It’s a receiver philosophy that the Pats have trusted for years. “I think that’s our calling card, our toughness.” “I think the one thing we have about this group that you can’t really measure is the toughness and competitiveness and heart,” says Slater. New England ranked fourth in passing yardage in 2016, despite a late-season injury to Gronkowski, and that, says Slater, a 10-year veteran who’s made four All-Pro teams as a special teamer, was because of the collective grittiness of all the Pats receivers, black and white. 1 receiver since Randy Moss’ departure in 2010, but they’ve fielded a top-10 passing yardage offense every year since then and ranked in the top five in four of the last six seasons. But scouts agree they all have elite quickness.īut what this receiving corps - and New England’s receiving corps of recent seasons - continually disproves is the idea that lack of height and raw speed are legitimate barriers to performance. No New England receiver, save Hogan prior to his reinvention, would produce eye-popping numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine. And we still do that.”Īs a group, regardless of color, the Pats’ receivers validate some of the stereotypes ascribed to them, but quietly defy others. “It’s a strange and subtle reciprocal relationship, kind of the same process that has people stereotyping positions the way they do at quarterback as well. “We’re more comfortable and more familiar with the blazing fast, acrobatic wide receiver that might be African-American, and a sort of workmanlike tight end who is white,” says noted Manhattan-based sports psychologist Will Wiener. Such descriptions are not solely reserved for white athletes, and the other members of the Pats receiving corps, African-Americans Matthew Slater, a special teams ace, and fourth-round pick Malcolm Mitchell, overlooked because of his age (24) in last year’s NFL draft, are proof of that.īut society often uses such buzzwords to explain the successes of white receivers, especially when those receivers lack the measurables of their African-American counterparts. Under Bill Belichick, the club has become known for gambling on stereotypical white receivers, players considered to be “workmanlike” “gym rats,” who bring “intangibles” and “high motors”. So at a time when race seems to permeate all aspects of societal conversation, it’s hard not to notice that the Patriots have reached Super Bowl LI with a unique collection of pass-catchers, a receiving corps that simultaneously defies and fulfills society’s stereotypes of “white athletes.” For decades now, NFL receivers have looked a certain way: Tall, explosive and almost all of them black. So route-running and endurance were the lone summer focuses, as Hogan downsized, masking his game and becoming the epitome of an NFL stereotype, a crafty white receiver. He didn’t need to have this breakaway speed, because the scheme would allow him to be open.” “What he needed to do was be able to work in a high-tempo offense, be able to repeat powerful efforts for 40-60 plays. “We knew that going with the Patriots, he wouldn’t need to be blazing fast this year,” Guadango says. And Guadango, after studying New England’s offensive scheme, decided that athleticism wasn’t what the Pats most valued about Hogan. After signing with the Patriots last March, he huddled with his New Jersey-based trainer, Mike Guadango, on an offseason plan. He was set to be the most explosive receiver on the New England Patriots roster, a 6-1, 211-pound freak (yes, freak) of an athlete who once ran the 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds, who benched 225 pounds 28 times, with a 36.5-inch vertical leap.Īnd Chris Hogan spent the offseason throwing all of that away.
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