer after the addition of so many veteran free agents. It also provides the team with yet another insurance policy should the contractual struggle with Pro Bowler Wes Welker stretch further than expected.

Thoughts on Gaffney’s comeback route to Foxborough? As always, share them with a comment below.