Tragedy strikes again for the Thornton Family

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how can this be?💔
i'll try to think of some words that might begin to be worthy of @Hawg73
right now i have nothing but a request to waive the 5 year h.o.f. poster requirement and induct him now.
r.i.p. 🥺
 
This is such heart breaking news. He was not only extremely smart but one of the nicest people I've met from here. I remember way back in my single days he stepped in as my internet "dad" with the dating applications and screenings ❤️
RIP Daddy Hawg. Sending so much love to the fam.
 
TBrownslady said:
This is such heart breaking news. He was not only extremely smart but one of the nicest people I've met from here. I remember way back in my single days he stepped in as my internet "dad" with the dating applications and screenings ❤️
RIP Daddy Hawg. Sending so much love to the fam.
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I have no doubt that your internet dad was proud and happy for where you are now with a loving husband and two beautiful kids. In those early years of the Planet, we were truly family.
 
Damn……. Hawg had a sense of wit matched by no one else. I’m really going to miss his presence here.
 
I don't know what to say. This is devastating.
Please send your thoughts to the Thornton family as often as you can, right now.
 
So there are all kinds of things I could say here, and many of you have already said them. Hawg was like the Godfather of the Planet, and always gave a well-written and meaningful football post when needed. I always thought he was a talented writer, and he was an original mod here on the Planet. Stayed through it all and his presence was like the moral center of the board, he will be missed dearly, and we should definitely talk about renaming something on the board in his honor.

So instead of filling this out with how very much he meant to the board, and saying many of the same things that have already been said, I spent a few hours trying to find this blast from the past instead. It is a good thing I am a pack rat and that it applies not only to material things, but also to old files. I am not quite sure how I still have this as it is at least 4 computers later, and it wasn't on the server, but I found it on my hard drive. I thought this might be a fitting tribute to him for everyone to be able to hear Hawg speak and impart his knowledge on the Jets fans.

On February 8th, 2005, I received the following email:

Dear Administrator of Patriots Planet;

My name is Paul Kastava and I am a host for a sports radio show at the University of Texas called "The Longhorn Round-Up." Our show is currently looking for someone with extensive knowledge of the Patriots who could come on the show and discuss the Patriots Third Super Bowl Victory.

The show is on from 10am-12pm Eastern Time and we usually have our guest on between 11:20 am - 11:40 am. So if you are able to make time to be a guest on our show that would be greatly appreciated.

If you are interested (or even if you are not) please respond back and we can work out a plan for the show. Usually, we would call you at your most convenient line and patch you at the proper time. The one thing I will warn you about is that I am diehard Jet fan, so amidst the praise for the Pats, there may be a potshot at good 'ole Bill Belichik.


I immediately posted a thread in the super secret staff forum and asked if any of the 5 mods wanted to be on the radio. It was kicked around for awhile and ultimately Hawg decided to do it.

Here is the article that is referenced:

HE IS STILL A LOSER TO ME.

The love fest for Bill Belichick continues after he's led his Patriot team to their third Super Bowl in four years. Of course, it's pretty justified. When you are the first coach to win three Super Bowls in four years, the praise of the media is expected.

What everyone seems to forget, however, were the times when he was considered a mediocre head coach whose place in the world of football was limited to simply calling defensive plays.

A genius coordinator who couldn't cut it as a head coach: sounds like a lot of coordinators in the NFL today, don't it?

It makes one wonder how he was all of a sudden regarded as the best head coach in football, and by some, the best head coach of all-time. The man who finished his head coaching career in Cleveland with a 36-45 record along with one single playoff appearance that ended before his team could even reach the Super Bowl.

This man who began his head coaching career in New England with a five and thirteen record. Patriot fans were calling for his head and New York Jet fans were ecstatic that he decided not to lead their team into the future.

This man that didn't have the social skills as his mentor, Bill Parcells, would surely be a failure as a head coach. Sure, he could run some of the most innovative defenses in NFL history, but he couldn't do the two things asked of by a head coach: handle the media and win games.

Then a savior emerged. He didn't emerge by any choice of Belichick's, but he got the chance to save a seemingly down-and-out organization by luck. It's one of those few times that it seems like fate is a huge fan of literature, as irony played a prevalent role in propelling the Patriots organization to greatness.

During the third week of the season (the week after September 11th), Belichick was set to lead his team against the New York Jets; the team he left a year earlier for reasons that Patriot and Jet fans still argue over. The Jets swept them the year before and this game didn't look it would be any different after the Patriots lost in Week One to the lowly Bengals.

The Jets won the contest, but not before Jet linebacker Mo Lewis knocked out long-time Patriot starting QB Drew Bledsoe. At that point, it didn't seem it could get any worse for this franchise that was in the Super Bowl only five years previously. It was a good time to be a fan of any other team in the AFC East for that matter.

Or was it?

Enter a young quarterback from Michigan to replace Bledsoe who did a reasonable job of keeping the game close and the Jets won by a score of 10-3. Maybe the kid would be better than Bledsoe? Of course, most quarterbacks were better than Bledsoe. There were paraplegics who could move better in the pocket than the former Washington St. quarterback.

For those of you who aren't too bright, that young quarterback was Tom Brady, and he helped his team finish the season with an astounding 11-3 record and a path to the Super Bowl that shocked the world.

It makes one wonder: if Brady never entered that game, would the term Belichick and dynasty be used in the same sentence?

Sure, one player doesn't win a Super Bowl. New England has proven in their Super Bowl victories that it takes an entire team to win it all. (The book Patriot Reign supports this concept to an even more detailed extent.) But this team was far from a dynasty without Brady. Are we all to believe that the Patriots were on the verge of exploding onto the scene and it was a major coincidence that Brady became the quarterback during this surge?

