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Courtesy of the great Eric Adler. Taken a couple of years ago in the Patriots locker room.
In what has become a semi-regular segment that takes a closer look at some of my recent longer features, here are a few things I wasn’t able to squeeze into my story regarding the support system that has sprung up around Patriots’ running back Rhamondre Stevenson in the wake of the death of his father this past March. As was the case with some of my other longer stories, this is a combination of some stuff I hoped to include but couldn’t for various reasons, some that was left on the cutting room floor because of space, a dash of background, and a few leftover thoughts of my own about the subject.
• Not going to lie; as a reporter, we’re supposed to be impartial, but I can say unequivocally that Rhamondre is one of my favorites. He’s always been great with us in the media. Even when things were godawful at the end of last season for him (with the fumbling) and the team, he always talked. He was always accountable, and answered every question as straightforwardly as possible. You could ask him a tough question, and you’d get a thoughtful answer. That’s not always the case with every athlete you cover, and that goes a long way with reporters.
• As someone who’s down in Foxborough on a regular basis, I’ve been able to put my recorder and pad away and ask him questions about the game that help inform me as a reporter. (Here’s hoping that if you’re a sportswriter, you get at least one person like that in your life.) As a regular, I’ve also been able to build a level of trust over the years, which is absolutely vital to being able to craft a story like this. There’s value in showing up, showing your face, and consistently covering the team in a fair and evenhanded manner.
• This feature checked in at just over 1,000 words. If I had another 1,000, I would have spent more time on Robert Stevenson, the man. People say he was active in the community, a loving husband, and great father. I was able to use some of the quotes I got on him, but would have gone more in depth and really presented more on his background, if only to really drive home what sort of a loss this was for everyone in the community, not just for those who were close to him. If you read my piece and want to know more about the impact of Rhamondre’s parents, I’d point you toward this phenomenal feature that my colleague Nicole Yang did on him in 2022. I used this piece to inform a lot of my reporting, and it really provides a great look into their family dynamic.
• If I had more space, I would have also included more about Mike Vrabel’s impact on Rhamondre over the last 10 months. (I got some of it in, but I really didn’t do that aspect of the story justice, to be honest.) Multiple people went out of their way to praise Vrabel and the coaching staff (namely Josh McDaniels) for the way he approached Rhamondre this past spring, giving him the space and flexibility to deal with the aftermath as opposed to hustling him back for OTAs. This isn’t to say that other coaches would have handled it differently. Only that his inner circle really appreciated how Vrabel handled it.
• I also wouldn’t dispute the idea that at least part of this was therapeutic for me. My mother died in 2021, and I’m still dealing with it. There are random Wednesday’s where I’ll feel her presence. (My goal with a lot of these long-form features that I’ve done is to write for my Mom. Basically, craft a story she would want to take to church with her on Sunday to show her friends.) I’ve always been struck by the fact that grief doesn’t care who you are or what you are doing. It’s going to come for you when you are not ready, sometimes (in Rhamondre’s case), it’s a random March day. For me, it was a sad October morning. That shared grief is a real thing. When I said in the story that losing a parent can throw you off your “emotional axis,” that’s from personal experience. He and I talked about some of that in the run-up to reporting on this story.
• As an old-timer, Rhamondre’s arc this season reminds me a bit of what Antowain Smith went through in 2003, at least from an on-field perspective. Smith was New England’s lead back at the start of the season, but he struggled with injury, and was in and out of the starting lineup. That gave way to a thunderous finish, rushing for an average of 89 yards per game over the last five contests of the year. (The last two regular season games and the three playoff games, including the Super Bowl.) I remember being in a group of reporters who asked him if he was rusty late in the year because of inactivity. “Rusty? Shoot, I’m not rusty. I’m rested.” Stevenson’s toe injury caused him to miss three games earlier this year. When you toss in the fact that TreVeyon Henderson has also picked up some carries over the course of the year, you can see the results manifest themselves over the last few weeks for Stevenson: in his last four games (three regular-season contests and one playoff game), he’s averaged 70.5 rushing yards and has 461 yards from scrimmage through that stretch. Strong finishing kick.
• I wrestled with the lead, but in the end, I boiled it down to a simple thought: this is about the people around him who lifted him up. I asked him if he could gather all of them in a room at the same time, what would he tell them?
“I love them,” said Stevenson, quietly. “Nothing more, nothing less. I love them, and I appreciate them.”
Cool stuff I did this week.
• As I noted earlier in the week, Hogan and I connected for another episode. We talked — albeit briefly — about the wild-card win over the Chargers, as well as the challenge of the Texans in the divisional round Sunday night. (Download the complete episode here.)
• What’s Josh McDaniels’ best course of action against an aggressive Houston defense? Use that aggression against them.
