Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots A to Z Part 6 - Locked On Patriots July 1, 2019

Episode Date: July 1, 2019

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Hey there everybody welcome on in to part six of Patriots A to Z here at Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for today Monday July 1st. We have reached July and on the bright side look while we have sort of made our way through the doldrums of off-season content, this is the month where the Patriots start training camp. So you can say, this month football is back. Today's show brought to you by the letters K&L. K&L Gates, a law firm that I no longer have to do any work with. It's looking at that way. Bright spot for me here today. And interestingly enough, we're not going to have a lot to talk about in the second section of this show the plays had to go deep into the Patriots play we're going to talk some protections today

among other things we're also going to talk of course the people and the moments that have defined this franchise but before we do that some reminders here off the top please do follow me on the twitter machine at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at, as you know, a variety of places. InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, and of course, Pat's Pulpit, that holy trinity of SB Nation websites. Let's dive into this show.

We're going to talk some of the players here at the outset. Started with the letter K and Nick Kayser. Offensive guard, offensive lineman for the New England Patriots. Selected in the third round, 100th overall of that 2005 NFL draft. Got himself a Super Bowl appearance obviously with that 2007 team where he started 15 games. All 15 appearances were starts for him saw some time along the Patriots offensive line spent his entire career with the New England Patriots a player that didn't spend a lot of time New England but I got to mention him because he is a former quarterback Joe Kapp who was drafted by Washington the 18th round of the 1959 NFL draft spent three years

with Minnesota where he spent the bulk of his career, three of his four years, and then his final season with the Boston Patriots when they were in the National Football League. Joe Kapp, a one-year member of the New England Patriots. Andy Katzenmoyer. Remember Andy Katzenmoyer, the big cat? Drafted in the first round, 28th overall, the 99 NFL Draft. Spent just two years in the nfl both seasons with new england his rookie season started 11 games had one interception tackles were not

counted back in 1999 but he did have three and a half sacks 2000 he started in just three games made appearances in eight contests had 14 solo tackles 22 overall no, no sacks. And then Katzmoyer was out of the league. Another player mentioned here, Steve King, a linebacker for the Patriots out of Tulsa, played for the Patriots in the 70s, spent his entire career in New England, made just one start in his final season in 1981, but did pair in 124 games for New England. Next up, Dan Klecko. Obviously son of Joe Klecko, who spent some time with the New England Patriots.

Just a couple of seasons, 2003, 2004, and 2005, before moving on to Indianapolis and later Philadelphia. He obviously was on the defensive side of the ball, a defensive lineman for the Patriots, but he also spent some time at offense. Selected in the fourth round, 117th overall of the 2003, a defensive lineman for the Patriots, but he also saw some time at offense. Selected in the fourth round, 117th overall of the 2003 NFL draft.

Dan Coppin, a longtime center for New England. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2003 draft, 164th overall. And he basically took over up front right away. started 15 games his rookie season

appeared in 136 games in his career started 132 of them now he finished his career in denver so 121 of his appearances and 120 of his starts were in new england he had 15 appearances and 12 starts for the broncos but he was a member of the 2003-2004 championship NFL Super Bowl teams. Also had appearances in Super Bowls with the Patriots against the Giants in 2007 and 2011. Dan Kaupin, big-time player for the New England Patriots along their offensive line. Josh Klein, reserve offensive line for the New England Patriots for a couple of seasons. Also some current Patriots. Brandon King, defensive back out of Auburn.

Ted Karras, offensive guard out of Illinois. He's also a current member of the New England Patriots. Of course, you can't talk New England Patriots right now without mentioning Robert Kraft. Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan. We're going to spend some more time with especially Robert Kraft in the third part of the show. Let's move over to the L's now. Brandon LaFell. Brandon LaFell, wide receiver for the New England Patriots for just two seasons out of LSU.

Most of his career was spent elsewhere. Four seasons in Carolina, two in Cincinnati, a final year in Oakland last year. He is still technically in the league. Although he was put on injured reserve in November with an Achilles injury by the Raiders. Obviously, when you think of Brandon LaFell, you think of, well, you think of a touchdown catch he had for the Patriots against the Baltimore Ravens.

