Myra Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has died at age 68 of cancer.  Mrs. Kraft, who was known for her charitable work, will be missed by her family, friends, Patriots staffers and fans and those many groups she so tirelessly helped out.

In a statement released by the Patriots it says, “Words can not express the deep sorrow that we feel in learning of the passing of Myra Hiatt Kraft.  Myra passed away early this morning after a courageous battle with cancer.  We are all heartbroken.  The global philanthropic community and the New England Patriots have suffered a great loss.”

Public services will be held for Mrs. Kraft on Friday July 22 at the Temple Emmanuel, 385 Ward Street in Newton MA.  Services are scheduled for 10 a.m.  The family has requested in lieu of flowers donations should be made in Mrs. Kraft’s name to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston’s Myra Kraft Giving Back Scholarship Fund.

Mrs. Kraft chaired the boards of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and the Boys and Girls Club’s of Boston. She also served on the boards of her alma mater Brandeis University, The Boston Foundation, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the American Repertory Theater, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and Facing History and Ourselves, a Holocaust education organization.  She also managed the Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation.

She was so worried in 1994 when he husband bought the Patriots, that the purchase would curtain their the charitable gifts they gave.  Instead their philanthropic giving increased along with the success of the franchise.

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Many current and former Patriots players and staffers offered condolences via statements or Twitter.  Among them was head coach Bill Belichick whose statement read, “On behalf of the entire Patriots football operation, we mourn the passing of Myra Kraft.  As much support as her quiet but unmistakable presence provided us in the competitive arena and as much as I will personally miss her warm embraces before and after each game, Myra shined in a much brighter arena. In the humanitarian arena, her generosity through philanthropy was admired and appreciated by all.  She made a permanent impression on hundreds of coaches, players, staff and our families as a model of grace, strength and giving.  Myra’s vision and example will impact and remain very much with our team forever.”

Defensive captain lineman Vince Wilfork on Twitter: “A wonderful life lost Luv ya Myra ‘momma’.”

Linebacker Jerod Mayo: “I am extremely saddened by the passing of Myra Kraft.  (She) has been a mainstay in the community and Patriots family.  Her giving spirit along with her countless random acts of kindness and philanthropy will continue to be a legacy remembered.

Former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak on Twitter said: “Sad day for all in Patriot Nation. Myra Kraft will be missed by all connected to this franchise.  She did so much good for so many people.”

Former wide receiver Donte Stallworth on Twitter:  “Great family, great ownership that really cares about EVERY player! My condolences to the Krafts.”

Mrs. Kraft is survived by her husband Robert, and four sons, Jonathan, Daniel, Josh and David and their families.

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The New England Patriots will put individual game tickets for the potential 2011 NFL season on sale on Friday.  You can shell out your hard-earned money while hoping the games are played on time or if at all.

To do so just go to Ticketmaster’s website or call 800-745-3000.

The Patriots have home opponents this season are:

• San Diego Week 2 Sept 18 (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
• NY Jets Week 5 Oct 9  (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
• Dallas Week 6 Oct 16 (Sun) 4:15 p.m.
• NY Giants Week 9 Nov 6 (Sun0 4:15 p.m.
• Kansas City Week 11 Nov 21 (MNF) 8:30 p.m.
• Indianapolis week 13 Dec 4 (SNF) 8:20 p.m.
• Miami Week 16 Dec 24 (Sat) 1 p.m.
• Buffalo Week 17 Jan 1 (Sun) 1 p.m.

The New England Patriots have a new member of their Hall of Fame and it’s former quarterback Drew Bledsoe who was elected over his former coach Bill Parcells and lineman Houston Antwine.

Bledsoe, the Number 1 overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, went on to become the franchise player Parcells and the team thought they were getting that day.  Both Parcells and Bledsoe were instrumental in the Patriots going from doormats to playoff contenders and finally onto Super Bowl Champions. In his first six seasons he led the Patriots to the playoffs four times.

Without the contributions of either much of what we as Patriot fans enjoy today would probably not have been accomplished.  Without Parcells, who knows if Bill Belichick ever gets hired in New England.  It was because of his time in Foxboro as an assistant on Parcells staff that the Kraft family got to know him.

