Kevin Stone

2024 NEFJ MIAA All-State Teams

January 12, 2025

It was another fantastic year for high school football in Massachusetts. Here are our first, second and third teams as well as this year’s honorable mentions. Congrats to everyone on a great year, we’re already looking forward to a stellar 2025. First Team Offense QB: Osiris Lopez, Leominster, Jr. RB: Mekhi Dodd, Catholic Memorial, Sr. RB: Justin Marques, Fairhaven, Sr. WR: Merrick Barlow, St. John’s Prep, Sr. WR: Lawson Foley,……

Vrabel set to become next head coach of the Patriots

January 12, 2025

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Around 10:30 on Sunday morning, arguably the worst kept secret in Patriots history was finally revealed from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. The Patriots are hiring team Hall of Famer Mike Vrabel as the franchise’s 16th head coach. One week after firing Jerod Mayo less than an hour after the regular season finale, another former linebacker is now tasked with bringing the team back to relevance. There’s several…

Dan Curran’s son Ty joining Holy Cross

January 10, 2025

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Image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics It’ll be a family affair in Worcester starting in 2025. Holy Cross head coach Dan Curran will have a familiar face in his meeting rooms and on the sideline next year as his son Ty – who played at Ball State this past season as a freshman – announced he was joining the Crusaders recently. “I want to thank Coach New and the entire…

Bill O’Brien talks BC, Belichick, Pats head coaching vacancy & more

January 9, 2025

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On Thursday morning, Bill O’Brien had his weekly appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. While the staff is in the midst of putting the pedal to the metal on recruiting, there’s a coaching vacancy in this area that is getting all the attention on both radio stations and every channel. Of course, O’Brien’s name is going to come up every single time (or close to it) there’s an opening…

Segel: Kraft knows this decision has to be made carefully

January 7, 2025

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By Alan Segel NEFJ Contributor FOXBOROUGH – The late Harry Truman, our 33rd president, had a saying ‘the buck stops here.’ On Monday, in the wake of Jerod Mayo being fired as Patriots head coach, ‘Give ’em Hell, Harry’ would have been proud of Patriots owner Robert Kraft. “This whole situation is on me,” is what Robert Kraft said at the very beginning of his remarks Monday during a press…

What’s next? Patriots begin looking to 2025

January 6, 2025

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FOXBOROUGH – Less than one calendar year. That’s how long it took to go from Bill Belichick, to Jerod Mayo, to 4-13 twice, to another search for a head coach. After the unnecessary win and then stunningly abrupt firing of Mayo on Sunday night, it was a strange feeling inside Gillette Stadium on a bitterly cold and blustery Monday. The finality of the 4-13 season had set in a few…

Jones lives out dream with first official NFL game

January 5, 2025

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FOXBOROUGH – The players wearing silver helmets, silver pants and blue jerseys on Sunday didn’t care about the draft position. Professional football players play to win and the Patriots did on Sunday, 23-16 over Buffalo in the regular season finale. For one guy in particular, the win was the icing on the cake of a once-in-a-lifetime type of day. Truman Jones played in his first NFL regular season game against…

Mayo fired less than an hour after regular season finale vs. Buffalo

January 5, 2025

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If you never believed in the saying that ‘life comes at you quickly,’ take a look at what happened to Jerod Mayo on Sunday. Less than an hour after beating the Buffalo Bills 23-16 in the regular season finale, costing the team the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Patriots fired Mayo after just one season. “After the game today, I informed Jerod Mayo that he…

Patriots 23, Bills 16 – Pats lose No. 1 pick with victory in regular season finale

January 5, 2025

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Getty Images FOXBOROUGH – In a year where the Patriots couldn’t figure out how to play winning football consistently, the organization sure picked the worse time possible to figure it out. Led by Joe Milton’s 241 yards passing with a rushing and throwing TD, the Pats beat Buffalo 23-16 inside a half empty Gillette Stadium on a frigid final day of the season. A loss would have guaranteed the Patriots…

Tavai defends comments on fans

January 3, 2025

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The final Friday of the regular season got off to a hot start. In an interview with The Greg Hill Show on WEEI, linebacker Jahlani Tavai made comments about the fan base chanting ‘Fire Mayo!’ and other things during the embarrassing 40-7 loss to the Chargers last Saturday, saying fans needed to ‘know their place.’ Jerod Mayo was asked about it a couple hours later during his weekly Friday presser….