For Pete's sake

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Pats 26, Dolphins 23 (11/23/'98): The history books say Pete Carroll lost his job as the Pats' coach after the 1999 season. Not true. Carroll lost his job in November a year earlier. I know. I was there. It was one of the wildest days on the aluminum benches of Foxboro Stadium that I can remember.

The 5-5 Patriots, coached by pumped and jacked Carroll, and the 7-3 Dolphins, coached by two-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Johnson, faced off on a fairly mild late November night. It was Year Two under Carroll and things were clearly trending in the wrong direction. The Pats started off 4-1 but were a very undisciplined team and limped into the game against Miami looking dead. We could see the foundation that Bill Parcells had built slowly being eroded like a beach cliff under a Cape home. But on this night (and then the following Sunday) Drew Bledsoe almost single-handedly put the team back on solid ground.

We tailgated in nearly 50 degree temperatures, eating, drinking, and mocking Carroll's style of coaching. All rah-rah. Perfect for college. But it very rarely works in the NFL. You either have a dour tactician (Landry, Noll, Belichick) or an in-your-face motivator (Lombardi, Parcells, Cowher) at the helm of the best teams. Cheerleaders as coaches don't usually work out. And when a cheerleader replaces a motivator it usually spells disaster because the players are so glad the guy yelling at them is gone that they ease up and lose their edge. That was the '98 Patriots.

Besides our coach, the other topic of conversation that night was the announcement earlier that week that Robert Kraft had a tentative deal to move the team to Hartford. Hartford! In Connecticut! There was even talk they would change their team colors to match that of the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Green and white. Uh, those are Jets colors. Our team was sliding back into irrelevance and our franchise was moving to Connecticut. We were not in a very good mood as Brendan grilled up some tuna steaks in honor of the Dolphins. (You can't legally buy dolphin.)

Miami was led by Dan Marino nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career and coached by Johnson who spent most of the game pleading with the refs for penalties while Carroll stood around looking mostly lost. It was a back-and-forth affair. Bledsoe connected with tight end Ben Coates for a touchdown early in the game. In my book, the Bledsoe-to-Coates connection is still the all-time best passing tandem in the team's history. Coates would pull in nine passes for nearly 80 yards. But it was Bledsoe that was the story of this game. Hell, he was the story of that whole year. In the midst of a season where the team was disintegrating under Carroll, Bledsoe held things together by throwing for more than 3,600 yards, 20 TDs, and an 80.0 passer rating. Of course he threw many killer picks, but that was Drew.

Miami took a 23-19 lead with just over three minutes to go in the game. Bledsoe led the Pats from deep in their own end to almost midfield at the two minute warning. On a second-down play Bledsoe dropped back to throw and on his follow-through hit his passing hand on a defender's helmet. The Pats took a timeout and he came over to the sideline holding his hand and started to make some practice tosses to test it out. At the same time backup QB Scott Zolak (yes, that one) started warming up. "Zolak's coming in," Mark said with a tone of dread. "We're moving to Hartford and Zolak's coming in. The Parcells magic is officially gone."

But Zolak did not come in. Bledsoe, even though he would later be diagnosed with a broken finger, came back onto the field. And then took another timeout. He burned two timeouts without ever taking a snap with 1:42 to go in the game. He came over to the sideline and took some more practice tosses. He returned to the field, with only one more timeout to waste, and on 2nd-and-10 air-mailed a pass over Terry Glenn's head. He shook his hand some more and started to walk off the field as if he was coming out of the game. But again he stayed in and threw a pass to Coates for a short gain. Fourth-and-six and the Pats have to go for it. Carroll started signalling vehemently for a timeout. The players clearly saw him but ignored him and lined up to run a play.

Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson on a curl for a first down with 34 seconds to play. The crowd went nuts and Carroll shrugged and laughed as everyone in the stadium realized Bledsoe has just ignored his head coach. It was at that moment that Pete Carroll was no longer the head coach of the team. And everyone knew it.

On the next play, in the face of a corner blitz, Bledsoe let one rip into the left corner of the end zone that landed right in Jefferson's hands for a touchdown with 30 seconds left for the amazing victory. The stadium went into a state of delirium. Moving to Hartford? Not tonight! Beating Miami on a last second play. It was one of the best moments at the old stadium.

Bledsoe, broken finger and all, led the Pats on an amazing 26-play, 84-yard game winning drive. He finished with 423 yards passing. And as the game ended he ran around the field, responding to the roar of the crowd, pumping his fists and soaking in the moment. The next week, also at home, he played the entire game against the Bills with his broken finger taped to his other fingers, and again led the team to a last-second come from behind win, this time hitting Coates for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. He had many, many great moments as the Pats QB. But those two games in '98 were the two most amazing back-to-back victories that old Foxboro Stadium ever saw.

Bledsoe's career, and the team's fortunes, began to slide from that point as the Pats finished 9-7 that year and then 8-8 the next. Among all the sins of Carroll's years here, the biggest one is his ruining of Bledsoe. Parcells was tough on Bledsoe and that's what he needed. It motivated him. Carroll coddled him and his skills eroded. He was never Baryshnikov, but his footwork just got worse and worse until he become the most stationary target in the game. And then he took a hit by Mo Lewis that changed his -- and the team's -- fortunes. He left the field and Brady came on ... and hasn't left since.

There were a lot of stories in the media this week giving Carroll some credit for the success that Belichick has brought. There's probably some truth in that. But not much. Carroll's a good guy. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't root for him. He did a great job with USC ... except for all the NCAA rule violations that took away most of his wins after he left. He is a very good defensive coach, as the Pats will find out today when they go to Seattle. But I still don't think he's a good NFL head coach. Sure, the Seahawks are getting better. But his first two seasons as head coach have ended 7-9 and 7-9. I'd be surprised if their record is any better than 8-8 this year. But my guess is that Pete Carroll would be pretty pumped and jacked if the Seahawks finished 8-8. That's his way.