New England Patriots
New England Patriots Sign Sleeper RB George Winn
The New England Patriots have signed potential sleeper RB George Winn. Winn, who went undrafted this spring out of Cincinatti, is now with his second team after being released from the Jaguars in May. Mel Kiper called Winn his #1 undrafted sleeper following the draft.
While getting released from the Jaguars isn’t a good sign, maybe just being around the Patriots can help Winn continue later in the year. The Patriots surely do not need him at the moment and he will be cut before the final roster but anytime the Pats do something the league takes notice. If for some reason Winn was able to stick, his name would be worth remembering.
Currently New England has Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden, LeGarrette Blount and Leon Washington in their running backs stable.
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Robert Kraft Hangs Out With Jay-Z, Shares Drinks With He and Beyonce (Photos)
Jay-Z is still in the midst of some legal battles with the NFL, regarding his new Sports venture Roc Nation, but that didn’t keep him from rubbing elbows with Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Monday.
Jay-Z was celebrating the 10th anniversary of his popular 40/40 club on Monday night, and Kraft just so happened to be one his guests at the event.
Kraft seemed to spend some time chatting with the acclaimed rapper on the red carpet, and he, along with actress Ricki Noel, also shared a drink with Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce at the event.
Check out photos of Kraft and Z — can we call him Z? — below.
Photos via Twitter/@Rand_Getlin and Tumblr/MrMrsCarter
Jets will be paying Tim Tebow more money than the Patriots
According to ESPN, the New York Jets will be paying Tim Tebow more money this season than the Patriots will over the next two years if he makes their roster.
The @nyjets are set to pay Tim Tebow more money next season than the @Patriots will pay him over two seasons combined (if he makes the team)
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) June 18, 2013
This is likely due to the guaranteed money that the Jets owed to Tebow since they cut him before his contract was up. His contract with the Patriots doesn’t contain any guaranteed money.
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Jay-Z and Patriots owner Robert Kraft (Photo)
Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports shared this photo of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and rapper Jay-Z on the red carpet during last night’s anniversary celebration at the 40/40 club.
Jay-Z may as well get to know Kraft since I’m sure the two will be closely working together down the road with Jay’s Roc nation Sports agency.
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RB Shane Vereen: ‘We slipped up, especially at the end of the season’
For the New England Patriots anything less than a Super Bowl is a disappointment. Running back Shane Vereen was selected by the Patriots in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL Draft with the 56th overall pick. He came on late in 2012 and in the Patriots’ first game of the NFL Playoffs, against the Houston Texans, Vereen had a career day: he had five receptions for 83 yards, scoring touchdowns on two of them. He also added a third touchdown on one of his 7 rushes for 41 yards. However, he says last season’s AFC Championship loss to the Baltimore Ravens left a bitter taste in the team’s mouth. “I think as an offense we felt like we slipped up, especially at the end of the season, the way the season ended,” Vereen told, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “Going into OTAs, that was our focus. There is still a lot we need to work on, there are a lot of new faces, it’s still a younger offense, and so we have a lot of jelling to do. But I think we’re on the right track.”
New England Patriots sign Mel Kiper’s steal of the draft George Winn
It is official George Winn is a New England Patriot. Overlooked by most media outlets due to only having one season of starting experience at Cincinnati, Winn aced that season by leading the Big East Conference in rushing ( a Conference that contained much more highly publicized Pittsburgh RB Ray Graham) with 1,334 yards (5.5 YPC) and a remarkable 13 touchdowns. Winn eclipsed the 100 yard mark 6 times in 2012, with 130 yards and a score in Cincinnati’s Belk Bowl win over Duke. All this while operating with a spotty passing game most of the year. Mel Kiper compared George to Washington Redskins RB Alfred Morris and predicted he will be an NFL starter as a rookie. In my estimation, Kiper is the only analyst giving Winn his due. It was my pleasure to interview George for NFL Draft Zone.
Shaun DePasquale: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today George. Can you tell me where you’re trained for the NFL Draft?
George Winn: Thank you for taking the time out to interview me Shau…
Patriots sign RB George Winn
According to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com, the New England Patriots have signed undrafted rookie free agent running back George Winn.
Winn was originally singed by the Texans right after the draft, but was released following their rookie minicamp. He ran for 1,334 yards and 13 touchdowns during his final year at the University of Cincinnati.
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Patriots ‘really don’t know’ when Rob Gronkowski will return
On Tuesday, Rob Gronkowski will undergo back surgery, his seventh time going under the knife and second procedure on his worrisome back.
The Patriots have been tight-lipped regarding his recovery — and not by choice.
Appearing on SportsCenter Monday, ESPN’s Ed Werder reported that the Pats legitimately have no idea when the All-Pro tight end will return.
“The fact is the Patriots really don’t know when he’s gonna come back,” Werder said, via Rotoworld.