Without Belichick there’s likely no Tom Brady.  It all comes back to Parcells and Bledsoe, Bledsoe and Parcells.

New England owner Robert Kraft said of Bledsoe:

“Drew Bledsoe played such an integral role in our efforts to rebuild the Patriots brand.  He gave fans hope for the future and provided many memorable moments during his record breaking career.”

Bledsoe, who came to New England from Washington State University, led the team to it’s second Super Bowl appearance in 1996 and along the way became the franchise leader in career passing attempts, completions and yards.

My favorite Bledsoe memory is of the last game he played in the 2001 AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh.  When after Brady got hurt he led the team to the Super Bowl with a gutsy performance normally reserved for starters, not back ups coming in cold. New England won that day 24-17 sending the hated Steelers home instead of to New Orleans as they had expected.

Bledsoe spent nine seasons with New England and threw 166 TD passes while winning 62 games and another 3 in the playoffs.  He also made 3 Pro Bowls as a Patriot, his first, in 1994, made him the youngest to ever play in a Pro Bowl he was 22 years old.

Bledsoe, when notified by Kraft of the honor said:

“Obviously, just a tremendous honor to be elected to the Patriots Hall of Fame.  Receiving the call from Mr. Kraft, honestly it was a bit emotional, more than I thought it would have been.”

Bledsoe will be inducted on Saturday September 17 along with Jon Morris, who was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Senior Selection Committee.  The event which is held at the Hall at Patriot Place is open free to the public.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots came into the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft with one pick that they had acquired only a day before in a trade with Oakland.  The Patriots gave up their 3^rd round pick (#92) and the fourth round pick (#125) for the Raiders 7^th round pick (#219) and Oakland’s 2012 second rounder.

And with their final pick in 2011 draft with selection #219 the Patriots chose TCU CB/S Malcom Williams who is 5’10’, 204 lbs. He played in 13 games last season with the Horned Frogs and had 12 tackles on defense and 10 more tackles on special teams.

In 2009 he had 10 total tackles with six coming on special teams.

Prior to coming to TCU he played for two years at Trinity Valley Community College when he was second in the nation in interceptions his sophomore year.

According to some this looks like a special teams pick just as Matthew Slater was in 2008.

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This wraps up the draft for New England as Bill Belichick and his staff made 9 overall picks taking 6 offensive players and only 3 players on defense.  The selections were kind of surprising in that the Patriots really needed an edge rusher and the draft was felt to be very deep in defensive ends.  In fact prior to the draft Belichick said the draft would probably be defined by the teams who best evaluated the defensive linemen because of the depth in that group.

Yet with all that depth they failed to draft a true defensive end selecting an outisde linebacker who can play end in Markell Cater and 2 defensive backs, Rasi-I Dowling and Williams.  It is to say a bit puzzling but the pone thing I keep saying is The Man has a track record and a lot of times I’ve looked at his picks and said “huh?” only to see how good that player is when the games were played.

The Patriots did beef up their offensive line with a good blocking tight end and in Lee Smith and 2 offensive linemen in Marcus Cannon and Nate Solder.  They added two running backs in Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley and a potential #2 QB in Ryan Mallett.

Out of the 9 picks I think Solder, Dowling and Vereen could potentially make every Sunday contributions with regular play.  Cannon, if healthy, and Smith I see as package players with extra lineman, three tight end sets with Carter helping in nickel and dime situations.  Ridley and Williams are probably targeted for the practice squad and Mallett will at least be the third quarterback behind Brian Hoyer with a chance to be the second.

Coming into the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft the New England Patriots had one pick in the round at #193.  They then traded that pick to Philadelphia swapping it with the #194 pick for who knows what reason.

With the #194 selection of the draft the Patriots took OLB/DE Markell Carter of Central Arkansas.

So after passing on all the big name linebackers and defensive ends Bill Belichick takes a guy no one has ever heard of or seen play.  Sound familiar?  You bet it does.  Belichick has a knack for taking these players and getting something out of them.

Carter, who is 6’4”, 252 lbs., recorded 5.5 sacks and had 19 tackles for loss for the while forcing 3 fumbles for the Bears and was named to the All-Southland Conference First Team.

