December 8, 2025 • 26 mins
This episode of the 1985 - A Super Bowl Sound Odyssey podcast covers Patriots Head Coach Raymond Berry’s first full offseason and his impact on the team and the unique culture he instilled during training camp. Includes preseason highlights and the return of Rod Rust’s 3-4 defense, which helped shape the team’s identity.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Riots.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Forty years later, We're going back to tell the story
of the first Patriots team to make it to a
Super Bowl, a special team that blazed a pathway that
we much traveled over the next four decades. Here from
the players and coaches, as well as the sounds from
television and radio that defined the season, as we uncover
what made this a Patriots team to remember even if
they didn't win a Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Annihilating might be a better word.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Sixty yard, Hey, Greate, playboard, cush out do England defense,
cour burgers back, We're gonna throw fire. This one good fire,
cut down, puts down, pays rarding player running it all away,
(00:50):
poor cutchdown eighty five yards, hurning prior Nathan rolling out
to the right side, avoiding the pressure on the running
broad great run down win.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Bupham in the end hoom six point agrid shut down
a grid toy collin a grid.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I believe I might do so, And this is a
Patriots Super Bowl Sound Odyssey, nineteen eighty five, Episode two.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Training ground pleas changed in.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Nineteen eighty four, Raymond Barry ex Baltimore Colt Great took
over as head coach.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Barry is liked by his.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Players, and he knows how to communicate with him.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
And I can just see the fact that it was
just a matter of time if they kept doing the
things they were doing. Was they were playing great effort football,
and they were just giving everything they had.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And when you do that, you just hang in there.
You're just going to play off and and that's what
I've hold.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Raymond Barry took over the Patriots midway through the nineteen
eighty four season, going four and four and finishing the
year nine and seven, second in the AFC East to
the Dolphins, and once again on the outside looking in
at the playoffs. When the nineteen eighty five offseason arrived,
Barry finally had the chance to mold the team his way.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
From the start, the situation was ripe for a team collapse.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
At the Foxborough Boys rally behind their new coach, the
quiet but forceful Raymond Berry. As a player, Barry had
shown class in becoming one of the NFL's all time
receiving grades. Perhaps these qualities are just what the Patriots
need to move them from the status of NFL curio
to NFL contender.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
A Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Barry played thirteen seasons with the Baltimore Colts, with six
Pro Bowls, three All Pro Nods, and two NFL championships.
In the nineteen fifty eight NFL Championship, often referred to
as the greatest game ever played because of its sudden
death ending, Berry had a career day with twelve catches
for one hundred and seventy eight yards and a touchdown
as the Colts beat the Giants in overtime for the title.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Get out Thanks.
Speaker 8 (02:45):
All right, the.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
End your night, get out of Thanks again to a.
Speaker 9 (02:57):
Football in the world.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
But even then, Barry was unsatisfied with his performance, an
early sign of the accountability that he would require from
his players as a coach.
Speaker 6 (03:06):
Every game that year, I graded myself on one hundred
percent effort.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Did I do it or not?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
If I did it, I'd give himself a plus.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
I didn't do a minus.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
And in this championship game, nineteen fifty eight championship game,
we won the world title, and I probably had the
best game I ever had at a receiver.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
I was fifty six percent on effort. Berry's impact was immediate.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Players noticed the difference in how meetings were run, how
practices were structured, how they were spoken to. Patriots General
manager Patrick Sullivan made a bold move midway through the
nineteen eighty four season, knowing he had a limited window
with a team that had all the right elements.
Speaker 9 (03:37):
We added really the critical element, which was Raymond Barry,
and he pulled everything together, you know. And I can
easily say and honestly say that from nineteen you know,
from really from nineteen seventy three through nineteen eighty four,
(03:59):
we had really good players, you know, but everybody was
going in a different direction. It was honestly a bit,
a bit, a bit concerning and frightening, honestly, because you know,
I had sort of put my neck on the line
by hiring Raymond, you know, who hadn't been in football
for a couple of years. And but I always, I
always felt, you know, that there would be some kind
(04:24):
of moment in time in which everybody would look around
and realize that they had this really unique opportunity because
they had good players.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
They knew they knew they were good players.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
The locker room included a nice mix of older veterans
like Pete Brock, who had tasted success in the seventies.
Speaker 10 (04:43):
He really spent some time put together, you know, a
good bunch of assistant coaches, and in eighty five going
to training camp at Bryant, you know, he stood in
front of us and he said, who wants to go
the Super Bowl? And everybody's hands went up, and he said,
(05:04):
you know, he started telling us then what the cost
would be for us to get there. And it wasn't
like the hands went down, but it was a hard
awakening to you know, if we were going to be successful,
and if we were going to be successful as a team,
then there was some things that we had to do differently,
(05:26):
and he had us concentrating on the little stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Tony Collins had been a pro bowler in nineteen eighty
three and would see his production reach new heights in
nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 11 (05:35):
Now let me tell you what you had Tony twenty
three carries two hundred and ten yards at New England
Patriots single game rushing record tied a record held by
Sam Cunningham. With three touchdowns in a football game. You
had five runs over over ten yards thirty eight, twenty two,
thirty one, twenty one, and twenty three. You couldn't have
expected to have that kind of get day rushing against
(05:57):
the New York.
Speaker 12 (05:58):
Chips, and he was amazing coach. I mean, you know,
of course he was a leagud player, but I think
he was just as good of a coach as he
was a player, because you know, the time that he
was with New England and what he did, not just
the winning part, the way he coached this man. I
(06:18):
always always remember Coach Barry as a father figure and
I looked up to him, and I still look up
to him today because of that.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Irving Friar was nineteen eighty four's first overall pick and
someone whould learned plenty from the Hall of Fame wide
receiver now the Patriots head coach.
Speaker 13 (06:33):
When Raymond came, we knew that he was a Hall
of Famer. We knew that he was a historian in
terms of football. We knew that at least he knew
how to play football. I don't know if he was
kind of coach he's going to be, but we knew
that he knew about the game.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
So we man, we.