A touchdown from Tom Brady on a go-route along the left-side line. Still remember that one like it was yesterday. But LaFell played in, let's see, four postseason games for the Patriots. During those postseason games, he had 16 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The biggest of those, obviously, the touchdown against the Ravens. But Brandon LaFell, we're going to kick off the L's with him. Ty Law. I mean, Ty Law is a Hall of Famer.

And when you think of Ty Law, obviously what comes to mind the pick six in super bowl 36 against kurt warner just a huge play i remember that one it was when i was in law school i've told this story before we had a small little party gathering of friends and i was actually in the restroom during the TV timeout before that possession. I'm thinking to myself, they need a defensive turnover and a touchdown. They need a defensive score. Come out, and they got it. Maybe then I should have known that one day I would end up here. But Ty Law spent a ton of time in New England.

Had two pick sixes in the 2001 season. Just a tremendous defensive back for the New England Patriots. Bill Lincolntitis. that's a name from the past. Bill Lekantitis was with the New England organization starting back in 1971, a center out of Penn City. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the 43rd overall second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. Started his career with San Diego. He came to New England in 1971 where he finished his career.

He was a center for the Patriots from 71 to 81. Appeared in 160 games overall. 151 of those were the New England Patriots. So Bill Lincolnitis, a throwback center for the New England Patriots. Deion Lewis, obviously a current member of the tennessee titans but the player that bounced around a lot was spent some time in philly spent some time in new england the bulk of his best work was with new england where he played three seasons appeared in 30 games started 19 of those scored eight touchdowns while he spent his time in New England.

Obviously a big threat out of the backfield as a receiver. Spending some time in the backfield now for the Titans along with Derek Henry. Matt Light. All-pro left tackle for the New England Patriots out of Purdue. Spent about 10 seasons with the New England Patriots. His entire career with New England Patriots his entire career with New England and similar to some of the offensive line we've talked about already today starter from day one. He was drafted in the second round 48th overall the 2001 draft

appeared in 14 games as a rookie and started 12 of them. Basically once he came to New England he was a starter. He appeared in 155 games and started 153 of them. The only two in which he wasn't a starter was when he was a rookie. So basically came in, once he got the job, didn't really let it go. Matt Light, offensive tackle for the New England Patriots. Ronnie LaPette, throwback to that Super Bowl XX team, defensive back for New England, out of Miami, had two stints with the Patriots. He was with the Patriots from 83 to 88, then some time away from the game, came back 90 and 91 with the New England Patriots as well.

122 appearances, 122 games, 111 starts, had 24 interceptions his best year, probably 86, where he had eight picks. He had two pick sixes in 87, which led the league. Charlie Lawn, the last sort of throwback player we're going to talk about here in the Ls. Charlie Lawn, offensive tackle for New England out of Tennessee Chattanooga during the 60s. Went back when they were the Boston Patriots of the AFL. But he spent 10 years, actually 9 years, with the Boston Patriots.

That is Charlie Lawn, an offensive offensive tackle on Tennessee Chattanooga. And some current Patriots now with the letter L to their name. And we're going to start Cedric Lane, tight end of Texas El Paso. Matt Lacoste, another tight end, recently acquired from the Denver Broncos out of the University of Illinois.

Doubling up at the tight end position here with the letter L for the Locked On Patriots. Although Cedric Lane now, I take that back, started as a tight end. Now he's more of an offensive lineman. Cedric Lane, a member of the New England Patriots. Up next, we're going to talk some play stuff, and we're going to dip into protection, something we haven't done yet. That's ahead on this Part 6 installment of Patriots A to Z here

at Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now here on part six of Patriots A to Z, working our way through the alphabet, working our way now through some of the plays that have made the Patriots the franchise they are. But before we dive in, a couple of sort of housekeeping announcements.

