Tuesday, May 2, 2000

The firing of Bobby Grier

Grier, who spent 18 years with the team, won a Draft Day struggle with Bill Parcells in 1996 over the selection of WR Terry Glenn, beginning a chain of events that eventually led to Parcells going to the New York Jets.

Parcells took the Patriots to the 1997 Super Bowl, but team owner Bob Kraft balked at putting him in charge of player acquisition. Parcells left for total control of the Jets, making the memorable statement, "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries."

Under Grier and head coach Pete Carroll, the Patriots have regressed the last three years, and Carroll was fired at the end of last season.

ProFootballWeekly.com asked contributing editor Joel Buchsbaum to weigh in on the subject.

Q: Can you put into perspective the performance of Bobby Grier while he was employed by the Patriots?

Buchsbaum: I think he was a good, hard worker and a loyal soldier who moved up the ranks, but I think at the end he may have gotten promoted one notch too high.

Q: Can you talk about the fact that a number of the picks didn’t seem to pan out, especially the extra picks from the Parcells deal?

Buchsbaum: Well, I think he overemphasized size, speed and athleticism. Didn’t put enough emphasis on competitiveness and how the guys played. Now, very often one scout will favor one thing over another thing, but a good director of scouting understands this and compensates for the weakness that scout has by curbing his grade a little bit in a different direction.

Q: How does the Patriots' front office change now that he’s out?

Buchsbaum: Well, I think it gives Bill Belichick freedom to put in all his own people and people he feels comfortable with.

Q: Will he be especially involved from a scouting standpoint?

Buchsbaum: Bill Belichick always has been very involved from a scouting standpoint.

Q: And he has a quality eye for that, doesn’t he?

Buchsbaum: He has a quality eye, yes.

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1999 - 2000 Season