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NFL

Crocker Field renovations get a boost from Patriots

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Fitchburg Public Schools has been granted $250,000 by the New England Patriots through the National Football League Foundation Grassroots Program to install a new artificial turf surface at Crocker Field.

The grant from the Patriots, the NFL Foundation, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is part of $3 million in field refurbishment awards allocated this year. The field will serve about 5,000 youth, including the Fitchburg High School football team.

The NFL Foundation Grassroots Program — a partnership between the NFL Foundation and LISC, the nation’s leading community development support organization — has supported the construction or renovation of 431 football fields nationwide since 1998. During that time, the NFL Foundation has granted nearly $61.8 million to revitalize playing fields in underserved neighborhoods. Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements such as irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf. Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.

“Providing athletic fields for children to participate in competitive sports is an investment that will pay dividends for years to come,” said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. “The lessons learned and the exercise gained through competitive sports is so important, especially at the high school level. We have received such positive feedback from the dozens of communities that have benefitted from these grants over the years. We are happy to provide this year’s field to Fitchburg Public Schools and look forward to working with the NFL and LISC to provide grants to proud New England communities for years to come.”

Crocker Field is one of the few public school fields that still has natural grass. (Sentinel & Enterprise/Nick Mallard)
Crocker Field in Fitchburg. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

LISC identifies local, nonprofit, community-based agencies that have an interest in building or refurbishing football fields in schools and neighborhood parks. Through the program, local agencies are provided with the necessary financing and technical assistance to improve the quality and safety of fields in their communities. The agencies oversee the construction, maintenance and programming of the fields.

“LISC is thrilled to support the restoration and upgrade of Fitchburg’s historic Crocker Field as a resource for their students and families,” said Karen E. Kelleher, Executive Director of LISC Boston. “It’s exciting to know that this field, and the activities it hosts, particularly the Thanksgiving rivalry with Leominster, will continue to play a central role in the life of the city for generations to come.”

Jeff Bennett led the effort for Crocker Field on behalf of the Fitchburg Public School system.

“Crocker Field has served generations of Fitchburg students who have played, performed and graduated on this hallowed field,” Bennett said. “The NFL Grant and commitment from the New England Patriots and the Kraft Family will ensure that Crocker Field will continue to serve as a vital part of student and community life in Fitchburg for decades to come.”

Twin City ties in conference title tilts

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It feels like ages ago that the New England Patriots last played a playoff game that seemed winnable, doesn’t it?

The Pats missed the playoffs following the 2020 season. The 2021 postseason was a one-and-done debacle. This past season was a bust, with the team narrowly missing the chance to play for a Super Bowl berth.

Things have indeed shifted from the Patriots’ two decades of being a perennial contender. What’s a New England fan to do?

Dig a little bit and there are a pair of players with local ties taking part in conference championship games on Sunday — one in each conference, to be precise. Perhaps connections to a pair of Twin City schools pique your interest?

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Noah Gray starred at Leominster High before heading to Duke. From there, he was selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Gray — a 2017 LHS grad — and the Chiefs face the Cincinnati Bengals with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line Sunday evening.

Philadelphia Eagles' Jack Driscoll in action during an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Jack Driscoll (63), son of St. Bernard’s Hall of Famer John Driscoll, and the Philadelphia Eagles face the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC title on Sunday. (AP PHOTO)

In the NFC title tilt, Jack Driscoll and the Philadelphia Eagles will square off with the San Francisco 49ers Sunday afternoon. Driscoll, an offensive tackle, was drafted by Philly in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft and is the son of St. Bernard’s Hall of Famer and former Buffalo Bills tackle John Driscoll. The elder Driscoll graduated from St. Bernard’s as a member of the Class of 1982.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Gray grew up in Gardner and will be playing in his second AFC Championship contest in as many years, with the Chiefs hosting the Bengals in a rematch of last year’s title tilt at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Playing behind All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, Gray — taken 162nd overall in 2021 — has seen his production increase in his second pro season.

Used in a variety of ways as part of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s exotic goal line packages, Gray caught 28 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown in 2022.

