March 13, 2008
According to an article in today's Boston Globe, the Patriots have informed beloved receiver Troy Brown that they will not be offering him a contract for the 2008 season.
Brown played just one game last season, returning punts in the regular-season home finale against Miami. At that time, it was suspected that the game might be Brown's swan song and a chance for the fans to thank the franchise's all-time leader in receptions for all that he had done in his Patriots career.
The former eighth-round draft pick underwent knee surgery after the 2006 AFC title game, and began the season on the physically unable to perform list. He was activated to the 53-man roster on Nov. 27, and was on the 45-man game day for just two games: the Dec. 23 Miami contest and the AFC Divisional round game with Jacksonville. Ellis Hobbs, injured at the time, let it slip that Brown was activated in case he was needed as a nickelback.
Brown, who was recently roasted in his adopted hometown of Huntington, W.V., was not activated for Super Bowl XLII. He apparently has not decided yet whether he wants to return for a 16th season; though other teams reportedly have expressed interest, Brown has remained with New England over the past three seasons because his sons couldn't imagine seeing him play for another team.
If the Dolphins game was in fact his last, it was a bittersweet day for Brown -- while he was warmly embraced by the crowd every time he stepped on the field, one of the punts he fielded went off his facemask and got away from him. After the game, Brown admitted to a mixture of butterflies and excitement.
For the record, the 198th pick in the 1993 draft has 557 receptions for 6,366 yards (11.4 ypc), and 31 touchdowns, just two fumbles lost, 252 punt returns for 2,625 yards (both franchise records) and three touchdowns, 51 tackles and three interceptions, three Super Bowl rings and one very grateful fan base.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young 
at 8:28 AM | Permalink
February 13, 2008
The City Council of Huntington, W. Va. voted on Monday to name a street in honor of longtime resident and beloved Patriot Troy Brown.
A section of 16th Street Road will be renamed Troy Brown way.
Though Brown was raised in South Carolina, he became a star at Marshall and has remained in West Virginia. He is active in several Huntington community organizations and will once again hold his football camp at Marshall in April.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 8:58 PM | Permalink
December 16, 2007
For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez (3QB)
WR Chad Jackson
S Rashad Baker
S James Sanders
G Stephen Neal
G Billy Yates
WR Troy Brown
TE Benjamin Watson
For the Jets:
QB Marques Tuiasosopo (3QB)
WR Chris Davis
OL Jacob Bender
T Adrian Jones
TE Jason Pociask
LB Marques Murrell
DL Kareem Brown
DE Eric Hicks
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 12:04 PM | Permalink
December 9, 2007
For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez (third QB)
CB Eddie Jackson
S Rashad Baker
G Stephen Neal
T Wesley Britt
WR Troy Brown
DL Le Kevin Smith
LB Chad Brown
For the Steelers:
QB Brian St. Pierre (third QB)
WR Willie Reid
RB Gary Russell
S Troy Polamalu
LB LaMarr Woodley
C Marvin Philip
G/C Darnell Stapleton
T Trai Essex
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 3:09 PM | Permalink
December 6, 2007
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Patriot veterans Rodney Harrison, left, Troy Brown, right, and Tedy Bruschi, background, run a drill at practice in the bubble at Gillette Stadium, in preparation for Sunday's 4:15 p.m. game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has returned to the practice field after yesterday's day off to rest.
Posted by Pam Cotter at 4:11 PM | Permalink
December 4, 2007
BALTIMORE – Tom Brady’s eye-popping pace has slowed a bit, but he’s still getting some impressive marks.
Last night, he had his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 40 TDs, following Peyton Manning, Dan Marino (who did it twice) and Kurt Warner.
Brady also got his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback win, and second in as many weeks. He is also now 29-5 in games where the final margin is a touchdown or less.
More Brady numbers:
He’s 46-16 on the road; 34-2 on artificial turf; and 42-8 on games played Thanksgiving or later.
*****
Randy Moss caught Brady’s first touchdown pass of the night. It was Moss’ 17th scoring catch of the season, tying his career high. Moss also had 17 as a rookie with Minnesota in 1998 and again in 2003.
With four catches last night, the 10th year veteran has 751 for his career, the 25th player in league history to hit that mark.
Moss has 1,129 yards receiving on 75 catches this season.
*****
New England recorded its 12th win of the season last night, just the fourth time in franchise history the Patriots have enjoyed a 12-win season. All four years – in 2003 and ’04, they had 14 wins, and in 2006 – have been with Bill Belichick as head coach.
*****
The win over the Ravens was the 99th win for Belichick as coach of the Patriots; he will become the first coach in team history to hit the century mark when New England wins again.
*****
New England has won all four of its meetings against the Ravens since the team moved from Cleveland in 1996. This was the Patriots’ first-ever trip to M&T Bank Stadium.
Tedy Bruschi is the only player to have appeared in all four games; Troy Brown was among the Patriots’ inactive players last night.
*****
New England is now 42-8 after Thanksgiving since 2001, the best late-season mark in the NFL.
*****
Last night’s announced attendance was 71,382, the largest crowd ever at M&T Bank Stadium.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 2:45 AM | Permalink
December 3, 2007
For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez - third quarterback
WR Chad Jackson
S Eugene Wilson
CB Eddie Jackson
T Wesley Britt
G Billy Yates
WR Troy Brown
LB Chad Brown
For the Ravens:
K Rhys Lloyd
RB Mike Anderson
S Gerome Sapp
T Jared Gaither
TE Todd Heap
WR Demetrius Williams
DT Edgar Hones
DT Zarnell Fitch
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 7:23 PM | Permalink
November 29, 2007
Hey all --
We've just been kicked out of the Pats' locker room, where it was a funny day -- a lot to observe, but not a lot of players talking.