Speaker 13 (06:49):
Gravitated to him, particularly the wide receivers. We gravitated to
him as much as possible. He taught me things, just
not necessarily on the field, but just how to rank
in my hands and how to catch the ball better,
what kind of drills to do, because these are things
that he did that ranted him the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
With a string of solid drafts and a corp of
veteran leadership, the eighty five Patriots had all the right ingredients,
very focused on fundamentals and details to bring it all together.
Speaker 10 (07:16):
The one I can remember and as a as an example,
is way to fumble drill we did at the beginning
of practice. We you know, after we warmed up in
and everybody assume everybody got into their groups as as
position groups, right, and we had fumble drill. The ball
hit the ground. You were taught how to recover a fumble,
(07:39):
and offensive lineman had to do it, you know, went
out without jumping on the ball and popping it.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
You know.
Speaker 10 (07:45):
It was there was a method of it, you know.
And some guys then got real creative and said, Okay,
if we're going to recover fumbles, then let's let's practice
scooping the ball right so that they could advance it
not just not just poss.
Speaker 12 (08:00):
That said lineman, kickers, it didn't matter who you were,
you were going to do this. Drill of picking up
fumble and how to recover of fumble. UH, and the defense.
They taught the defense every single day. Man, we went
through this drill how to strip the ball and recovering fumble.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Defenders like Andre Tippett might have wondered why the fumble
drill became a new staple of practice, but it was
something that would pay many dividends in the season.
Speaker 14 (08:25):
We got to block punt, we got to scoop, we
got to do all this stuff part of drill work.
And you know, we're all looking around at what the WTF,
why are we why are we doing this? And like
you know, we're veterans with football. We don't out here
scooping up balls. But you know what, that's what we did.
We we we blocked punts, we blocked field goals. We
(08:49):
were all in lines.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
We did this for a whole period. It was part
of our periods, scooping the ball up.
Speaker 15 (08:56):
UH.
Speaker 14 (08:57):
One man grabbed, next man takes the all out, creating turnover,
creating fumbles. We did those that drill work, and what happened.
I believe we probably got like seven turnovers for touchdowns
during out throughout the season. How many strip sacks, strip
strip strip fumbles, scooping scores. All of that stuff was
(09:18):
done because Raymond Berry had us doing it again in.
Speaker 16 (09:21):
Motion, hand off up the middle, Bell lost the football.
Patriots say they haven't, the officials, the curve, Andre Tippert,
the recovery of the.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Greg Bell fumble.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Barry even broke out a unique training method using a
popular children's favorite. Here's an egg that's final, Billy patty,
Silly patty.
Speaker 14 (09:44):
Almost every one Raymond Barry had silly putty in all
our meeting rooms and he if he came by, stuck
his head in the room, and as we were in
the meeting going through the day's uh setup, and if
he wasn't work the putty, he'll find you. And he
we knew that he was going to be coming, and
(10:04):
we hear him coming, everybody grabbing a putty out.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
And we'd be up there. But you know what it did.
It saves your fingers. It's strengthen them and stop the injuries.
Speaker 14 (10:13):
You know, because he knew as a receiver you get
those lingering injuries.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
From not strengthening your hands. It's different things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
But it was stuff like that.
Speaker 10 (10:21):
The other thing that he taught us too, was the
most important play of the season is the is the
next one because it's the only one that you had
control over. You couldn't do anything about what just happened,
and you couldn't do anything about what was gonna happen,
but only only that very next place. You broke the
(10:42):
huddle thinking and he challenged us to grade ourselves on
on just that. Are you giving one hundred percent on
every play? And taught us that you know, the likelihood
was that you weren't, But the more you strive to,
the better off you're going to be. And have have
that around the other players too.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Berry also made a critical decision on the coaching staff
by bringing back defensive coordinator Rod Rust, who had been
fired by Meyer early in the nineteen eighty four season,
only to return once Berry was hired. Russ three four
scheme empowered the playmaking linebackers, and his return was a
welcome one for players like Andre Tippett.
Speaker 14 (11:18):
Right was our guy, man, I was like, you can't
fire right. He's a heart of our freaking defense.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I said.
Speaker 14 (11:24):
We knew our defense, we knew what Rod was setting
us up for, and we were kind of pissed.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
But when he got fired, and then the owners.
Speaker 14 (11:34):
Were out of town in the league meeting, and then
they returned.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
The next day. They ended up firing Myers and then
Bringian rodd.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
That russ defense was a veteran group with one critical
rookie edition. First round pick Garon Varus would make the
biggest impact of any Patriots rookie in nineteen eighty five
with ten sacks, maximizing his increased opportunities when injuries struck.
Speaker 17 (11:53):
We When I got drafted, to be honest, I really
knew very very little about the New England Patriots, and
I knew that the Patriots were one of the teams
that was potentially looking at me to draft with their
needs a defensive line. But I mean I still had
no idea where or when and who get drafted by.
(12:14):
But you know, when I got back there, I had
a great defensive line.
Speaker 18 (12:19):
Julius Adams was my mentor, and I could remember the
first week of practice. I think I sprained my ankle
and I'm sitting in the training room and Julius walks
in and said, get your butt up off their rook
and rub a potato in it. Get back out there
on the field, you know, And I said, this is
pro football.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
This is the way it's got to be. You've got
to fight through the injuries.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
The three four defense gave the Patriots flexibility and will
be the same scheme that Bill Belichick employed as his
base defense when he took over the Patriots in two thousand.
Tippett recalled seeing Belichick's defense and getting a feeling of
familiarity that connected to an earlier visit by Belichick with
Rust in the eighties.
Speaker 14 (12:56):
I smiled because I could talk to the young guys
and share, you know, things that I did and what
I looked for, and you know, little tips here and
there and things to look out for. And I think
Bill knew the success that hey, he had it when
he was in New York with LT and Carl Banks
and Harry Carson and Gary Reason and and and those
(13:19):
guys that played.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
So you know, it's like, you know, I think Bill.
