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(SportsNetwork.com) - Sometimes regal lineage isnt so easy to prognosticate. With the 24th pick of Round 2 of the 1998 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots chose Rod Rutledge, a 6-foot-5, 262-pound tight end from Alabama - making him the fourth selection in a three-round haul breathlessly labeled by the New York Times as great, pretty impressive and a talent stockpile. The Patriots had the best draft of any team this year, according to five general managers, read an April 20 draft recap penned by Times sportswriter Mike Freeman, under a headline that suggested the team had drafted superbly. One general manager said that the Patriots draft may have been the best in the last three or four years. Needless to say, Freemans next-day assessment of Rutledge and fellow early- rounders Robert Edwards, Tebucky Jones, Tony Simmons, Chris Floyd and Greg Spires inspires little beyond an ironic chuckle these days, as a then-moribund franchise preps for its sixth subsequent Super Bowl participation. Only Jones, a lanky defensive back, started more than two seasons worth of games for the Patriots. And only he and the 6-foot-1 Spires, an undersized pass-rushing defensive end, managed a career whose duration exceeded the six-man groups collective averages of five-plus seasons and 38 games started. Spires, though, made just three of those starts with New England before finding a niche in Tampa Bay, where he started 87 games across six years and won a Super Bowl ring under Jon Gruden. At any rate, though, when kickoff comes on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz., its the long-since anonymous Rutledge wholl have the most direct link to this years dynastic personnel. Though hes not appeared in an NFL game since 2002 and not caught a pass since 2001, the now 39-year-old was on the receiving end of the first completion thrown by the now-veteran quarterback wholl arguably enter University of Phoenix Stadium within 60 minutes of billing as the games all-time best. These days, everyone knows that quarterback as Tom Brady. The guy ex-NFLer Heath Evans places atop the historic list, regardless of this weekends score. You look at the collection of talent that was consistently around Joe (Montana) - and this is no knock on Joe, its just the era he played in, Evans said. And then now, the constant mixing and matching. Tommys done it with a defense and without a defense. Hes done it with a running game and without running games. Hes done it without Pro Bowl wide receivers and with Pro Bowl wide receivers. Whether he is or isnt better than Montana is undoubtedly a hot sports radio topic now. But back then, in the midst of mop-up duty that wrapped up New Englands 34-9 Thanksgiving Day 2000 loss at Detroit, he was just another late-round wannabe (Round 6, 199th overall) trying to impress a coach (Bill Belichick) whose first season on the job was careening toward a 5-11 disappointment. Belichicks starter that day, Drew Bledsoe, completed 17 throws for 148 yards before an errant toss to Bryant Westbrook with less than five minutes left yielded a 101-yard pick-6 for the Lions cornerback - and a late-game opening for the Michigan rookie, who, at the time, nobody mistook for a king. In reality, Brady hadnt so much as taken a snap through the seasons initial 11 games while sitting behind the likes of Bledsoe, John Friesz and Michael Bishop, and to say his arrival in Week 13 was instantly interpreted as a sign of Belichicks genius would be an overstatement of mythical proportions. Not even Brady - whose Canton inclusion is now certain - was convinced his ascension was imminent. I wasnt prepared to play my first year. Thats all that would have happened, I wouldve gone out and get beat and lost a ton of confidence in what I was doing, he said. I was lucky to really have a chance that whole first year to be in a situation where I wasnt forced to play and lose a bunch of confidence. While the six-yard toss to Rutledge - Bradys lone completion in three tries - got him on the official stat sheet for posterity, it was only worthy of a space-filler mention in Nick Cafardos Friday morning post-mortem in the Boston Globe, and a one-line inclusion in the Patriots notebook piece the same day. Then came the Westbrook interception, on a pass intended for Glenn, Cafardo wrote. Bledsoe gallantly fought to make the tackle but had no chance to catch Westbrook, who danced into the end zone. Bledsoe got a handshake from Bill Belichick and was told Tom Brady was taking over. Brady wound up making no more appearances for the duration of the 2000 season, and his lingering presence on the roster the following fall -- with former No. 1 overall pick Bledsoe still firmly entrenched as starter - generated literally no mention when it came time for James Alder, an occasional blog Times blog contributor and football consultant for BBC Radio, to issue his 2001 season forecast. Instead, when it came to the AFC East, Alder and others dismissed the whole team entirely. (The East) will be a three-team race this season, and one of those teams will not be the New England Patriots, he wrote in an Aug. 10 preseason preview. They still have Drew Bledsoe running the offense, but this team has a shortage of impact players on offense and defense. If they manage to put together a decent running game, they may win as many as six games this year. Needless to say, by the time Alder prepped the next years follow-up, the horizon had changed. The frequently-recited version of the Brady legend began in Week 2 of 2001, when Bledsoe was splattered along the sidelines by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. The Patriots wound up losing to Vinny Testaverdes Jets and fell to 0-2 as Brady went 5-for-10 for a pedestrian 46 yards, but 11 wins in 14 regular- season starts followed -- as did a Super Bowl win against St. Louis that made Rutledge a trivia footnote, Bledsoe an offseason castoff and Brady a superstar. Its fun to watch him. Hes poetry in motion, Washington coach Jay Gruden said. Obviously a Hall of Famer and the best of all time. Vincent Trocheck Jersey . "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. Keith Yandle Jersey . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline....key-jersey/.500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Frank Vatrano Panthers Jersey . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Rangers hope to avoid a third straight loss on Monday night when they play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third matchup this season between the Metropolitan Division rivals. The Rangers have lost 11 of their last 15 meetings with the Penguins, splitting a pair of encounters this season. Henrik Lundqvist posted a 33-save shutout in a 5-0 home victory over Pittsburgh on Nov. 11, but the Penguins answered back with their own home win over the Rangers four days later. That came via a 3-2 shootout decision. Lundqvist, who is expected to start tonight, has allowed only two goals on 71 shots versus the Penguins this season. Backup Cam Talbot got the start in net for New York on Saturday versus Detroit after posting shutout wins in his previous two starts. He was looking solid again versus the Red Wings, but ended up allowing three goals on 34 shots in a 3-2 loss. With the Rangers up 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Klein and Rick Nash, Talbot yielded a pair of tallies 61 seconds apart late in the second period, then was beaten for the winner 7:40 into the third period. We were playing a pretty solid game. They got a couple odd-man rushes at the end of the (second) period that cost us, said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. New York will try to avoid posting a season high-tying third straight loss for the third time tthis season and Nash could lead the charge tonight.ddddddddddddThe forward has 17 goals, tied for second in the NHL, and has posted five tallies and three assists over a seven-game point streak. Pittsburgh has won five of its last seven and bounced back from a 3-0 loss versus Vancouver with a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. An unmarked Christian Ehrhoff scored with 1:50 left in regulation, getting a cross-ice pass from Sidney Crosby before blasting a shot into the upper right corner of the net. Usually when you have that much time you think too much, said Ehrhoff. But I just knew where I wanted to put it and this time, it went right where I wanted it. Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Sutter also scored for the Penguins, who won two of three on their homestand. It was important to have a (good) rebound game, said Penguins coach Mike Johnston. Following that game (versus Vancouver), I think everybody was anxious to (go). And we didnt feel that the Vancouver game was a good game for us as a team. Craig Adams appeared in his 314th straight game for the Penguins, breaking the franchise record held by Ron Schock. He had an assist in the win. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves, including two in the closing moments, in the victory for the Pens. He has allowed seven goals on 66 shots in the two games versus the Rangers this season. ' ' '