We are headed into the 4th of July holiday here, but remember we are here five shows this week. No days off for us. So We are headed into the 4th of July holiday here, but remember, we are here five shows this week. No days off for us. So if you're celebrating the 4th of July holiday here in the States, if you're just going about your business elsewhere in the world, you'll have some new Locked On Patriots to turn to. Also, obviously, Friday afternoon, United States Women's World Cup team secured a hard-fought victory over France

in the quarterfinals. They will face England tomorrow on July 2nd in the semifinals. For everybody here at Locked On Patriots, we are pulling for Team USA, of course. Also, over the weekend, my son had his eighth birthday party. So shout-out to Owen for turning eight. His birthday was on last week, last Monday's show. But I want to give him a little special shout-out for his birthday party, which was a fun time. It was had by all.

But that being said it's time to get back to work now there aren't a lot of plays really to talk about when we get to k and l there are a couple of running back routes two to be exact that we can talk about there's lucky and then there's lee now these are running back routes out of the backfield, and they will be tagged either R or L. Lucky and Lee are the left side variations of these. Otherwise, they are Ringo or Roy. But what these mean is dependent on R or L is which way you're going to break. So for example, on Ringo, the running back will be responsible for blitz pickup, then chip to the tackles outside on the defensive end, to the tackle outside on the defensive end, release outside, run a sneak or a trail to the called side. So if it's Ringo, you are going to go to the left side, block, chip, release, and release vertically to four yards, and then run your route to the called side. So if it's Ringo, you are going to go to the left side, block, chip, release, and release

vertically to four yards, and then run your route to the called side. So you're running it to the right. So as Lucky, you will block right, then run your route, this little crosser underneath, to the left. Lee, this is blitz pickup, release through the line of scrimmage to a depth, and break opposite the call side. So this is tricky. If it's Lee, you are in blitz pickup, you will break through the line of scrimmage and break away from the call. So on Lucky, you're breaking to the call. On Lee, you're breaking away from the call. Kind of confusing, but that's Lucky and Lee. Let's talk some protection stuff. I want to talk Rita and Linda. Now, you've sometimes probably heard Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage calling out Rita or Linda. What is that? Well, the Patriots have a number of pass protection schemes, and in their 70 pass

protection, their 70 series, it is a five-man protection scheme. 70 is a five-man protection scheme 70 is a five-man protection scheme with the quarterback under center and executed in a five-step drop the line will slide away from the number to pick up the will so you might hear 72 or 73 74 75 is a little bit different but in 72 73 for example the line will slide away from the number, that's the second number, two or three, to pick up the call, to pick up the will, excuse me. Now, the QB may make what's called a Rita or a Linda call. If the will is walked and no threat to blitz, this puts the uncovered lineman into dual pickup between the Mike and the Sam, so the middle linebacker and the strong side linebacker.

This is a five-man protection scheme with hot, strong, and side-adjusted weak built in. So what does that all mean? Basically, it means this. If you hear Tom Brady or a Patriots quarterback say Rita or Linda, that means that one of the linebackers, the will, the weak side linebacker, is walked. And what they mean by that is he is walked outside of the box and is no threat to blitz. Now that usually means that you've probably now just got six guys in the box and it's a five man protection scheme. So how are you going to do it? Well, you make that Rita or Linda call.

You will call Rita for right or Linda for left, depending on which side has the unblocked lineman. And then that means that that lineman will now block towards the will, towards the mic, who's the threat to blitz. Now there's also what they call the sight adjust and a hot built in. The sight adjust is to the weak side. So that means you might have a slot receiver or something like that. If there's a blitz, you can just throw it to him quickly. Strong side is hot, meaning there's usually a Sam linebacker or maybe a safety over the tight end. He's not involved in the protection. If that player comes, quarterback just throws the ball to the tight end quickly on that hot route. So in this 72-73 pass protection scheme, you're not even blocking. You're not worried about the Sam who's over the tight end or whoever's over the tight end because he's hot.

You're really making sure you can pick up, say, you've got two tackles, two defensive ends, and a mic. Those are the five you want to block. If that mic comes, you want to shift the uncovered offensive lineman to him using Rita or Linda. The Patriots also have what they call Lion or Ram, and that's against three, four fronts only, and it's the same kind of thing. You're shifting sort of an uncovered offensive lineman to pick up one of the linebackers on the inside. But that's what you hear Brady at the line of scrimmage saying, Rita, Linda, it's not just a shout-out to Bill Belichick's girlfriend. Because this dates back to the 2003 playbook.