As a junior in 2009 he was named to the second team all-conference after he had 6.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss.  For his career he had 15.5 sacks and 35 tackles for loss.

He projects as an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense and as an outside end rusher in the 4-man line sub package.

Carter is still not the most well known Central Arkansas alum that could belong to Basketball Hall of Fame member Scottie Pippen, Survivor Samoa winner Natalie White or possibly American Idol Kris Allen.

The team is scheduled to next pick at #219 in the seventh and final round.

The New England Patriots come into the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft with two picks.  The first is courtesy of an earlier deal in the draft with Houston.  New England sent the #60 selection in the second round to the Texans in return for an earlier third round pick #73 that was used to take LSU RB Stevan Ridley and the Texans fifth rounder at #138.  They then had their own original selection at #159.

With the 138^th pick of the draft Bill Belichick chose OL Marcus Cannon from TCU.  At 6’5”, 358 lbs. Cannon is one of the largest linemen on the board and he will project as a right guard or right tackle.

A redshirt senior, he started all 13 games for the Horned Frogs and was an All-Mountain West First Team selection for the second consecutive season.

He was considered an earlier round selection, possibly as high as the second or third round but dropped considerably due to some medical concerns. He was just recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and his prognosis is very good.  He recently started chemotherapy and should be complete by June 29^th.  Due to his health concerns the Patriots could basically “redshirt” for the year by putting him on the PUP list and save a roster spot until 2012.

One other interesting note on Cannon, he played his high school football at Odessa (TX) High School of “Friday Night Lights” fame.

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The Patriots still in need of some pashing rushing help at either the OLB spot or the DE spot then used the #159 pick of the draft on a tight end by taking Lee Smith of Marshall.

Smith is 6’5” 266 lbs. and is one of the bigger tight ends in the draft.  He is considered a very good run blocker and was also the Thundering Herd’s backup long snapper so there is a method to Belichick’s madness in this selection.  He also is a backup to Alge Crumpler who at 33 is in the last year of his two-year contract and coming off of off-season shoulder surgery.  With that name maybe the Sox could use him in the bullpen in the off season.

Smith is married and has two children, his father, the late Daryle Smith, was an offensive lineman for the Eagles, Cowboys and Browns from 1987 to 1992 and played for Belichick in Cleveland.

He had a career high 38 catches last year for the Herd.

The New England Patriots originally were coming into Saturday’s fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft with one selection near the end of the round at #125.

But last night in the third round the Patriots traded #125 to Oakland along with an earlier third round pick (#92) for a 7^th round pick Saturday (#219) and a 2012 second round pick.

The Patriots won’t be on the board again until the #138^th pick in the fifth round.

The New England Patriots went into Friday night with two picks in the third round at #74 and #92 but after a trade with Oakland they dumped their last 2^nd rounder (#60) for a third (#73) and a fifth (#138).  So now going into the round they have back-to-back picks near the top of the round and one later on.

With the #73 pick from Oakland the Patriots selected LSU running back Stevan Ridley.  The 6 foot, 223 lb. redshirt junior ran for 1,147 yards on 249 carries and scored 15 TD’s for the Tigers.  He also added 11 catches for 61 yards.

Then picking at #74 from Minnesota the Patriots landed the shocker of the draft to this point when they selected Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett.  Mallett, who started his career at Michigan, transferred to the Razorbacks after coach Lloyd Carr was fired and Rich Rodriguez was hired after the 2007 season.  After sitting out 2008, he started 13 games in 2009 throwing for 3,624 yards and 30 TD’s and was a Second Team All-SEC selection.

In 2010, he once again started all 13 games and set school records with 3,869 yards and 32 TD’s.  He ranked 5^th in the NCAA averaging 297.6 yards passing per game.

It is expected that he will be groomed to be the possible successor to Tom Brady.

Then the Patriots traded #92 to Oakland along with a fourth round pick (#125) for a 7^th round pick (#219) and a 2012 second round pick.  The Patriots turned the undervalued trade in second round into a higher value deal that gives them a second pick next year in the second round.  They also have double picks next year in the first round.