Jack Driscoll, a native of Madison, Connecticut, played at UMass for three seasons before transferring to Auburn to play two seasons as a graduate transfer. The Eagles picked the 6-foot-5, 312-pound lineman 145th overall in the 2020 draft.

In three seasons, Jack Driscoll has played in 37 games, including 16 starts, and has played multiple positions and in a variety of situations. He’s slotted behind All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson on Philadelphia’s depth chart and has shown versatility, playing offensive and special teams snaps.

The younger Driscoll and the Eagles play host to the 49ers at 3 p.m. Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Jack Driscoll’s father, John, played at the University of New Hampshire after graduating from St. Bernard’s in 1982. A three-sport star in high school, John Driscoll was drafted by the Bills in the 12th round of the 1988 NFL Draft.

Children’s advocates want universal free school lunches to continue

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Advocates are calling on state lawmakers to extend free meals at schools, a program that came into place during the pandemic and is even more important now with food insecurity rates even higher than before COVID hit.

“One of the hard lessons of the pandemic is that it showed just how important school meals are for children and their families,” said Erin McAleer, president and CEO of Project Bread, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides food to hungry families in Massachusetts.

Initially backed by Congress, the latest budget from Capitol Hill does not include funding for the Universal Free School Meals program, which lawmakers had approved after the pandemic knocked out what is often the only source of food many youngsters have, namely the meals they can get at school.

With the federal program set expire on June 30, advocates are asking the state lawmakers to step in and make universal school breakfast and lunch permanent.

“School meals ease the financial burden on families that are really feeling the squeeze when they have to feed their children and pay for rent and electricity,” said Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, executive director of the Children’s Health Watch, a research program headquartered at Boston Medical Center. “If families are financially strapped, that’s a huge support. And if all youngsters receive free meals, it eliminates the stigma many would feel if they were the only ones receiving free food.”

The meals have been a critical resource for the one in five households with children and one in three households of color, McAleer said.

Last month, House lawmakers on Beacon Hill approved a budget proposal that includes $110 million to extend free school breakfast and lunch. While the provision would not be permanent, it would extend the program for the next school year.

The Senate has yet to approve a budget proposal of its own. Senate President Karen Spilka did not return calls or emails Thursday.

If the provision passes both branches, 400,000 Massachusetts students would continue to have access to free school meals in the upcoming school year, McAleer said.

Research shows that access to free food reduces anxiety, improves test scores and helps keep struggling families afloat, Ettinger de Cuba said.

“If the Senate and House both approve one-year extensions of the program,” she said, “we’ll definitely keep fighting to make the extension permanent.

Charlie Baker takes a shot at Tom Brady haters: ‘I have no hurt feelings, mixed feelings, none of that about Tom Brady’

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Many Patriots fans expressed disappointment when Tom Brady didn’t mention the Patriots in his initial statement announcing his retirement from the NFL earlier this week. But not Gov. Charlie Baker.

“I have no hurt feelings, mixed feelings, none of that about Tom Brady,” Baker said at an unrelated press conference. “He was a real gift to this region if you care about football, and you want to have that opportunity to be able to watch and appreciate truly one of the greatest performers on any stage of athletics, ever.”

Baker knew his opinion would be unpopular, “but since I’m not running for re-election,” he said with a smile, he gave a passionate monologue as he opined about Brady’s legacy.

“When he left, he showered the team, the coaches, the Krafts, and the fan base with adulation and love,” he said. “I may be 65, but my memory is not that broken. I remember everything he said about how much he appreciated all of us here in New England.”

He then recalled the earliest days of the Patriots, then stadium-less and known as “the Boston Patriots,” which played in venues like Fenway Park and the Harvard Stadium. “It was hard. I mean, you didn’t win very many games,” he said.

He said that Brady gave him and other Patriots fans hope every Sunday, and a real shot at continuing to play into February, when the Super Bowl is held.