Speaker 14 (13:24):
Bill spent some time talking with Rod Russ a few
off seasons that you know you heard about. I remember
during the off season, I see this guy walking around
in the old old Sullivan Stadium and I see Rod.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
I happened to be over there finishing working out, and.
Speaker 14 (13:38):
I was going up to see Rod for something, and
I'm like, hey, who's that guy right there, you know,
walking around the bill.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
He didn't know who he was, and Rod's like, Oh, that's.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Belichecks, that quarterback.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Nineteen eighty three, fifteenth overall pick Tony Easton was entering
his third season after taking over for the final four
games of his rookie season. Easton went seven and six
in nineteen eighty four, throwing twenty three touchdowns to just
eight interceptions, but also while taking a league high fifty
nine sacks.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Easton stepped into.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
An ideal situation Steve Grogan, the incumbent.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Quarterbacks years were numbered.
Speaker 14 (14:08):
He knew he would get his chance to play soon enough,
while having the luxury of time to sit behind Grogan.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Backing up Easton was thirty two year old Steve Grogan,
who had played a career low three games in nineteen
eighty four. As Easton ascended to the forefront, still, Grogan
was an important part of the team and one of
the key remaining core pieces from the seventies.
Speaker 19 (14:25):
If you took notice when Steve Grogan joined the New
England Patriots in nineteen seventy five, but by the end
of the seventy six season, the unheralded fifth round pick
had become the talk of the league.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Both quarterbacks would be instrumental in the overall team success
of nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Five total the media before the season ever started.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
In my opinion, we had one of the best situations
of any team in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
We had two.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
Quarterbacks that could take us all the way, and that's
the way I believe. I had no idea when I
said that that it was going to end up being
the case, because they both had.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But the engine of the offense remained the same as
it was in the late seventies, a fearsome group of
running backs behind a Ferocia offensive line, a four headed
monster that would help both quarterbacks navigate the season, starting
with Tony Collins and Craig James.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
He was a handoff to James again the movement of
smart running. As far as James was concerned and got
up into the line of scrimmage, he stopped, let people
run around him and pick up an.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Extra couple of yards.
Speaker 20 (15:15):
Not only smart running, but I have to question in
the Packer defense, I was a player that could have
been stopped in the line of scrimmager even for yard.
Speaker 8 (15:21):
Loss, yet the man picked up a few yards. There's
a handoff to Tony Collins. Colin's is doing some smart running.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
I think got bick.
Speaker 8 (15:28):
He's getting up behind the line of scrimmage and actually
picking his own holes. I think offense assistant is just
let him run wherever he wants. Of course, Collins was
a top draft choice in in eighty one. He's just
number two. He's Pro Bowl in eighty.
Speaker 12 (15:39):
Four because see, I was a halfback and Craig was
a halfback too, but they actually put Craig at fullback.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
So fullbacks what they usually do is block.
Speaker 12 (15:50):
But I was a better blogger than Craig was, and so.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
My role reduced. He was a fullback.
Speaker 12 (15:57):
I was a halfback, but I was the blocking back.
But I caught a bunch of passes out of the
backfield that year.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The second man is Tony Collins.
Speaker 16 (16:07):
Has some room across the twenties slide.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Let's to the twenty five.
Speaker 16 (16:10):
A thirteen yard pickup for Collins and that's a quarter
of the Patriots total offense.
Speaker 12 (16:16):
Robert Weathers and most of the two pool they would
come in a short yardage and man, they did a
hell of a job. I thought we had as far
as the combination of good runners and blockers. I thought
that year our backfield was the best backfield as far
as combination wise, as a team in the league.
Speaker 15 (16:38):
I think it was really in the coaches hands to
figure out exactly what are we going to be. They
had seen that we were a powerful team that we
believe we could run the ball and if it was
third and one, we were going to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
We didn't need the toush push.
Speaker 15 (16:50):
We ran the football and when we decided we were
going to be a physical running football team, that's when
we took over and we made our way to the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
At center, Pete Brockett blocked for a record setting ground
game in nineteen seventy eight, and while nineteen eighty five's
attack was different, there are plenty of similarities.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Once they got rolling, we still pulled and.
Speaker 10 (17:06):
Trapped and did some of the things that gave us
success in seventy eight. But it was you know, there
were zone blocking and reached blocking, and things had evolved
offensively a little bit. But we knew that we could
we could be effective and run the football because a
lot of those guys you know now we have had
you know, the younger versions of what we had in
(17:27):
seventy eight. You know it with Brian Holloway at one tackles,
Steve Moore, uh Ron Wooton at guard. You know, John
Hannah is still there, you know at left guard, was
really kind of the leader of that whole offensive line
to begin with. So it was a it was a
(17:48):
different game, but it was you know, we could make
it happen. So fay mentality.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Receiver Stanley Morgan enter his ninth season at thirty years old,
joined by nineteen eighty four's first overall select, Irving Friar.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Fryar touch down.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Friar had just eleven catches in one touchdown as a rookie,
but possessed game changing speed and electric returnability.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Stanley could play.
Speaker 13 (18:13):
And Stanley wasn't a big guy, you know he was
he was a burner, uh and but he was a
tough guy. He was smart, he was very elusive, uh
and he could catch the boy really good hands.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
So yes, if.
Speaker 13 (18:24):
Anybody deserves to be in the h o f the
Hall of Fame, Stanley does. And there are guys in
that position, the wide receiver wide receiver position that are.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
In the Hall of Fame whose numbers don't match.
Speaker 13 (18:37):
Stanley fires down the Bikey.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Get down the.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Crick.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Jones and Stephan Starring rounded out the receiving group, while
Derek Ramsey and Lynn Dawson were tight ends vital to
the potent running attack.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He's bumman shot gun formations.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
As into the Gadson touch down, we mentioned that Tony
some likes to look for them tight end Derek Ramsey
down by the goal line.
Speaker 20 (19:03):
War is and what a movie put on number twenty
six Brizel.