• Hogan on the offense, and specifically, the o-line: “It will need to be better going forward in the playoffs. I think they know it. Josh knows it. Drake knows it. The entire team knows it. … It’s all about performing and just being a little bit better.”
• And what sort of role could former Patriots’ exec Nick Caserio play in this weekend’s game?
• Monday kicked off with a conversation with Dan Rea of WBZ-AM on what happened Sunday against the Chargers, and the divisional round against Houston. I talked Patriots-Texans with the guys on 96.3 The Big Jab on Portland Thursday morning. Did the same with Trevor Maeder on KMA Radio in Shenandoah, Iowa on Tuesday. I spent a half-hour going deep on Patriots-Texans Thursday night with Robert Land of the Houston Sports Talk Podcast.
• And on Friday morning, it was some quality time with Kevin Karius on Sports 1440 in Edmonton.
• This was something different: I teamed with the design department on a piece that looked at Tom Brady’s 2002 season (his second year as a starter) with Drake Maye’s 2025. My goal? To put some of the numbers into some sort of historical context. I think I accomplished my goal. If not, well … the graphs are fun to look at.
• There were lots of check-ins on Christian Gonzalez over the week, including a story on Wednesday (when he was wearing the red non-contact jersey), Thursday (when he shed the red one for a standard blue defensive practice jersey), and Friday (when he was cleared to play).
• On the flip side, Houston won’t have star receiver Nico Collins because of a concussion he sustained in the Texans’ wild-card win over the Steelers. What will the Houston passing game look like without Collins?
• This week’s mailbag was stuffed with questions about the performance of the offensive line against the Chargers, but we also had questions about Mike Vrabel, the coaching staff, Christian Barmore, and more.
• Andy Borregales was entertaining a sizable group of reporters in the corner of the locker room after Sunday night’s game when fellow rookie Kyle Williams walked by and surveyed the scene. “The man, the myth, the legend,” Williams said with a grin, waiting a dramatic beat before continuing in hushed tones. “Andy Borregales.” Borregales hasn’t quite reached legendary status, but after the last few weeks, any kicker who can consistently deliver like Borregales did Sunday deserves to be celebrated.
Looking ahead.
• Another week of uncertainty: If the Patriots’ win, we’ll have at least one more week to talk about football. If not, we’re on to the offseason. One way or another, there figures to be availability in Foxborough come Monday morning. Stay tuned.
One last thing.
The 10 best movie quarterbacks of all-time
1. Willie Beamen. I am here to remind you that Beamen recorded his iconic “My Name Is Willie” song after winning just two games as the starting quarterback of the Miami Sharks. That being said, the talent is off the charts. An easy first pick.
2. Shane Falco. Looks like a hot mess for three-plus quarters, but this veteran can handle any clutch situation. You take his performance with a grain of salt because it came against replacements, but I’m willing to bet “Foosteps” was able to hang around and stick on a roster … provided he improved his pocket awareness.
3. Paul Crewe. More Reynolds than Sandler, but both guys could sling it. (I’m fairly certain there were plenty of elements of Ken Stabler in the Burt Reynolds version.) .
4. Reno Hightower. Go watch “The Best of Times” and tell me he couldn’t play in the XFL right now. Kurt Russell would have been a better choice for Indy than Philip Rivers.
5. Johnny Utah. He was injured in the Rose Bowl as a senior with Ohio State before joining the FBI. That meant he led the Buckeyes to a Big 10 title. I would watch the hell out of a Johnny Utah football origin story.
6. Seth Maxwell. Not an All-Pro, but he’s a great locker room presence who leads with grit and guile. Side note: Mac Jones once told me “North Dallas Forty” was one of his favorite movies. If he only had the same sort of ability to connect with his teammates like Maxwell did. (Watch that movie and tell me that Nick Nolte isn’t absolutely channeling Wes Welker.)
7. Jonathan “Mox” Moxon. Game manager. System quarterback, but arm strength that just pops off the tape. Needs a lot around him to succeed, but is capable of good complementary football. Capable of tearing up the Ivy League.
8. Joe Kane. Someone is going to take a flier on Kane in the fifth round, even with all those issues while at Eastern State. A Heisman candidate as a sophomore, he fell hard in the draft. Still firmly believe he would thrive as a backup to start his career, given the right conditions, before moving into a starting role.
9. Uncle Rico. Great deep ball ability, but struggled when it came to short and intermediate work.
10. Stan Gable. Looks the part, but falls in the draft after character red flags that arose after he was caught terrorizing nerds at Adams College.
Also receiving votes: Flash Gordon, Paul Blake, Frank Cushman, Cap Rooney, Joe Pendleton.
Until next time.
It’s good to cover playoff football again.