With Gronkowski’s future uncertain, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has put together “many contingencies,” including carrying seven tight-ends on the 90-man roster.
Belichick and Co. will have a better idea of Gronk’s timetable after Tuesday; he’s widely expected to be sidelined 12 weeks, putting his Week 1 status in serious jeopardy. Knowing Belichick, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gronk end up on the PUP list, missing the first regular season games.
Of course, this is al…
L.A. Angels wanted to draft Tim Tebow
According to WEEI in Boston, a Red Sox scout named Tom Kotchman says that when he worked for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim they wanted to draft Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow coming out of high school. “We wanted to draft him,” Kotchman remembered, “but he never sent back his information card. Either it never got to him, or … It’s Tim Tebow. Who knows if it got to him, and if it did we just never got it back. Otherwise were were going to take him.” Tebow was a heck of a baseball player in high school. He hit four home runs with a .494 batting average and led his team to the final four of the state playoffs. “He had a strong arm and had a lot of power. If he would have been there his senior year he definitely would have had a good chance to be drafted,” said Red Sox Florida scout Stephen Hargett, who worked with Kotchman with the Angels. “He had leverage to his swing. He had some natural loft. He had some good power. He was a good athlete. He had had enough arm for that position…
New York Jets paying more for Tim Tebow than Patriots
The New York Jets are still on the hook for $1.53 million with regards to Tim Tebow, which is more money than the Patriots owe him for 2013 and 2014, combined.
Jets have to pay more for Tebow than Pats over next two years
This is gotta hurt, especially if Tebow is sent out on the field twice a year to do something successful against that the New York Jets, the team that couldn’t find anything of substance to do with him and cut him. The New England Patriots, if they keep Tebow for the 2 years of his new contract, will only come out of pocket for $1.36 million, while the Jets still owe the Broncos $1.52 million that was advanced to Tim in 2011, reports Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. Cimini: ‘ In other words, the Jets are paying more for a ghost than the Patriots will pay over two years for the actual player — if he makes the team. That’s hardly a lock, although owner Robert (We Love His Spirituality) Kraft is pulling for him. Tebow is “the real deal,” according to Kraft. You can never have too much Tebow. Oh, wait, somebody already said that. ‘
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Tom Brady & his father in…
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Tom Brady & his father in 2006
Patriots on Kraft’s claim of stolen ring: He’s a big kidder
We were close to all out war with Russia this weekend when New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft accused Vladimir Putin of stealing his Super Bowl ring back in 2005 when the two met. Kraft made the comments last week while speaking at an event. For those that may have missed it, here is what Putin said, as originally reported by the NY Post: Kraft explained the incident happened while Sandy Weill and other business execs were in St. Petersburg. “I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, ‘I can kill someone with this ring,’ ” Kraft told the crowd. “I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.” This telling of the story comes several years after Kraft announced that it was a gift to Putin, something he now claims he was strong-armed into by the Bush administration: “It would really be in the best interest of US-Soviet relations if you meant to give the ring as a present.” (In fact the Soviet Union …
IMG’s Chris Weinke says Tim Tebow’s accuracy issues are fixed and he’s ‘locked and loaded’
After quarterback Tim Tebow was released by the New York Jets, the former Heisman Trophy winner traveled to the IMG Academy to work with former NFL QB Chris Weinke, IMG’s Director of Football. The two spent the offseason working on tweaking Tebow’s throwing motion, focusing on the lower body. “I made an adjustment to his lower half and invariably that’s where the quickness came from,” Weinke said, via Darin Gantt of profootballtalk.com. “What I saw was, when his feet were in good position, he was throwing the ball with great accuracy, great velocity. And the ball was coming out much quicker.” “He’s proven he can win at that position. He has had great success. He does things the right way and has a guy in Tom who is one of the elite quarterbacks to ever play the game that he’ll be able to spend time with every day. “The things we worked on down here are going to pay dividends in New England.” Weinke says Tebow is ‘Locked and loaded,’ ready to go.
Los Angeles Angels wanted to draft Tim Tebow
Before he became a household name with stops in Denver, New York, and now New England, Tim Tebow nearly went a different way with his career.
In an interview with WEEI, Boston Red Sox scout Tom Kotchman revealed that the Los Angeles Angels were prepared to draft Tebow out of high school.
“We wanted to draft him,” Kotchman, who worked for the Angels at the time, said. “But he never sent back his information card. Either it never got to him, or … It’s Tim Tebow. Who knows if it got to him, and if it did we just never got it back. Otherwise were were going to take him.”
The information card asks prospects a series of questions in order to gauge their interest in the sport. Regardless, Tebow more than proved himself on the baseball field, batting .494 as a junior for Nease High School, which he led to the final four of the Florida state playoffs.
Tebow didn’t play baseball as a senior, opting to enroll at Florida and begin what would be a well-documented football career….