Speaker 14 (19:06):
He faked outside, went inside, see.
Speaker 20 (19:07):
Brizell, He's about three yards behind. That's because Ramsey put
a quick move fake to the outside and then went in.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Despite their dominance on the ground, in the presence of
two game changing wide receivers, the eighty five Patriots offense
would get key contributions from everyone, including Cedric Jones.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Well, it was a lot different.
Speaker 21 (19:24):
The philosophy was a lot different in offensive philosophy than
it is today. You know, guys throw it all the time,
and back then, you know, three things happened when you
threw the ball, was the philosophy, and two of them
were bad, you know, incompletion that interception. So we had
a big offensive line We had the second largest offensive
line in the league average six to five and a
half eight to eighty seven weight wise. So Raymond loved
to bound the ball and he knew he had, you know,
(19:45):
playmakers on the outside when we need to throw it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
On the other side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
The eighty five Patriots defense had everything they'd need to
stake their claim as one of the greatest Patriots defenses
of all time, led by future Hall of Famer Andre Tippet.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I don't believe what I just saw.
Speaker 20 (19:58):
Andre Tippitt just took the whole coffin thembadies too, and
flung him aside like he wasn't even standing there. If
you take a look at this tim this is incredible.
What's chipping number fifty six? Watch how strong he is.
He just grabs him and throws him aside.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
To the ground.
Speaker 14 (20:11):
Again, we were young, we were hungry, and we took
pride and knowing that every game we went into Rod
Russ and Steve we had Steve Nelson and Fred marian
out there, two of the smartest guys I've ever been
associated with. And so with Rod Russ calling the defense,
(20:32):
Steve Nelson making the checks, and Fred Marrion co signing
on him.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Nobody could beat us, Nobody could sneak anything in on.
Speaker 14 (20:42):
Us with any of the stuff, because these guys were
on the checks and then we were just out there
to just wear you out.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
One of the most impressive things about the patient secondary
and the whole defensive unit. John I think your brief
is their lineback and called a big, strong fashion one
of the league. And besides that, Jim definitely they've been
playing together for about four years now. And Steve Nelson
in his twelfth year is a man who is like
a coach on the field and settles down the young
talent like the Tippets and the Blackman's and they are
(21:13):
the best part of the defense of the New England Patriots.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Special teams would also play a key role during the
nineteen eighty five season. Led by Dante Scarnecia. They would
make game changing plays all season long, whether it was kicks, punts,
or returns.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Fire at the fifteen.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Gets away out Rose Kid he could go a touchdown,
burbing Friar an eighty five yard touchdown return.
Speaker 14 (21:43):
We had special teams that Dante Scott Nekia was the
maand Dante nobody as great as he's gotten accoaloids for
being an offensive lineman. He was as great as a
special teams coach, and everybody wanted to play great for
him more special teams, and as it was, between the
turnovers that year and the things that got created through
(22:06):
special teams is a declaration to how great of a
special teams coach, Dante Scarneck you went.
Speaker 22 (22:13):
We had a real knack for knocking the ball out
of returners and getting fumbos, and then I think I
don't even remember as like four or five occasions were
able to return them for touchdowns, so you know they
were they were just really you know, it was a special.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Group of guys.
Speaker 22 (22:31):
But you know that's and you need when if you
have a good football team, you need to be a
good offense, defense, and special teams, and we were certainly
good in all three of those areas.
Speaker 11 (22:42):
Ron Styck kicking Torvy fire fires at twenty three.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah, Irving Fryar would earn a Pro Bowl knot in
nineteen eighty five as a punt returner.
Speaker 13 (22:58):
Way Dante set it up, there was only one guy
I had to make miss, and that was the center.
So if the center got down the field in time
for me to pick him up and see him. He
was the only one I had to miss. Everybody else
was taken care of. And we do right or left returns.
We never did anything up the middle. And he just
understood my weaknesses or my strengths, whatever they were, and
(23:22):
allowed me to do what I did the best, which
was turned the corner and get up the field.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And man, we had a great time, had a great time.
Speaker 13 (23:30):
He was very, very intricate in how he put things together,
special teams wise, and I had a lot of confidence
back there because I knew he knew what he was doing,
and we were effective on special teams.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Berries calm leadership, Russ's aggressive scheme, Scarneckie's attention to detail,
and a roster with a perfect blend of young talent
and veteran leadership.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Patriots were ready.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
After a one and three preseason that included two one
point losses, eighty five, Patriots broke training camp at Bryant College,
Rhode Island, ready to finally put it all together.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
The other thing that he said in that training camp
is you have to learn to love one another. I'll
say that in front of a bunch of NFL players
and and and get away with it right, and he did.
What he meant was you have to care. You have
to care for your teammate, you know, so you have
to do your job and trust that he's going to
(24:25):
do his and and you know, it was it was
that kind of formulation of how we started to believe
that we could make this happen. So we we left
training camp, you know, with a plan, and it was
a Raymond Berry plan, Raymond Perry, you know, Hall of Fame,
(24:46):
Raymond Berry. I mean, you know, one of the greatest
games in NFL history.
Speaker 14 (24:51):
Raymond Berry, Raymond Barry, former former player, former coach. Uh
knew both sides of the equation, the player's side, the
coaching side, and he knew that he was walking into
something that was really, really, really starting to mesh. You
(25:13):
had veteran young guys who have pushed themselves and developed
to be a great team, great players, and he took
it and he put his little twist in it. He
pushed us hard, but he knew enough to kind of
let us relax on certain things. He didn't demand that.
But we always knew how to work hard. All of
us knew how to work. Nobody ever loafed in practice,
(25:36):
Nobody worked harder than what we.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Do next time.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
On a Patriots Super Bowl sound out a scene. The
season begins with an up and down start that will
leave the Patriots at an early crossroads.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
Her James again, Frank Bond, he had the money room.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
You want to look out.