Injured tight end David Thomas chatted briefly with a couple of reporters, and said the upside of being hurt means he gets to spend time with his newborn son. Thomas still has a walking boot on his right foot. Running back Sammy Morris also made an appearance, walking through the room in his street clothes.
Brandon Meriweather talked about his friend and former teammate, Sean Taylor, who Meriweather said "helped me with everything" at Miami. "He helped me take my game from a 'C' to a 'B,' with the playbook he sat me down and helped me learn it."
Meriweather said he last spoke to Taylor, who died early Tuesday morning, just before New England played the Redskins.
Troy Brown also talked to the media, and is glad to be back on the roster: "I'm always excited to be around this game. All I can do is take it one day at a time, one play at a time," he said.
We're headed out to practice shortly, and will post an update then.
shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 12:05 PM | Permalink
November 28, 2007
The Patriots are holding practice outside today on the upper practice field behind Gillette Stadium. "New" guys Troy Brown and Chad Brown were out there for the full pads session; the only player who was missing was running back Kevin Faulk.
Offensive lineman Billy Yates and Bam Childress were the men in black as practice players of the week.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 1:28 PM | Permalink
November 27, 2007
Hey all --
The New England Patriots today activated veteran Troy Brown off the physically unable to perform list and placed linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on season-ending injured reserve.
Additionally, the Pats re-signed linebacker Chad Brown and released rookie Kareem Brown.
Troy Brown is returning from offseason knee surgery after being hurt in the AFC Championship game. He has played 191 games with New England and is the team's longest-tenured player.
Colvin was announced to have suffered a foot injury in Sunday's game with the Eagles, though on television it appeared that trainers were working on his arm.
Kareem Brown was New England's fourth-round draft pick this year out of Miami; he has not been active for any of the team's games this season. The Pats are likely hoping he will clear waivers so he can be retained on their practice squad.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 6:00 PM | Permalink
November 12, 2007
Hey all --
The Patriots are holding a rare Monday practice today, as the team re-assembled after their five-day bye week break. The session is being held inside Gillette Stadium.
Troy Brown was in a practice uniform for the first time this season, and number 80 resumed his usual spot in the stretching "formation" -- on the front line of the offense, right next to Tom Brady.
Missing from practice today were Mel Mitchell, Eugene Wilson and Eric Alexander.
The practice players of the week are: Ray Ventrone, C.J. Jones, Kelley Washington and Rashad Baker.
Locker room access has been bumped back to 3:45 p.m.; we'll try to post an update after that.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 1:03 PM | Permalink
November 6, 2007
The Patriots have released tight end Marcellus Rivers again, in a move that shows that Benjamin Watson will be fully healthy by the time New England plays again, and leads one to believe that his spot on the 53-man roster will soon be filled.
Who it will be filled by is another question altogether. Bill Belichick said yesterday that the team will start the clock on veteran Troy Brown this week, and corner Eddie Jackson and wideout Chad Jackson have been practicing for the last three weeks as well.
This is the fourth time this season that Rivers has been released by the Pats; he did play in three games this season but did not record any statistics. Against the Redskins, he had two dropped passes, including one in the end zone.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 7:03 PM | Permalink
November 5, 2007
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in his press conference this morning that the team will "start the clock" on veteran Troy Brown, meaning he will officially start practicing. Brown probably won't get a lot of on-field time this week, however: New England will hold team meetings tomorrow and then will be off until Monday morning.
Brown has been on the PUP list since training camp began thanks to offseason knee surgery.
Once the team notifies the league that it has started the clock on Brown, it has 21 days to determine if it wants to activate him to the 53-man roster or place him on injured reserve.
Along those lines, a decision will have to be made on both Chad Jackson and Eddie Jackson by the end of this week; the team started the clock on those players after week 6.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 4:39 PM | Permalink
October 31, 2007
Hey all --
We are just in from the week's first practice, held in full pads. Team owner Robert Kraft was taking in the session, yet another sign of how big Sunday's game is.
As for who was there and who wasn't, Benjamin Watson made his return after missing two weeks with an ankle injury. However, Sammy Morris (chest), Eugene Wilson (ankle), Mel Mitchell (groin), and Eric Alexander (knee) remain on the list of absentees.
Joining them on that list is corner Asante Samuel, who was not spotted during media access.
And Troy Brown was not out there either, which is meaningful because this is the last week that the Patriots have the option of opening the window for Brown. As he is on the PUP list, teams can choose at any time between weeks six and nine to start practicing and open a 21-day window for them, by the end of which time they must either activate them to the 53-man roster or put them on season-ending injured reserve.
After Sunday's win over Washington, Bill Belichick said it had been his team's best week of practice to that point, and it showed in the high number of practice player of the week jerseys -- we counted 10, with rookies Brandon Meriweather and Kareem Brown, Larry Izzo, Ray Ventrone, Pierre Woods, Antwain Spann, Le Kevin Smith, Rashad Baker and Tim Mixon all sporting the black jerseys. Interesting that none of the award winners were from the offensive side of the ball.
We'll be back with more shortly.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 1:25 PM | Permalink
