Former Patriots FB Tatupu passed away at 54

Although he was never a superstar as an NFL player, he has been liked and will be remembered by many New England Patriots fans. 54-year-old Mosi Tatupu, father of Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu, died Tuesday at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro.




“I know that I share a heavy heart today with Patriots fans everywhere who have learned of Mosi Tatupu’s passing,” team owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. He was a dominant special teams player and a punishing rusher who loved the Patriots as much as the fans did.”

Tatupu was an eighth-round pick by the Patriots in 1978 and played 13 of his 14 NFL seasons in the Patriots jerseys, with last season being spent with the then Los Angeles Rams. Rushing for 2,415 yards and 18 touchdowns in his career, Tatupu had his best season in 1983 with 578 rushing yards.

Tatupu was beloved by Patriots fans for his play on kickoff and punt teams and even had his own cheering section known as “Mosi’s Mooses.” He made to Pro Bowl in 1986 as a special teams player and was also on the Patriots 50th anniversary team last season.

WR Moss does not expect to stay with Patriots

The New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss believes that the Patriots won’t be regretful if he takes off Patriots jersey to find new job elsewhere in 2010 season, although there is still one year left on his current three-year, $27 million contract with the Patriots.



Moss told reporters that he believes so because he knows what the team is considering about the finance. The Patriots will have to pay $6.4 million in base salary to Moss if he finishes the last season on the contract.

"I understand the beast, the nature of it. I think that just with what I think and what I know I don’t think they’re going to re-sign me back. So, after this season if there is not a lockout I’ll be looking for a new team," the Boston Globe quoted Moss as saying. "I got a lot of respect for the Patriots and what they did for me and my family. So, the only thing I can do is just play this year out and see what my future holds after that."

The 33-year-odl receiver caught 83 passes for 1,264 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, including four TD passes in the final three weeks of the regular season.

Patriots top DTs returned to practice and may start Sunday

The New England Patriots defensive tackles Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren both wore back their NFL jerseys to take full part in the team’s practice on Wednesday, a good sign that the Patriots best two defensive linemen may start this Sunday’s playoff against the Baltimore Ravens.

“They have two tough runners,” Wilfork said of the Ravens with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. “We pride ourselves around here with stopping the run. Sometimes we did this year, sometimes we didn’t. But you know what? It all starts over now. It all starts at 0-0.”

Wilfork missed the last three games with a foot injury and Warren sat out two of those games and most of the third with an ankle problem. Their absence partly caused the Patriots to allow 144 yards rushing against the Houston Texans that had the NFL’s second worst running attack before last Sunday’s game but sent the Patriots to a 34-24 loss in their season finale.

Patriots LB Thomas may be benched for the second game

The New England Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas is facing the possibility of being benched by Coach Bill Belichick for the second straight game after being surprised by not having chance to play Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.




That is definitely not what he expected when he signed the biggest contract the Patriots ever gave to an unrestricted free agent. Actually, he was poised to play a bigger role in Patriots jersey this year after having two solid seasons with the Ravens while the Patriots lost two veteran linebackers—Mike Vrabel in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs and Tedy Bruschi to retirement.

But Coach Belichick seems not satisfied with the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker’s performance at all. As for this Sunday’s game in London, Belichick has said that he will activate the players that the team feels give the best chance to win, while Thomas had just 12 tackles in the first five games he started this year and only one sack, which came in the season opener.

QB Walter was signed and Gutierrez was released, by the Patriots

After QB Andrew Walter was waived by the Raiders last Thursday, he was soon signed by the New England Patriots, who just released quarterback Matt Gutierrez.


Walter was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 2005 draft out of Arizona State. During the four seasons he was playing with the Raidrs, he played 15 games, starting nine, and completed 174 of 333 passes for 1,919 yards and three touchdowns.

As for Gutierrez, who had to take off his patriots jersey, he was from Idaho State and joined the Patriots in 2007. As a rookie, he played in five games with completing one pass for 15 yards. After Tom Brady quit game for knee injury on, Gutierrez was signed to the 53-man roster on Sept 13, before which he had been spending time on the practice squad.