Speaker 8 (25:51):
They look forward and fifty five yard touchdown run by
Frank Bains, with Danley Morgan out and now Irvin Finally they.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Po certainly put the crimp in.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
The Patriot offers cut down seas a dome and the
Packers are just standing in awe
Riots.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Forty years later, We're going back to tell the story
of the first Patriots team to make it to a
Super Bowl, a special team that blazed a pathway that
we much traveled over the next four decades. Here from
the players and coaches, as well as the sounds from
television and radio that defined the season, as we uncover
what made this a Patriots team to remember even if
they didn't win a Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Annihilating might be a better word.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Sixty yard, Hey, Greate, playboard, cush out do England defense,
cour burgers back, We're gonna throw fire. This one good fire,
cut down, puts down, pays rarding player running it all away,
(00:50):
poor cutchdown eighty five yards, hurning prior Nathan rolling out
to the right side, avoiding the pressure on the running
broad great run down win.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Bupham in the end hoom six point agrid shut down
a grid toy collin a grid.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I believe I might do so, And this is a
Patriots Super Bowl Sound Odyssey, nineteen eighty five, Episode two.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Training ground pleas changed in.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Nineteen eighty four, Raymond Barry ex Baltimore Colt Great took
over as head coach.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Barry is liked by his.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Players, and he knows how to communicate with him.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
And I can just see the fact that it was
just a matter of time if they kept doing the
things they were doing. Was they were playing great effort football,
and they were just giving everything they had.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And when you do that, you just hang in there.
You're just going to play off and and that's what
I've hold.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Raymond Barry took over the Patriots midway through the nineteen
eighty four season, going four and four and finishing the
year nine and seven, second in the AFC East to
the Dolphins, and once again on the outside looking in
at the playoffs. When the nineteen eighty five offseason arrived,
Barry finally had the chance to mold the team his way.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
From the start, the situation was ripe for a team collapse.
Speaker 7 (02:00):
At the Foxborough Boys rally behind their new coach, the
quiet but forceful Raymond Berry. As a player, Barry had
shown class in becoming one of the NFL's all time
receiving grades. Perhaps these qualities are just what the Patriots
need to move them from the status of NFL curio
to NFL contender.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
A Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Barry played thirteen seasons with the Baltimore Colts, with six
Pro Bowls, three All Pro Nods, and two NFL championships.
In the nineteen fifty eight NFL Championship, often referred to
as the greatest game ever played because of its sudden
death ending, Berry had a career day with twelve catches
for one hundred and seventy eight yards and a touchdown
as the Colts beat the Giants in overtime for the title.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Get out Thanks.
Speaker 8 (02:45):
All right, the.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
End your night, get out of Thanks again to a.
Speaker 9 (02:57):
Football in the world.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
But even then, Barry was unsatisfied with his performance, an
early sign of the accountability that he would require from
his players as a coach.
Speaker 6 (03:06):
Every game that year, I graded myself on one hundred
percent effort.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Did I do it or not?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
If I did it, I'd give himself a plus.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
I didn't do a minus.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
And in this championship game, nineteen fifty eight championship game,
we won the world title, and I probably had the
best game I ever had at a receiver.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
I was fifty six percent on effort. Berry's impact was immediate.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Players noticed the difference in how meetings were run, how
practices were structured, how they were spoken to. Patriots General
manager Patrick Sullivan made a bold move midway through the
nineteen eighty four season, knowing he had a limited window
with a team that had all the right elements.
Speaker 9 (03:37):
We added really the critical element, which was Raymond Barry,
and he pulled everything together, you know. And I can
easily say and honestly say that from nineteen you know,
from really from nineteen seventy three through nineteen eighty four,
(03:59):
we had really good players, you know, but everybody was
going in a different direction. It was honestly a bit,
a bit, a bit concerning and frightening, honestly, because you know,
I had sort of put my neck on the line
by hiring Raymond, you know, who hadn't been in football
for a couple of years. And but I always, I
always felt, you know, that there would be some kind
(04:24):
of moment in time in which everybody would look around
and realize that they had this really unique opportunity because
they had good players.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
They knew they knew they were good players.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
The locker room included a nice mix of older veterans
like Pete Brock, who had tasted success in the seventies.
Speaker 10 (04:43):
He really spent some time put together, you know, a
good bunch of assistant coaches, and in eighty five going
to training camp at Bryant, you know, he stood in
front of us and he said, who wants to go
the Super Bowl? And everybody's hands went up, and he said,
(05:04):
you know, he started telling us then what the cost
would be for us to get there. And it wasn't
like the hands went down, but it was a hard
awakening to you know, if we were going to be successful,
and if we were going to be successful as a team,
then there was some things that we had to do differently,
(05:26):
and he had us concentrating on the little stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Tony Collins had been a pro bowler in nineteen eighty
three and would see his production reach new heights in
nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 11 (05:35):
Now let me tell you what you had Tony twenty
three carries two hundred and ten yards at New England
Patriots single game rushing record tied a record held by
Sam Cunningham. With three touchdowns in a football game. You
had five runs over over ten yards thirty eight, twenty two,
thirty one, twenty one, and twenty three. You couldn't have
expected to have that kind of get day rushing against
(05:57):
the New York.
Speaker 12 (05:58):
Chips, and he was amazing coach. I mean, you know,
of course he was a leagud player, but I think
he was just as good of a coach as he
was a player, because you know, the time that he
was with New England and what he did, not just
the winning part, the way he coached this man. I
(06:18):
always always remember Coach Barry as a father figure and
I looked up to him, and I still look up
to him today because of that.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Irving Friar was nineteen eighty four's first overall pick and
someone whould learned plenty from the Hall of Fame wide
receiver now the Patriots head coach.
Speaker 13 (06:33):
When Raymond came, we knew that he was a Hall
of Famer. We knew that he was a historian in
terms of football. We knew that at least he knew
how to play football. I don't know if he was
kind of coach he's going to be, but we knew
that he knew about the game.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
So we man, we.