It's a right or left call trying to make sure they have every potential blitzer covered either via an uncovered lineman picking them up via the rito linda call or a hot or a side adjust but that's what that all refers to so there's a little bit of protection stuff even getting that into into the place here also finally lead that is part of the patriots ground game they have 33 34 lead which is basically 21 personnel eye formation power behind the lead blocker that's a part of the Patriots playbook this is also something using the goal line but lead is usually part of their rider series which is a reverse pivot series for the quarterback

where say you're going to hand the ball off to the right side the quarterback actually opens to his left that's what we call a reverse pivot and then hands it off but again I know we get in the weeds here, but I did get some feedback from everybody via the Locked On Patriots Slack channel. For most people, this has actually been their favorite part of these shows, the plays part,

where we talk about some nerdy football stuff. So we're going to dive into it maybe even a little bit more, getting a little bit of the weeds here on this nerdy football stuff. Also, if you'd like to be a member of that Locked On Patriots Slack channel, hit me up for an invite at

Mark Schofield on Twitter or mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com. You don't have to participate. I know a lot of people, including people related to me, that just kind of lurk. Lurkers are welcome. You can just see what people are talking about, learn some stuff that way, but we'd love to have you, the more the merrier, especially as we get ready

for the upcoming season. So that will do it for the plays that have made this franchise up next we're to talk a lot actually exclusively about Robert Kraft that's ahead on part six of Patriots a to Z here locked on Patriots Mark Schofield back with you now I'm gonna close out part six of Patriots a to Z with the discussion of Robert Kraft. Now, this is a man, businessman, that was more than anything else, a fan. Look, he was set up for success. He went to Columbia. He was class president. He was a running back and a safety in the school. He was a freshman in lightweight football teams. He had an early run sort of in politics after he got an MBA from

Harvard Business School. He was elected chairman of the Newton Massachusetts Democratic City Committee. He almost ran for Congress but chose not to. And then he started his professional career. He's with a packaging company run by his father-in-law. He gained control of the company through a leveraged buyout. He's still the company's chairman. That is the Rand Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company. And then in 1972, he founded International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities, which became a top 100 U.S. exporter-importer in the 90s. And in 2013, he was ranked number 20 in that category. But at an early part of his career, he was involved in sports.

In 1974, he purchased the Boston Lobsters of the World Team Tennis along with five other people. They lured a bunch of top players, including Martina Navratilova, and they became one of the best teams in the WTT. The league, however, folded,

as did the franchise in 1978. Now is when we get to the Patriots. He was a season ticket holder dating back to 1971 when the team moved to Schaefer Stadium. He bought a 10-year option on Foxborough Raceway, a horse track adjacent to the stadium, which prevented then-owner Billy Sullivan from holding non-Patriots events at Sullivan Stadium

when these races were being held. In 1988, he outbid several competitors to buy the stadium out of bankruptcy from Billy Sullivan, $22 million. The stadium was considered to be outdated and nearly worthless, but the purchase included the stadium's lease to the Patriots, which ran through 2001. When he bid on the franchise as well, he lost to Victor Kayim. The lease was ironclad enough to end Sullivan's three-decade involvement with the Patriots. When he and Kayim tried to move the team to Jacksonville, Kraft refused to let them break the lease. As a result, when Kayim

was nearly brought down by bad investments of his own, he was forced to sell the Patriots to James Orthwein. Ever since Orthwein bought the team in 92 there were rumors that he wanted to move the Patriots to St. Louis but in 1994 Kraft offered 75 million dollars to buy out the remainder of the team's lease to what was now Foxborough Stadium. Had Kraft accepted I mean Orthwine excuse me offered Kraft 75 million. Had Kraft accepted the offer it would have cleared the last significant hurdle to move in the team but Kraft turned it down. By 1994, Orthright was not interested in operating the team in New England long term. He wanted to sell it due to the terms of the operating covenant. Any prospective buyers had to deal with Kraft. With this in mind, Kraft made an offer for an outright purchase of the franchise for $172 million which was accepted. At the time,