I can't buy it. Especially since he has never lost a playoff game, and Belichick had already lost one in two tries prior to leading the Patriots to the playoffs.

Plus, we still forget that the man touted as "Mumbles" Belichick never made the genius move of putting Brady in. He may have drafted him in the sixth round, but Belichick never decided to pull Bledsoe in favor of the modern day Joe Montana. Later on Belichick would make the wise move of keeping Brady in once Bledsoe recovered, but what decent head coach wouldn't have?

This argument may come off as a bitter rant from a Jets fan, which is partially true. I cringe every time I think about what Belichick has done with the Jets rival franchise when in a moral and just world, he should be doing this with the Jets. But the fact that he stole a million dollars from a dead guy is a topic for another conversation. For now, however, we can't simply call this man a genius because who knows where he would be if it wasn't for one hit. Maybe the team was going to go on this path no matter what happened to Bledsoe.

But what if they weren't?

What if Brady saved this franchise?

Wouldn't this mean that every great coordinator should get an extended shot at a head coaching job because you just never know when someone is going to knock out your washed-up quarterback and some young, unknown will come in and lead your team to dynasty status?

I may be overanalyzing all this and unfairly criticizing Belichick, but I can't put him in the class of Lombardi and Walsh just yet. If he does this again without his long-time friend Charlie Weis, that's a step towards getting my full support (as if that matters to him). But do this without Brady, and I will take back every single word I've said in this column and jump on the Belichick bandwagon faster than America jumped on the Red Sox bandwagon.

Now onto how Bill Belichick stole a million dollars from a dead guy…
Hawg wrote the guy back with this:

Paul,

That was a very interesting little article. It is well written and I give you credit for taking a currently unfashionable point of view on Belichick. Let's just say I am your polar opposite on the Belichick question and let it go at that for now, but it might make for an interesting debate.

I will admit to rising hard to the bait about how he stole 1M from a dead man. I assume you are referring to Leon Hess, but not sure. I might need to bone up on some of the details, but I do have a different take on the man and his resignation as HC of the NYJ.

So you've actually read Patriot Reign? Great book.

I'll be glad to come on your show. Sounds like fun. Count me in.

I can be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx during normal business hours and will be able to come on tomorrow 2/16 at 11:20 EST.

Hit me back and let me know anything else I need to know and in the meantime I'll be trying to bone up on the border war.

Thanks,
Jack Thornton


Technology in those days wasn't what it is today, but we did manage to stream it live and between Anni and myself, managed to record it.

Here is the link to the interview in which Hawg represents Patriotsplanet and it was great to listen to again: HAWG SPEAKS

And here is the original thread in which it was announced and talked about:

Undertaker #59*

Thread 'ANNOUNCEMENT: Hawg to be on the radio coming up!'

Hawg to be on the radio coming up!

Coming up at 11:20AM EST as a representative of PatriotsPlanet to talk with a Jets fan on a Texas college radio station of all things. We are going to try and record it, but you can also listen live here.


You will be missed Jack.
 
Forum renamed at a long time member's suggestion. I thought it was perfect, but don't want to call him out if he doesn't want public credit. He is a shy guy.
 
Undertaker #59* said:
Forum renamed at a long time member's suggestion. I thought it was perfect, but don't want to call him out if he doesn't want public credit. He is a shy guy.
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That's superb UT. I was going to suggest the same thing. We can have that great pic of him with a beer in hand at an actual tailgate in our heads when we post here now.
 
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Undertaker #59* said:
Forum renamed at a long time member's suggestion. I thought it was perfect, but don't want to call him out if he doesn't want public credit. He is a shy guy.
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Awesome! great idea
I checked out the thread from 2005 (I joined that year but initially just lurked) and seeing some of the posters names from days of yore brings back a lot of memories.
 
Just 😥😥😥 What more can be said that hasn't been said.

Prayers to the Thorton family.
 
Devastating news. Much has so eloquently been written about a man who left a huge footprint on the board. My thoughts are with the Thornton family.
 
This is slightly surreal, I've been around here since '03ish....never been the most prolific poster, but a constant reader.....you've all helped me keep a connection to home, a place I haven't lived since '95....I have probably read more of Hawg's words in those 21yrs than I've said to some members of my actual family......damn it sucks getting old.....best wishes to the Thornton family.
 
Goodness what terrible news, Hawg was one of if not the most knowledgeable football guys I’ve ever come across. Condolences to his entire family, he will be sorely missed here.
 
AkPatsFan said:
Goodness what terrible news, Hawg was one of if not the most knowledgeable football guys I’ve ever come across. Condolences to his entire family, he will be sorely missed here.
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Hawg was certainly peerless with respect to football. That goes without saying. But he could discuss, engage, and comment on so many other topics. And his ability to bury a troll was off the charts, and usually hilarious. In the early days of the dynasty we had a waiting list of idiots coming here every week, and then were the actual member/idiot/trolls that crossed his path and regretted it, like NEM and Midgar, for starters. That died down the last few years, but some of those exchanges he had in that time were priceless. It was required morning coffee reading. The classic thread list has a lot of threads he either started or chimed in on, and I'm glad they are there to enjoy.
 
patswin said:
Hawg was certainly peerless with respect to football. That goes without saying. But he could discuss, engage, and comment on so many other topics. And his ability to bury a troll was off the charts, and usually hilarious. In the early days of the dynasty we had a waiting list of idiots coming here every week, and then were the actual member/idiot/trolls that crossed his path and regretted it, like NEM and Midgar, for starters. That died down the last few years, but some of those exchanges he had in that time were priceless. It was required morning coffee reading. The classic thread list has a lot of threads he either started or chimed in on, and I'm glad they are there to enjoy.
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I really miss his BBQ posts…
 
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