Speaker 13 (06:49):
Gravitated to him, particularly the wide receivers. We gravitated to
him as much as possible. He taught me things, just
not necessarily on the field, but just how to rank
in my hands and how to catch the ball better,
what kind of drills to do, because these are things
that he did that ranted him the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
With a string of solid drafts and a corp of
veteran leadership, the eighty five Patriots had all the right ingredients,
very focused on fundamentals and details to bring it all together.
Speaker 10 (07:16):
The one I can remember and as a as an example,
is way to fumble drill we did at the beginning
of practice. We you know, after we warmed up in
and everybody assume everybody got into their groups as as
position groups, right, and we had fumble drill. The ball
hit the ground. You were taught how to recover a fumble,
(07:39):
and offensive lineman had to do it, you know, went
out without jumping on the ball and popping it.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
You know.
Speaker 10 (07:45):
It was there was a method of it, you know.
And some guys then got real creative and said, Okay,
if we're going to recover fumbles, then let's let's practice
scooping the ball right so that they could advance it
not just not just poss.
Speaker 12 (08:00):
That said lineman, kickers, it didn't matter who you were,
you were going to do this. Drill of picking up
fumble and how to recover of fumble. UH, and the defense.
They taught the defense every single day. Man, we went
through this drill how to strip the ball and recovering fumble.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Defenders like Andre Tippett might have wondered why the fumble
drill became a new staple of practice, but it was
something that would pay many dividends in the season.
Speaker 14 (08:25):
We got to block punt, we got to scoop, we
got to do all this stuff part of drill work.
And you know, we're all looking around at what the WTF,
why are we why are we doing this? And like
you know, we're veterans with football. We don't out here
scooping up balls. But you know what, that's what we did.
We we we blocked punts, we blocked field goals. We
(08:49):
were all in lines.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
We did this for a whole period. It was part
of our periods, scooping the ball up.
Speaker 15 (08:56):
UH.
Speaker 14 (08:57):
One man grabbed, next man takes the all out, creating turnover,
creating fumbles. We did those that drill work, and what happened.
I believe we probably got like seven turnovers for touchdowns
during out throughout the season. How many strip sacks, strip
strip strip fumbles, scooping scores. All of that stuff was
(09:18):
done because Raymond Berry had us doing it again in.
Speaker 16 (09:21):
Motion, hand off up the middle, Bell lost the football.
Patriots say they haven't, the officials, the curve, Andre Tippert,
the recovery of the.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Greg Bell fumble.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Barry even broke out a unique training method using a
popular children's favorite. Here's an egg that's final, Billy patty,
Silly patty.
Speaker 14 (09:44):
Almost every one Raymond Barry had silly putty in all
our meeting rooms and he if he came by, stuck
his head in the room, and as we were in
the meeting going through the day's uh setup, and if
he wasn't work the putty, he'll find you. And he
we knew that he was going to be coming, and
(10:04):
we hear him coming, everybody grabbing a putty out.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
And we'd be up there. But you know what it did.
It saves your fingers. It's strengthen them and stop the injuries.
Speaker 14 (10:13):
You know, because he knew as a receiver you get
those lingering injuries.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
From not strengthening your hands. It's different things like that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
But it was stuff like that.
Speaker 10 (10:21):
The other thing that he taught us too, was the
most important play of the season is the is the
next one because it's the only one that you had
control over. You couldn't do anything about what just happened,
and you couldn't do anything about what was gonna happen,
but only only that very next place. You broke the
(10:42):
huddle thinking and he challenged us to grade ourselves on
on just that. Are you giving one hundred percent on
every play? And taught us that you know, the likelihood
was that you weren't, But the more you strive to,
the better off you're going to be. And have have
that around the other players too.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Berry also made a critical decision on the coaching staff
by bringing back defensive coordinator Rod Rust, who had been
fired by Meyer early in the nineteen eighty four season,
only to return once Berry was hired. Russ three four
scheme empowered the playmaking linebackers, and his return was a
welcome one for players like Andre Tippett.
Speaker 14 (11:18):
Right was our guy, man, I was like, you can't
fire right. He's a heart of our freaking defense.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I said.
Speaker 14 (11:24):
We knew our defense, we knew what Rod was setting
us up for, and we were kind of pissed.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
But when he got fired, and then the owners.
Speaker 14 (11:34):
Were out of town in the league meeting, and then
they returned.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
The next day. They ended up firing Myers and then
Bringian rodd.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
That russ defense was a veteran group with one critical
rookie edition. First round pick Garon Varus would make the
biggest impact of any Patriots rookie in nineteen eighty five
with ten sacks, maximizing his increased opportunities when injuries struck.
Speaker 17 (11:53):
We When I got drafted, to be honest, I really
knew very very little about the New England Patriots, and
I knew that the Patriots were one of the teams
that was potentially looking at me to draft with their
needs a defensive line. But I mean I still had
no idea where or when and who get drafted by.
(12:14):
But you know, when I got back there, I had
a great defensive line.
Speaker 18 (12:19):
Julius Adams was my mentor, and I could remember the
first week of practice. I think I sprained my ankle
and I'm sitting in the training room and Julius walks
in and said, get your butt up off their rook
and rub a potato in it. Get back out there
on the field, you know, And I said, this is
pro football.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
This is the way it's got to be. You've got
to fight through the injuries.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
The three four defense gave the Patriots flexibility and will
be the same scheme that Bill Belichick employed as his
base defense when he took over the Patriots in two thousand.
Tippett recalled seeing Belichick's defense and getting a feeling of
familiarity that connected to an earlier visit by Belichick with
Rust in the eighties.
Speaker 14 (12:56):
I smiled because I could talk to the young guys
and share, you know, things that I did and what
I looked for, and you know, little tips here and
there and things to look out for. And I think
Bill knew the success that hey, he had it when
he was in New York with LT and Carl Banks
and Harry Carson and Gary Reason and and and those
(13:19):
guys that played.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
So you know, it's like, you know, I think Bill.
Speaker 14 (13:24):
Bill spent some time talking with Rod Russ a few
off seasons that you know you heard about. I remember
during the off season, I see this guy walking around
in the old old Sullivan Stadium and I see Rod.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
I happened to be over there finishing working out, and.
