Boston Patriots

Tom Addison, an original member of the Boston Patriots, died on Tuesday at his South Carolina home, the team announced today. He was 75. A 6-foot-2, 230 pound linebacker, Addison was originally drafted out of the University of South Carolina by the Baltimore Colts in 1958, but signed with the newly-formed Boston Patriots in 1960. Addison played his entire career with the Patriots (he retired in 1967), and was quickly a standout player. According to pro-football-reference.com, he snagged 16 interceptions in his career, one of which he took back for a touchdown (the site does not have tackle...

FOXBOROUGH - Trevor Scott has but one regret when reminiscing about his two-sack game against the Patriots in 2008, when he was a rookie with the Raiders. "Too bad it wasn't [Tom] Brady," Scott said. Brady missed that game with a knee injury, so it was Matt Cassel who felt Scott's wrath. The defensive end, who combined for 12 sacks over his first two seasons, would love to put up similar numbers and make a similar impact for his new team. He signed with the Patriots last month, and met with the New England media for the first time since then, after a Thursday workout at Gillette Stadium.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- Long before his body was ravaged by Parkinson's disease, John Mazur was the first head coach of the New England Patriots and the last coach of the Boston Patriots. He coached pro football for 19 years with the Bills, Patriots, Eagles, and Jets, and he received two AFL championship rings from his days as Buffalo's offensive coordinator. He's a tough Marine -- there are no ex-Marines -- who once ordered star running back Duane Thomas, participating in his first workout with the Patriots after being acquired from the Dallas Cowboys, off the team.

NEW YORK - Joe Avezzano, who helped the Dallas Cowboys win their last three Super Bowl titles as the coach of their kicking and kick-return teams, died Thursday in Milan, where he was the coach of the Milano Seamen of the Italian Football League. He was 68. The league said on its website that Mr. Avezzano had collapsed while running on a treadmill and had died of apparent heart failure. Milan, where Mr. Avezzano arrived last fall and was coaching his first season, was the latest stop in a football life that lasted more than four decades.

The Boston Patriots open their 50th season at home against the Buffalo Bills tomorrow night. That’s right. The Boston Patriots. It’s official. We get to call them that again. Original AFL teams are celebrating a half-century of pro football, and tomorrow night’s “throwback’’ uniforms will look like the ones worn by Babe Parilli and Cookie Gilchrist when the Bills and Boston Patriots played at Fenway in the 1960s. And the name of the home team will be the name that was written on its birth certificate back when John F. Kennedy was running for president.

FOXBOROUGH - Trevor Scott has but one regret when reminiscing about his two-sack game against the Patriots in 2008, when he was a rookie with the Raiders. "Too bad it wasn't [Tom] Brady," Scott said. Brady missed that game with a knee injury, so it was Matt Cassel who felt Scott's wrath. The defensive end, who combined for 12 sacks over his first two seasons, would love to put up similar numbers and make a similar impact for his new team. He signed with the Patriots last month, and met with the New England media for the first time since then, after a...

NEW YORK - Joe Avezzano, who helped the Dallas Cowboys win their last three Super Bowl titles as the coach of their kicking and kick-return teams, died Thursday in Milan, where he was the coach of the Milano Seamen of the Italian Football League. He was 68. The league said on its website that Mr. Avezzano had collapsed while running on a treadmill and had died of apparent heart failure. Milan, where Mr. Avezzano arrived last fall and was coaching his first season, was the latest stop in a football life that lasted more than four decades.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Jerry Smith, whose 26-year NFL coaching career included a stint as the Denver Broncos interim head coach in 1971, died Saturday, said his son, Jeffrey of Dallas. He was 80 and had been in declining health since suffering a heart attack four years ago. Mr. Smith coached the offensive and defensive lines for 10 teams in the American and National Football Leagues from 1960 to 1985 before serving six seasons as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1952 out of the University of Wisconsin and played three seasons...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- One week after digging out of a double-digit deficit to record a season-opening win, the Patriots tried a different route yesterday. They built a sizable lead then hung on for dear life. The team had a 17-point advantage at halftime, increased it to 24 points six minutes into the third quarter, then withstood a furious rally from the Jets to record a 24-17 victory before 77,595 fans at Giants Stadium. Several Patriots acknowledged that recording a victory was of primary importance, but they still expressed disappointment with the way things unfolded.

