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Remembering David Patten’s best moments with the Patriots
Patten, 47, passed away Thursday.
Patriots fans learned the tragic news Friday that former wide receiver David Patten died following a motorcycle accident. He was just 47 years old.
Patten played four of his 12 NFL seasons in New England, playing with the Patriots from 2001-04. Winning three Super Bowls with the Patriots, Patten had several notable plays, and was especially a key player en route to the team’s Super Bowl XXXVI win.
Here were some of Patten’s best moments with the Patriots.
Scoring a touchdown in three different ways vs. the Colts in 2001.
Entering a Week 6 matchup against the Colts in 2001, David Patten had yet to score a touchdown with the Patriots. Patten not only got in the endzone that weekend, but he also did it in three different ways.
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Patten started the scoring that day with a 29-yard touchdown run on a reverse less than five minutes into the game. He got on the board again in the second quarter, this time scoring on a 91-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to help put the Patriots up 14-3.
Less than two minutes later, Patten completed the trifecta of ways to score a touchdown on offense. Patten caught a screen pass from Brady before throwing the ball himself deep down the field to Troy Brown, connecting with him for a 60-yard touchdown. The play was originally supposed to be the opposite, but Patten had other ideas.
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“I lobbied all week for the chance to throw it, and I got a chance to,” Patten told reporters. “Troy did a great job beating his man.”
“It was a beautiful throw,” Brady added. “David practiced it once during the week. I remember when the play was called and saying, ‘Oh geez, a double pass, Charlie’s going crazy again.’”
Patten put a bow on his day by getting another touchdown reception, connecting with Brady for a six-yard touchdown to put the Patriots up 38-17 in the fourth quarter.
The final stat line for Patten that day was four total touchdowns with four catches for 117 yards to go along with his 29 rushing yards and 60 passing yards. More importantly, he became the first player to pass, run, and receive a touchdown in a game since Walter Payton in 1979.
“Every time I touched the ball, I was able to make something
happen,” Patten said. “That’s what I pride myself on. I think I’m able to do
that every time I go on the field and today I made that happen.”
His game-winning catch against the Bears.
Entering Week 10 of the 2002 season, the Patriots were 4-4, losing four of their last five games and leaving their playoff hopes in doubt.
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It looked like the Patriots were going to add another loss and fall back below .500 again, trailing the Bears 30-25 late in the fourth quarter. With 1:50 left and the ball at their own 44-yard-line, Brady started off the drive by connecting with Patten for a 19-yard completion to get into Bears territory.
Six plays later, the Patriots were able to move 17 yards down the field but were stuck in a third-down situation and had just 37 seconds left to score a touchdown.
On third-and-three, Brady eluded a sack and stepped up in the pocket, throwing into the end zone to Patten, who ran deep into the end zone. Patten was not only able to make the catch in stride, he perfectly landed both of his feet in-bounds to give the Patriots the lead.
Even though the Patriots ultimately didn’t make the playoffs that season, Patten’s catch remains impressive for how difficult it was, plus it gave them the win.
Patten’s performance in the snow vs. the Raiders.
The Patriots weren’t in a good spot at halftime in their 2001 Divisional Round matchup against the Raiders, trailing 7-0 and failing to get the ball deep into Raiders territory as the snow poured in Foxborough.
They got off to a good start in the second half, though. On 2nd-and-19, Patten hauled in a pass from Brady for a 25-yard catch to move the Patriots into Raiders territory. Three plays later, Patten stepped up again. On 3rd-and-8, Patten got open over the middle for a 19-yard catch, getting the Patriots down to the Raiders’ 9-yard-line. The Patriots didn’t score a touchdown on that drive, but Patten’s catches were enough to set up Adam Vinatieri for a field goal to cut the Raiders’ lead to 7-3.
Patten stepped up again in the early stages of the fourth quarter, catching three passes for 31 yards on the Patriots’ lone touchdown drive of the night.
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The most memorable moment of this game came late in the fourth quarter when a Brady fumble was overturned to an incomplete pass due to the “Tuck Rule.” With momentum on the Patriots’ side, Brady found Patten on the next play for a 13-yard catch to give the Patriots a first down and move them to the Raiders’ 29-yard-line with 1:47 remaining. Vinatieri made another field goal later in the drive, tying the game 13-13 to send it to overtime.
The Patriots got the ball first in overtime and while most people remember them going down the field for a 23-yard field goal to win, the drive wasn’t that easy. The Patriots faced a 4th-and-4 spot at the Raiders’ 29-yard-line. Patten stepped up again, hauling in a catch right behind the first-down marker. It was Patten’s final reception of what would be an eight-catch night for 107 yards.
His touchdown catch in the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers.
Patten followed up his impressive performance in the AFC Divisional Game with a clutch drive in the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers.
In the waning moments of the first half, Tom Brady went down with a knee injury. Drew Bledsoe stepped in, completing a 15-yard pass to Patten to move to the Steelers’ 15-yard-line. Two plays later, Bledsoe found Patten again for a 10-yard completion.
On the next play, Bledsoe finished the drive by finding Patten open in the back-right corner of the endzone. Patten leaped up in the air, bringing the ball down with room to spare to get the touchdown. The score put the Patriots up 14-3 with less than a minute until halftime.
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While Patten only had one catch in the second half, his connection with Bledsoe late in the first half ended up being a difference-maker as the Patriots won 24-17.
His touchdown catch in Super Bowl XXXVI.
In the first two games of the Patriots’ 2001 playoff run, David Patten stepped up with catches in key moments. It only made sense that he would do the same in Super Bowl XXXVI.
In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots again found themselves with a great opportunity to score before halftime. Brady, who returned following the knee injury, helped the Patriots move to the Rams 8-yard-line after getting the ball at the Rams’ 40 due to a turnover.
With 36 seconds left, Patten again got open in the back right corner of the endzone. Brady threw the ball to Patten, who leaped up to make the grab in almost the exact fashion he did a week prior against the Steelers. Just like that game in Pittsburgh, the touchdown put the Patriots up 14-3 entering halftime.
It was Patten’s only catch of the day, but it was the Patriots’ lone offensive touchdown of Super Bowl XXXVI, finishing a postseason run of clutch plays from Patten.
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