it was the highest price ever paid for an NFL team. Years later, Kraft said his passion for the Patriots led him to, quote, break every one of my financial rules, close quote, in his pursuit of the team. Following the approval of the sale by the NFL, the Pats sold out their entire 1994 season. The first full sellout in franchise history. Every home game has been sold out ever since. Now, in 98, he considered moving the team to Hartford based on an offer that the state of Connecticut would finance a new stadium

in downtown Hartford. In April of 1998, Kraft terminated the deal just before it would be combined and choosing again to build a new stadium in Foxborough with Commonwealth of Massachusetts infrastructure funded. That stadium? Gillette Stadium. Now, Patriots success. Since Kraft bought the team, they have made the playoffs 18 times in 23 years. They won AFC East titles in

96, 97, 2001, 2003, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. I mean, excuse me, 8. They didn't win eight. I just got on a roll there. 2007, 2009, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. They have been in one Super Bowl in the pre-Brady Belichick era in 96. Then Super Bowls in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18. They have won six Super Bowls. And they, of course, were the only 16-0 team in 2007 before losing to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Kraft also a big part of the labor negotiations in 2011. NFLPA representative and Colts center Jeff Saturday

praised Kraft for his role in the negotiations, stating, quote, Without him, this deal does not get done. He's a man who helped us save football. Now, Kraft also has sports interests outside of the Patriots. He founded the New England Revolution, a charter member of the NLS. He is intrigued, apparently, about buying a Premier League football club, but he was concerned about the lack of a salary cap in English football. He's also partly involved in some esports. Blizzard Entertainment announced in 2017

that Kraft bought ownership in the Boston Upshrain, one of the first seven teams of the professional esports Overwatch League. They finished third in the team's inaugural season. Also highly involved in charitable work, paid team just got back from a trip to Israel. He was just overseas, as they do every season. In June 2019, he received Israel's prestigious Genesis Prize, a $1 million award granted to an individual who's committed to Jewish

values and is an inspiration to the next generation of Jewish people. At the event, he pledged $20 million to establish a foundation that will fight anti-Semitism and combat the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel known as BDS. Now, of course, the trip to Israel was not the only thing cropping up in Robert Kraft's life this offseason. There's also the solicitation charge. On February 22, 2019, the police chief of Jupiter, Florida,

announced that Kraft would face two misdemeanor charges for, quote, soliciting another to commit prostitution, close quote, stemming from a human trafficking sweep in Jupiter at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Now, Judge Hansen, Leonard Hanser, ruled

in May that prosecutors could not use the videos in their case against Kraft as detectives, quote, did not do enough to minimize the invasion of privacy of other customers, close quote. Now, that ruling is currently under appeal, but is a member of the Kraft Group and president of the Kraft Group, the whole company of the Kraft family's many business interests. He's also president of the New England Patriots and an investor slash operator of the New England Revolution. And if you've watched a Patriots game, chances are you have seen them exchange some at times awkward high fives. Now, Jonathan also got his undergraduate degree from Williams College, which means that Jonathan and I probably wouldn't get along.

Williams, Wesleyan, and Amherst making up the little three part of the NESCAC. And yes, Williams is one of our bitter rivals at Wesleyan University. Hard to imagine when it gets to be late October, early November, what the conversations between Belichick and Jonathan Kraft are like, given their collegiate backgrounds. But that will do it for today's show.

Tomorrow, we are back. Part 7 of Patriots A-Z. We're going to cover MNN. We're going to have a ton of players to talk about with the letter M. We've got some routes to talk about. We're going to cover M and N. We're going to have a ton of players to talk about with the letter M. We've got some routes to talk about. We've got ninja concept, as well as missile and magic. Also,

we're going to talk about the city of New Orleans. Some Patriots lore there as well. That will do it for today. As I said, I'll be back tomorrow, July 2nd. Go USA! Wish our best to the women in the semifinals against England. Until next time, keep it locked right here. To me, Mark

Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.