Speaker 14 (13:38):
I was going up to see Rod for something, and
I'm like, hey, who's that guy right there, you know,
walking around the bill.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
He didn't know who he was, and Rod's like, Oh, that's.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Belichecks, that quarterback.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Nineteen eighty three, fifteenth overall pick Tony Easton was entering
his third season after taking over for the final four
games of his rookie season. Easton went seven and six
in nineteen eighty four, throwing twenty three touchdowns to just
eight interceptions, but also while taking a league high fifty
nine sacks.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Easton stepped into.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
An ideal situation Steve Grogan, the incumbent.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Quarterbacks years were numbered.
Speaker 14 (14:08):
He knew he would get his chance to play soon enough,
while having the luxury of time to sit behind Grogan.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Backing up Easton was thirty two year old Steve Grogan,
who had played a career low three games in nineteen
eighty four. As Easton ascended to the forefront, still, Grogan
was an important part of the team and one of
the key remaining core pieces from the seventies.
Speaker 19 (14:25):
If you took notice when Steve Grogan joined the New
England Patriots in nineteen seventy five, but by the end
of the seventy six season, the unheralded fifth round pick
had become the talk of the league.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Both quarterbacks would be instrumental in the overall team success
of nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Five total the media before the season ever started.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
In my opinion, we had one of the best situations
of any team in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
We had two.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
Quarterbacks that could take us all the way, and that's
the way I believe. I had no idea when I
said that that it was going to end up being
the case, because they both had.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But the engine of the offense remained the same as
it was in the late seventies, a fearsome group of
running backs behind a Ferocia offensive line, a four headed
monster that would help both quarterbacks navigate the season, starting
with Tony Collins and Craig James.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
He was a handoff to James again the movement of
smart running. As far as James was concerned and got
up into the line of scrimmage, he stopped, let people
run around him and pick up an.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Extra couple of yards.
Speaker 20 (15:15):
Not only smart running, but I have to question in
the Packer defense, I was a player that could have
been stopped in the line of scrimmager even for yard.
Speaker 8 (15:21):
Loss, yet the man picked up a few yards. There's
a handoff to Tony Collins. Colin's is doing some smart running.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
I think got bick.
Speaker 8 (15:28):
He's getting up behind the line of scrimmage and actually
picking his own holes. I think offense assistant is just
let him run wherever he wants. Of course, Collins was
a top draft choice in in eighty one. He's just
number two. He's Pro Bowl in eighty.
Speaker 12 (15:39):
Four because see, I was a halfback and Craig was
a halfback too, but they actually put Craig at fullback.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
So fullbacks what they usually do is block.
Speaker 12 (15:50):
But I was a better blogger than Craig was, and so.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
My role reduced. He was a fullback.
Speaker 12 (15:57):
I was a halfback, but I was the blocking back.
But I caught a bunch of passes out of the
backfield that year.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The second man is Tony Collins.
Speaker 16 (16:07):
Has some room across the twenties slide.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Let's to the twenty five.
Speaker 16 (16:10):
A thirteen yard pickup for Collins and that's a quarter
of the Patriots total offense.
Speaker 12 (16:16):
Robert Weathers and most of the two pool they would
come in a short yardage and man, they did a
hell of a job. I thought we had as far
as the combination of good runners and blockers. I thought
that year our backfield was the best backfield as far
as combination wise, as a team in the league.
Speaker 15 (16:38):
I think it was really in the coaches hands to
figure out exactly what are we going to be. They
had seen that we were a powerful team that we
believe we could run the ball and if it was
third and one, we were going to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
We didn't need the toush push.
Speaker 15 (16:50):
We ran the football and when we decided we were
going to be a physical running football team, that's when
we took over and we made our way to the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
At center, Pete Brockett blocked for a record setting ground
game in nineteen seventy eight, and while nineteen eighty five's
attack was different, there are plenty of similarities.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Once they got rolling, we still pulled and.
Speaker 10 (17:06):
Trapped and did some of the things that gave us
success in seventy eight. But it was you know, there
were zone blocking and reached blocking, and things had evolved
offensively a little bit. But we knew that we could
we could be effective and run the football because a
lot of those guys you know now we have had
you know, the younger versions of what we had in
(17:27):
seventy eight. You know it with Brian Holloway at one tackles,
Steve Moore, uh Ron Wooton at guard. You know, John
Hannah is still there, you know at left guard, was
really kind of the leader of that whole offensive line
to begin with. So it was a it was a
(17:48):
different game, but it was you know, we could make
it happen. So fay mentality.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Receiver Stanley Morgan enter his ninth season at thirty years old,
joined by nineteen eighty four's first overall select, Irving Friar.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Fryar touch down.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Friar had just eleven catches in one touchdown as a rookie,
but possessed game changing speed and electric returnability.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
Stanley could play.
Speaker 13 (18:13):
And Stanley wasn't a big guy, you know he was
he was a burner, uh and but he was a
tough guy. He was smart, he was very elusive, uh
and he could catch the boy really good hands.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
So yes, if.
Speaker 13 (18:24):
Anybody deserves to be in the h o f the
Hall of Fame, Stanley does. And there are guys in
that position, the wide receiver wide receiver position that are.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
In the Hall of Fame whose numbers don't match.
Speaker 13 (18:37):
Stanley fires down the Bikey.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Get down the.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Crick.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Jones and Stephan Starring rounded out the receiving group, while
Derek Ramsey and Lynn Dawson were tight ends vital to
the potent running attack.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He's bumman shot gun formations.
Speaker 8 (18:55):
As into the Gadson touch down, we mentioned that Tony
some likes to look for them tight end Derek Ramsey
down by the goal line.
Speaker 20 (19:03):
War is and what a movie put on number twenty
six Brizel.
Speaker 14 (19:06):
He faked outside, went inside, see.