On Saturday, the final day of the draft, they will have Rounds 4-7 starting at Noon.  The Patriots have picks #138 and #159 in the fifth round, #193 in the sixth round and #219 in the seventh round.

The Patriots 2012 Draft selections are as follows as of the end of the 3^rd round:

• Round 1: Original and New Orleans
• Round 2: Original and Oakland
• Round 3: Original
• Round 4: Original
• Round 5: Original
• Round 6: No Pick
• Round 7: No Pick

The New England Patriots went into Friday evening with three second round picks.  They had selections lined up at #33, #56 and #60.

At #33 the first pick of the second round Bill Belichick and the Patriots staff reached out to the ACC and took CB Ras-I Dowling from Virginia.  The 6’1” 198 lbs corner is big for a typical Patriots defensive back.  He has good athletic ability and ranked 5^th amongst CB’s and 39^th overall by Scout’s Inc.

Dowling played in only five games in 201 due to hamstring and knee injuries and he will need to prove he can stay healthy and on the field.  In 2009 he started 12 games and had three picks and was Second Team All-ACC while in 2008 he started the last nine games and had three interceptions.

He figures to push Darius Butler, the 2009-second rounder out of UConn, who took a step back last season.

At #56 the Patriots went with a running back and selected Shane Vereen from California.  He is 5’10” and 204 lbs and started all 12 games for the Golden Bears as a redshirt junior in 2010.  He ran for 1,167 yards on 231 carries and had 13 TD’s while catching 22 passes for 209 yards and three TD’s.

In 2009 he was paired with current Detroit RB Jahvid Best and led the team in rushing with 952 yards while scoring 12 TD’s. In addition he caught 25 passes for 244 yards and three TD’s.

In his redshirt freshman year of 2008 he played in 13 games, started three and recorded 715 rushing yards on 142 attempts.  He was just the third running back selected in the draft.

The Patriots then traded pick #60 to the Houston Texans for a 3^rd round pick (#73) and a 5^th round pick (#138).  The team took less value here than what the pick was worth.  In the book the #60 pick is worth 300 points while the two picks they got back only add up to 262 points.

With the NFL Draft happening this coming weekend, I decided it was time to give an update on some of the New England Patriots draft information.

Bill Belichick and Nick Cesario have nine picks to work with in the 2011 NFL Draft with double picks in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, the Pats have 6 picks in the first 92; 4 of them come in the first 60 selections and 3 are in the Top 33.

The teams’ official selections are:

• 1^st Round Pick 17 and Pick 28
• 2^nd Round Pick 33 and Pick 60
• 3^rd Round Pick 74 and Pick 92
• 4^th Round Pick 125
• 5^th Round Pick 159
• 6^th Round Pick 193
• 7^th Round no picks

Of course this can change over the course of the draft, as Belichick isn’t immune to trading picks, sometimes swapping picks in hopes of improving his draft slot in the next draft. In fact in 11 previous drafts for the Patriots he has made 101 picks while trading away another 42 in draft day deals.  Due to the ongoing NFL Lockout, this year only picks can be traded so there won’t be any big deals involving current players that you usually see on draft day.

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So with this in mind let’s see what the Patriots media hoard is saying about the 2011 NFL Draft.

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The Patriots know what they’re looking for in the draft [Boston Globe]

Under Armor is giving 12 fans the chance to meet NFL MVP Tom Brady and talk about the draft [Boston Globe]

Patriots could have backup plans for Brady [Boston Globe]

Dad’s deeds don’t dog Ingram [Boston Globe]

Draft Analysis: Why Mark Ingram would be the Patriots most devastating pick [Boston Herald]

USC OT Tyron Smith visits Patriots [ESPN Boston]

Plenty of interest in Patriots picks [ESPN Boston]

Quick hit thoughts on Patriots and the league [ESPN Boston]

Should Patriots begin search for Brady’s heir? [ESPN AFC East Blog]

Hall of Fame LB Andre Tippett to announce Patriots 2^nd Round Picks [WEEI]

Richard Seymour vs. the 17th pick [Monterey Herald via Pats Propaganda]

Patriots draft scenario’s [Patriots Daily]

What would you do? [Patriots Football weekly]