FanPost

Memory of Steve Gregory

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Football is finally back for us Patriots fans (well, sort of) and the first preseason game gave us plenty things to complain discuss. Ryan Mallet hype train got going and fizzled. Jimmy Garoppolo has already secured his spot in Canton, Ohio. Justin "AMC" Jones and Asa "Ben's little bro" Watson earned their flight ticket out of the state of Massachusetts (which may not be the worst thing considering how hot it is outta there in Boston nowadays, agh)

So on, so on.

What got lost in the shuffle is the retirement of one former Patriot.

On Saturday, former Patriots safety Steve Gregory announced his retirement.

It is with tremendous respect, appreciation, and admiration for the game of football that I’ve decided to announce my retirement effective immediately. After enter the game as an undrafted free agent, I was fortunate enough to play twice as long as the average player. This past offseason, my wife Rosanne and I were blessed to welcome a daughter, Aviana, and spending time with her has changed my life’s perspective. It is my hope to continue in football as a coach and I look forward to what the future holds. I’m tremendously happy with my decision and being able to walk away from this great game both healthy and on my own terms. I would be remiss in announcing my retirement without thanking my great family, coaches, teammates, scouts, trainers, agent and all of the fans that have supported me along the way. Thank you, Steve Gregory

Off course, for us Pats fans, you can never talk about Gregory without mentioning the infamous "butt fumble."

Boy it never gets old.

As I said upon his release, because of his incredible plays on Thanks Giving 2012, no matter what he does from now on, his legacy as a Patriot is forever cemented. Just like his father predicts, someday, we will see his name in Jeopardy and it will make us look smart in front of our children / grandchildren.

"The Butt Fumble!" he says. "My son’s gonna be the answer to a trivia question someday. ‘Who recovered the Butt Fumble?’ "

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However, rendering him just "a guy who scored on the butt fumble" does him major disservice. This guy had all the odds stacked against him right from the gate. Undrafted. Too short. Too small. Too slow. He made up by his off the chart work ethics and football smart.

When he signed with Patriots in 2012. He took the strong safety spot which was previously held by Brandon Meriweather, a guy with a ten cent brain on a million dollar body. What an irony. (And yes yes, there were about 10 safeties between the two but I'd rather not talk about them for sake of my mental wellness)

Ultimately, on many occasions, his physical limitation was simply too much to be compensated by his mental acumen. He was never, by any means, a Pro Bowl caliver player. Some may just tag him with the JAG label.

But sorry, Bill B simply does not release an official statement for his former JAG player upon retirement.

When a young player speaks highly of you even AFTER you are gone, it truly speaks with volume about your character.

But Harmon worked diligently and wound up playing in every game save the season opener, with three starts. He credits Devin McCourty, who also guided him at Rutgers, along with a now-former teammate, for helping him along.

"You can even start with Steve Gregory, being able to pick his brain last year. I say it all the time, that guy was really like my uncle — if I wasn’t sitting next to him, I was sitting next to Dev," Harmon said. "Those two guys just really helped me mature so much when it comes to football over the past year. I’m just very, very appreciative to them because they’re like — they’re really good football players and then they’re smart players as well, so you get to utilize that on the field. When you get the good football player with the smarts, that’s when players turn into great players."

Reports say his next gig will involve coaching. I can't think of any other former Patriots player who will make a better coach than him. None.

"When we’re preparing for games, he’s not only able to watch film and see things coming, but he’s able to go to the coaches and say, ‘Why don’t we tweak this defense this way, because it better fits what they do?’ " Devin McCourty said back in January. "When we’re in meetings we’ll have something in the defense and we’re watching and Steve will say, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ We’ll all sit there and look at him and be like, ‘You’re right, that probably would be better.’ I think that’s what makes him so good.

"Steve always has something each week we play that he sees and things we can do. That’s why we call him a future head coach."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick praised Gregory's football acumen as well.

"Steve is a very instinctive player, not only smart but he has good anticipation and awareness of what’s happening back there. I think that’s definitely one of his strengths," Belichick said. "He’s very instinctive in the running game and the passing game, formations. Yeah, we’re really fortunate."

Since his family was the major factor in the decision, he may stick with something local for while. NFL or even college coaching job is a huge time commitment that involve a lot of traveling. But someday, on TV, we may see him standing on someone's sideline. I really wish it's ours.

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So long, Steve. I have a feeling we will see you again in future. In Blue and Red. Just no hoodies, though.

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