RIP, Russ Francis

Share this page

wow. you never know.
RIP Russ (and the other guy with him as well)
 
Jesus that sucks, RIP sir. And his pilot was a former USAF Thunderbird commander? Dude knew how to fly, so must have been something really bad.
 
imapig said:
One of my favorite players growing up as a young kid. I was so sad when he went to the 49ers. Hell of a football player. Rest in peace Russ.
Click to expand...
He did come back to the Patriots after he left the 49ers but unfortanely he did not do much in his 2nd stint, rest in peace Russell
 
Russell also appeared in a battle royal rumble at Wrestlemania 2 and he defeated all the football players to win the battle royal rumble which is cool
 
Last edited:
Damn, such a great football player and person. I loved it when Howard Cosell christened him as "The All World TE".

RIP Russ, you did it your way.
 
This sucks. He essentially "founded" NE's reputation and tradition of outstanding TE play. Then Coates, Cook, Watson & Graham, then Gronk and HeWhoWillNotBeNamed. Even Henry has been a bright spot.
 
imapig said:
One of my favorite players growing up as a young kid. I was so sad when he went to the 49ers. Hell of a football player. Rest in peace Russ.
Click to expand...
Yep. He was at the head of his class. I remember when he moved to SF as I was at a party where everybody was talking about how he was actually gay. :huh:
 
I watched that on Patriots All Access, what a man. And he was indeed Gronk 1.0
 
So, I noticed that there is finally some color in the trees at Stately Hawg Manor and it reminded me
of a Russ story.

During his career here he took a road trip to Vermont on an off day and the colors were really popping. Francis
was so blown away by the splendor that he immediately ponied up and bought a cabin. There was a suggestion
that he was high as a kite at the time which was not unlikely in Russ' case, but it was a different time and
the writers loved having the interesting AWTE around so nothing happened. I remember his description of those
colors seemed quite lyrical and sensitive and got some play because football players were supposed to be be
knuckle-draggers and he was not.

The guy came from Hawaii, which is just about the prettiest place on the planet, but sometimes seeing
something unexpected hits you in a different, more intense way and it seemed like a typical free-spirit move
by the very atypical Russ Francis.
 
As a kid, it was a toss up between him and Grogan for my favorite player.
It's quite a memory to have attended so many games watching those guys. Too many stories.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top