Mike Felger - Tales from the New England Patriots Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Patriots Stories Ever Told

Copyright 2004, 2006, 2011, 2017 by Michael Felger

Foreword 2004, 2006, 2011, 2017 by Steve Grogan

Epilogue 2004, 2006, 2011, 2017 by Bill Belichick

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo credit: AP Images

ISBN: 978-1-68358-121-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68358-125-3

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

S ixteen years. Thats how long I played football for the New England Patriots. I look at it this way: The average career of a professional football player lasts four seasons, and that means I played with four generations of Patriots. Hall of Famers like John Hannah and Mike Haynes. Great players like Stanley Morgan, Steve Nelson, Russ Francis and Pete Brock. Close friends like John Smith and Don Hasselbeck. I could go on, but no one would have the time to hear all the names.

I know the Patriots organization has taken its lumps over the years, but I always felt playing here was a great experience.

When I arrived for my first training camp in 1975, I rented a house from tight end Bob Adams, who had just been traded. It turns out Bob left behind a book on the Patriots, so I picked it up and read it. Thats when I learned about some of the teams history. Crazy stuff. I found out about the fire during a game at Boston College. I found out about a guy named Bob Gladieux getting called out of the stands because the coach needed an extra player, and Gladieux making the tackle on the opening kickoff. I found out that the players were once told not to turn down their bed sheets because the team didnt want to pay extra for their hotel rooms. And on and on.

Some of the stuff was pretty ridiculous, but I didnt care. I was just happy someone had drafted me. I had a neck injury in college, and some doctors had questioned whether I should even be playing. I was also worried about making the roster. Jim Plunkett, a Heisman Trophy winner, was the quarterback and I knew coach Chuck Fairbanks wasnt about to sit him down. So when I got on the field that camp I just tried to show them I was an athlete. I played running back for the scout team. I kicked when John Smith was having some leg problems. I did anything I could to make the team.

I did, and when Plunkett got hurt during the season, I was the one Fairbanks turned to. I didnt know what that meant for the future, although Jim seemed to. Jim was a very quiet guy, as was I, and we didnt speak much that first year. But I remember coming home on the airplane after the last game in 75. He walked by me and said, Good luck, kid. I hope you have better luck here than I did. He obviously knew he wasnt going to be around the next season.

Suddenly, I was the starting quarterbackand for the next 15 years I fought to keep the job. I fought through good seasons and bad ones. I fought through challenges from young players and high draft picks. Sometimes I lost the job and had to fight to get it back. Sometimes injuries caught up to me.

The injuries. Its what people seem to remember most about my career. I had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but I played through most of them. The only time I probably shouldnt have been out there was in San Francisco in 1980. We had Matt Cavanaugh coming off knee surgery, and I had two knees bothering me to the point where I couldnt bend them. They asked me to play the game because they didnt want to take the chance with Matt. So I wound up playing and throwing five interceptions. I got crucified in the newspapers, but no one knew I was playing on two bad knees.

That was the time I hurt the most physically. Its probably the time I hurt the most emotionally, too.

Then Tony Eason got here and perceptions seemed to change. All anyone could talk about was my toughness. I remember telling Tony one time that the worst thing they did to him was keep me around after they made him the starter. Everyone just compared him to me, and it wasnt fair. He was probably as good as me or better, but he didnt have that toughnessand everyone let him know it.

Like most of the guys I played with, I considered the 1976 team the best Id ever been on. That was the Patriots team that should have won the Super Bowl. The playoff game in Oaklandwe got robbed. But with the players we had, we thought we would be playing for championships for a long time. Then a lot of things started happening and it just didnt get done.

We were popular at times, but nothing like it is now. Thats probably the biggest difference. Today, the Pats are equal to the Red Sox. For most of my career, we werent even close. We were actually the fourth team in town, behind the Celtics and Bruins, too.

I thought the first time we climbed the totem pole, the first time football got the attention it deserved around here, was in 1985 when we went to the Super Bowl. I remember driving to the airport to go play Miami in the AFC championship game and seeing people stop their cars on I-95 as we drove by. Waving and honking all the way to the airport. It was a great feeling.

We filled up the stadium for a few years after that, and then it seemed to go in the other direction. I finally had to retire after the 1990 season, which was really a dreadful year. Bill Parcells came a few years later, and its been top of the rung ever since.

As a former player, its been fun to watch whats gone on the last few years under Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. Its amazing to see the facility they have now. I just recently saw the locker rooms at Gillette Stadium for the first time, and I admit I took an extra second in the showers. They were huge. At Foxboro Stadium, the hot water ran out after a few minutes.

Ill be honest. The first emotion I had when they won the Super Bowl in 2001 was envy. Jealousy. I saw them running around the field and the confetti falling down, and all I could think about was that we were that close. Still, after they beat St. Louis, it was the first time I felt good about putting on a Patriots hat since I retired. It was nice letting people know that I was one of the people who laid the groundwork for thatin a previous life, of course.

The recent success has led more and more people to look back at the previous life of the entire team. And they shouldits a rich history. I get a lot of dads who come into my sporting goods store, grab their kids, and point them in my direction: Do you know who this guy is? Do you know what he did? And the kids have no idea. Im just the old guy working in the store.

One day, I waited on a lady for about 20 minutes trying to find exactly what she needed. After I went behind the counter to write up the order, she turned to me and said, Does Steve Grogan really own this place? And I said, Yes, maam, he does. Then she asked, Does he actually come into the store? And I said, Yes, maam, hes here every day.