Speaker 20 (19:07):
Brizell, He's about three yards behind. That's because Ramsey put
a quick move fake to the outside and then went in.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Despite their dominance on the ground, in the presence of
two game changing wide receivers, the eighty five Patriots offense
would get key contributions from everyone, including Cedric Jones.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Well, it was a lot different.
Speaker 21 (19:24):
The philosophy was a lot different in offensive philosophy than
it is today. You know, guys throw it all the time,
and back then, you know, three things happened when you
threw the ball, was the philosophy, and two of them
were bad, you know, incompletion that interception. So we had
a big offensive line We had the second largest offensive
line in the league average six to five and a
half eight to eighty seven weight wise. So Raymond loved
to bound the ball and he knew he had, you know,
(19:45):
playmakers on the outside when we need to throw it.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
On the other side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
The eighty five Patriots defense had everything they'd need to
stake their claim as one of the greatest Patriots defenses
of all time, led by future Hall of Famer Andre Tippet.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I don't believe what I just saw.
Speaker 20 (19:58):
Andre Tippitt just took the whole coffin thembadies too, and
flung him aside like he wasn't even standing there. If
you take a look at this tim this is incredible.
What's chipping number fifty six? Watch how strong he is.
He just grabs him and throws him aside.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
To the ground.
Speaker 14 (20:11):
Again, we were young, we were hungry, and we took
pride and knowing that every game we went into Rod
Russ and Steve we had Steve Nelson and Fred marian
out there, two of the smartest guys I've ever been
associated with. And so with Rod Russ calling the defense,
(20:32):
Steve Nelson making the checks, and Fred Marrion co signing
on him.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Nobody could beat us, Nobody could sneak anything in on.
Speaker 14 (20:42):
Us with any of the stuff, because these guys were
on the checks and then we were just out there
to just wear you out.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
One of the most impressive things about the patient secondary
and the whole defensive unit. John I think your brief
is their lineback and called a big, strong fashion one
of the league. And besides that, Jim definitely they've been
playing together for about four years now. And Steve Nelson
in his twelfth year is a man who is like
a coach on the field and settles down the young
talent like the Tippets and the Blackman's and they are
(21:13):
the best part of the defense of the New England Patriots.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Special teams would also play a key role during the
nineteen eighty five season. Led by Dante Scarnecia. They would
make game changing plays all season long, whether it was kicks, punts,
or returns.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Fire at the fifteen.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Gets away out Rose Kid he could go a touchdown,
burbing Friar an eighty five yard touchdown return.
Speaker 14 (21:43):
We had special teams that Dante Scott Nekia was the
maand Dante nobody as great as he's gotten accoaloids for
being an offensive lineman. He was as great as a
special teams coach, and everybody wanted to play great for
him more special teams, and as it was, between the
turnovers that year and the things that got created through
(22:06):
special teams is a declaration to how great of a
special teams coach, Dante Scarneck you went.
Speaker 22 (22:13):
We had a real knack for knocking the ball out
of returners and getting fumbos, and then I think I
don't even remember as like four or five occasions were
able to return them for touchdowns, so you know they
were they were just really you know, it was a special.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Group of guys.
Speaker 22 (22:31):
But you know that's and you need when if you
have a good football team, you need to be a
good offense, defense, and special teams, and we were certainly
good in all three of those areas.
Speaker 11 (22:42):
Ron Styck kicking Torvy fire fires at twenty three.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah, Irving Fryar would earn a Pro Bowl knot in
nineteen eighty five as a punt returner.
Speaker 13 (22:58):
Way Dante set it up, there was only one guy
I had to make miss, and that was the center.
So if the center got down the field in time
for me to pick him up and see him. He
was the only one I had to miss. Everybody else
was taken care of. And we do right or left returns.
We never did anything up the middle. And he just
understood my weaknesses or my strengths, whatever they were, and
(23:22):
allowed me to do what I did the best, which
was turned the corner and get up the field.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And man, we had a great time, had a great time.
Speaker 13 (23:30):
He was very, very intricate in how he put things together,
special teams wise, and I had a lot of confidence
back there because I knew he knew what he was doing,
and we were effective on special teams.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Berries calm leadership, Russ's aggressive scheme, Scarneckie's attention to detail,
and a roster with a perfect blend of young talent
and veteran leadership.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Patriots were ready.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
After a one and three preseason that included two one
point losses, eighty five, Patriots broke training camp at Bryant College,
Rhode Island, ready to finally put it all together.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
The other thing that he said in that training camp
is you have to learn to love one another. I'll
say that in front of a bunch of NFL players
and and and get away with it right, and he did.
What he meant was you have to care. You have
to care for your teammate, you know, so you have
to do your job and trust that he's going to
(24:25):
do his and and you know, it was it was
that kind of formulation of how we started to believe
that we could make this happen. So we we left
training camp, you know, with a plan, and it was
a Raymond Berry plan, Raymond Perry, you know, Hall of Fame,
(24:46):
Raymond Berry. I mean, you know, one of the greatest
games in NFL history.
Speaker 14 (24:51):
Raymond Berry, Raymond Barry, former former player, former coach. Uh
knew both sides of the equation, the player's side, the
coaching side, and he knew that he was walking into
something that was really, really, really starting to mesh. You
(25:13):
had veteran young guys who have pushed themselves and developed
to be a great team, great players, and he took
it and he put his little twist in it. He
pushed us hard, but he knew enough to kind of
let us relax on certain things. He didn't demand that.
But we always knew how to work hard. All of
us knew how to work. Nobody ever loafed in practice,
(25:36):
Nobody worked harder than what we.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Do next time.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
On a Patriots Super Bowl sound out a scene. The
season begins with an up and down start that will
leave the Patriots at an early crossroads.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
Her James again, Frank Bond, he had the money room.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
You want to look out.
Speaker 8 (25:51):
They look forward and fifty five yard touchdown run by
Frank Bains, with Danley Morgan out and now Irvin Finally they.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Po certainly put the crimp in.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
The Patriot offers cut down seas a dome and the
Packers are just standing in awe
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