“For all those for whom they grew up, never knowing what it was really like to be a Patriots fan in the old days, OK? The gratitude that I feel to the team, to the organization and especially to him for giving us this astonishing — he played 22 years,” Baker said, his voice rising. “Half of them, he was in the Super Bowl. It just doesn’t happen. Yet it did, and we got to watch, so I’m incredibly grateful for all of it.”

Patriots radio broadcaster Scott Zolak apologizes for calling Cam Newton ‘distracted’ by rap music

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Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak apologized Sunday evening for saying Cam Newton looked “distracted” by the rap music played during a team practice earlier this week.

“I’d turn off the rap music, first of all, because I think it’s distracting for Cam here,” Zolak said Thursday during his midday talk show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “Because in between every throw, he’s dancing. He can’t help himself, to where Mac [Jones] looks like he came to work again. Like, he’s here to work. And everything’s attention to detail. It’s nothing different.”

Zolak later described Newton as “jacking around” during practice. His comments went viral on social media Friday, when comparisons were drawn to an old video of Tom Brady dancing to rap music during a Patriots practice, which went without scrutiny.

Zolak, a former Patriots quarterback, expressed his remorse during Sunday’s pregame show on 98.5 The Sports Hub and said he met with Newton that morning to apologize in person. Since signing with the Patriots in July 2020, Newton has danced in virtually every practice and been praised by teammates and coaches as one of the hardest-working members of the organization, a player whose energy and leadership are prized in the locker room. Newton was voted a team captain last season.

“That’s something I know that’s drawn attention for being racially insensitive. I’m sorry for that comment, I didn’t need to make that comment. I should not even ever bring any sort of music into play, because I have no clue what’s going on in a player’s head,” Zolak said Sunday, as transcribed by NESN.com. “It’s been a rough last couple days here, and I wanted to do this on air. It’s the first time I’ve been on air since Thursday.”

Zolak later added: “I wanted to talk to him before I talked about this, to let him know. I got a chance to talk to him, and Cam’s nothing but class. Great guy. He handled it perfect. I mean, that’s between me and him. So that’s where I stand by it.”

Entering Sunday, Newton was 12-for-16 for 152 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions and a 125.0 passer rating this preseason.

Football games with reduced capacity did not cause uptick in coronavirus cases, study finds

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There’s good news and bad news: Catching a football game at a stadium with reduced capacity didn’t cause an uptick in coronavirus cases, according to a new study, but the encouraging results for fans and players won’t necessarily hold this season with packed stadiums, the lead author said.

“We were surprised at first. We expected there would be some increase in the cases because the games were held with fan attendance,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, the associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and an author of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Chhatwal and his colleagues looked at counties across the United States that hosted National Football League or National Collegiate Athletic Association games with reduced capacity from August to December of last year and tracked coronavirus trends compared with counties that did not host a game.

A total of 528 games were included in the study, and the median attendance for NFL games had around 10,000 fans in the stands. Data on attendance for the NCAA games was not available.

The researchers found no association between higher coronavirus cases at the county level and hosting football games.

Counties that hosted games saw a median of 26 cases per 100,000 residents on game day compared with 24 cases per 100,000 residents in the control counties.

“We believe this result is good news, but the reasons behind this could be that almost all games had strict protocols on social dancing and masks. The stadiums were not at full capacity,” Chhatwal told the Herald.

Now as football season ramps up, arenas such as Gillette Stadium won’t be operating under such conditions. There will be no mask mandate or capacity restrictions at the Foxboro stadium, according to regulations posted online.

“This is very concerning. I was frankly surprised that stadiums would be packed and no mask mandates. This was a big surprise to me considering how transmissible the delta variant is,” Chhatwal said.

Chhatwal said that even with vaccination, large gatherings without social distancing is a “recipe for disaster.”

He said for football fans considering buying tickets to a game, it’s important to weigh the risks and opt to watch from home if need be.

“If they do choose to go then masks are the best safety amour they should consider. Without masks it will be risky to watch games,” Chhatwal said.

He added, “The message is very clear. We are not done with COVID. We know the delta variant is very concerning.”

The Patriots’ preseason is underway and the home opener is set for Sept. 12 against the Miami Dolphins.