FOXBOROUGH - It was as if he never left. Tom Brady last night threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 to rally the Boston Patriots from an 11-point deficit for a 25-24 opening night win at the Razor. Knee? No problem. Shoulder? No problem. Brady completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards. In the second half he was 26 of 31. On the final drive, he was 3 for 3, needing only 66 seconds to take the Patriots into the end zone and the victory column. It was the best comeback concert since Elvis played the International in Vegas in 1969.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Jerry Smith, whose 26-year NFL coaching career included a stint as the Denver Broncos interim head coach in 1971, died Saturday, said his son, Jeffrey of Dallas. He was 80 and had been in declining health since suffering a heart attack four years ago. Mr. Smith coached the offensive and defensive lines for 10 teams in the American and National Football Leagues from 1960 to 1985 before serving six seasons as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1952 out of the University of Wisconsin and played three seasons...

Tom Addison, an original member of the Boston Patriots, died on Tuesday at his South Carolina home, the team announced today. He was 75. A 6-foot-2, 230 pound linebacker, Addison was originally drafted out of the University of South Carolina by the Baltimore Colts in 1958, but signed with the newly-formed Boston Patriots in 1960. Addison played his entire career with the Patriots (he retired in 1967), and was quickly a standout player. According to pro-football-reference.com, he snagged 16 interceptions in his career, one of which he took back for a touchdown...

DENVER - The good folk of the Mile High City yesterday boasted of a team still alive in the Major League Baseball playoffs and a surprising squad still among the undefeated in the National Football League. Sadly, Bostonians were unable to make the same claim after the Angels swept the Red Sox in three games and the Broncos handed the Patriots a 20-17 overtime loss and a ticket back to Beantown. In a game that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the American Football League - Denver beat the Boston Patriots, 13-10, at BU Field Sept.

FOXBOROUGH - It was as if he never left. Tom Brady last night threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 to rally the Boston Patriots from an 11-point deficit for a 25-24 opening night win at the Razor. Knee? No problem. Shoulder? No problem. Brady completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards. In the second half he was 26 of 31. On the final drive, he was 3 for 3, needing only 66 seconds to take the Patriots into the end zone and the victory column. It was the best comeback concert since Elvis played the International in Vegas in 1969.

The Boston Patriots open their 50th season at home against the Buffalo Bills tomorrow night. That’s right. The Boston Patriots. It’s official. We get to call them that again. Original AFL teams are celebrating a half-century of pro football, and tomorrow night’s “throwback’’ uniforms will look like the ones worn by Babe Parilli and Cookie Gilchrist when the Bills and Boston Patriots played at Fenway in the 1960s. And the name of the home team will be the name that was written on its birth certificate back when John F. Kennedy was...

In the annals of New England sports, the 1963 American Football League Eastern Division champion Boston Patriots are one of the forgotten teams. Their improbable journey to the AFL championship game was a saga as suitable for NFL Films as it was for a movie script by Mel Brooks or Robert Altman. These Patriots were a team of characters with character. When the 2006 Patriots head to San Diego to continue their playoff run, it will be the franchise's first postseason matchup with the Chargers since Jan. 5, 1964, a game that also was played on the West Coast.

In the annals of New England sports, the 1963 American Football League Eastern Division champion Boston Patriots are one of the forgotten teams. Their improbable journey to the AFL championship game was a saga as suitable for NFL Films as it was for a movie script by Mel Brooks or Robert Altman. These Patriots were a team of characters with character. When the 2006 Patriots head to San Diego to continue their playoff run, it will be the franchise's first postseason matchup with the Chargers since Jan. 5, 1964, a game that also was played on the West Coast.

DENVER - The good folk of the Mile High City yesterday boasted of a team still alive in the Major League Baseball playoffs and a surprising squad still among the undefeated in the National Football League. Sadly, Bostonians were unable to make the same claim after the Angels swept the Red Sox in three games and the Broncos handed the Patriots a 20-17 overtime loss and a ticket back to Beantown. In a game that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the American Football League - Denver beat the Boston Patriots, 13-10, at BU Field Sept.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- One week after digging out of a double-digit deficit to record a season-opening win, the Patriots tried a different route yesterday. They built a sizable lead then hung on for dear life. The team had a 17-point advantage at halftime, increased it to 24 points six minutes into the third quarter, then withstood a furious rally from the Jets to record a 24-17 victory before 77,595 fans at Giants Stadium. Several Patriots acknowledged that recording a victory was of primary importance, but they still expressed disappointment with the way things unfolded.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- Long before his body was ravaged by Parkinson's disease, John Mazur was the first head coach of the New England Patriots and the last coach of the Boston Patriots. He coached pro football for 19 years with the Bills, Patriots, Eagles, and Jets, and he received two AFL championship rings from his days as Buffalo's offensive coordinator. He's a tough Marine -- there are no ex-Marines -- who once ordered star running back Duane Thomas, participating in his first workout with the Patriots after being acquired from the Dallas Cowboys, off the team.