The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Long waits finally over for Patriots’ Melifonwu, Gronk
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rob Gronkowski waited 27 days between NFL games. Obi Melifonwu waited 357.
For Patriots fans, not seeing Gronk through two games and a bye week was painful. Must have felt like an eternity.
Melifonwu, who made his Patriots debut Sunday, knows about eternity. At least in football terms. The last time the former UConn star played in an NFL game was Dec. 3, 2017 against the Giants.
“A long time coming,” Melifonwu said after New England dusted the hapless Jets, 27-13, at MetLife Stadium.
The NFL is nothing if not a weekly bashing of the unfortunate and a narrative of personal journeys. Some journeys are long. Tom Brady (41) and Josh
McCown (39) combined to become the second-oldest quarterback duo to start an NFL game. One is the greatest of all-time. McCown, who has had stints with 10 NFL teams, not to mention the Hartford Colonials of the UFL, may be the most resilient. Playing in place of injured Sam Darnold, McCown held his own for most of Sunday. The smashing, bashing and rehashing of the bashing would be reserved for poor Todd Bowles.
Talk about an eternity. That’s how long it’ll be feel for Bowles before the Jets inevitably fire their coach at the end of this season.
But back to the personal journeys, and here was Melifonwu continuing to write his own story.
“Obi is the best safety in America.” Remember that one?
Former UConn coach Bob Diaco said it in the summer before Melifonwu’s senior season.
“I’ve had a few safeties that were great safeties,” said Diaco, who had been defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. “And Obi is as talented, physically, if not more talented than all of them. Whether he turns out to be the safety of the quality of some of these guys who are NFL Pro Bowl players, we’ll see.”
Melifonwu will be remembered for his UConn-leading 118 tackles and four interceptions in 2016. After a strong Senior Bowl and Melinfonwu’s 44-inch vertical leap, 11-9 broad jump and 4.4 40 at the NFL Combine, the Oakland Raiders drafted him 56th overall in the second round.
It didn’t work out with the Raiders. He got into five games as a rookie. He played against the Broncos, Chiefs, Dolphins, Patriots and Giants. He had seven total tackles. Of his 34 defensive snaps, 26 came against the Pats in his one start at Mexico City.
Durable at UConn, Melifonwu was rewarded with nothing but injuries as a NFL rookie. He injured his hamstring. He had arthroscopic knee surgery. He had hip surgery. His season ended on injury reserve. He got hurt again in training camp in the summer. When he cleared waivers, he went on injured reserve until his Oct. 23 release. After working out for four NFL teams, Melifonwu signed a two-year contract. The Pats sealed the deal with $100,000 guaranteed.
When the Patriots acquired him, Belichick said Melifonwu, 6-4, 224, had “a good skill set and he’s smart.” He’s also versatile. In his Patriots debut, he was in on the opening kickoff and played special teams throughout. He came in on the second snap and saw a chunk of action through the first half as Belichick used multiple safeties. He was used sparingly in the second half and did take a holding penalty on a punt with 7:29 remaining.
And now here he was, in the corner of a cramped visitors locker room.
“It felt like a blessing, honestly, to get back out there after being away from the game for a long time,” Melifonwu said. “It just felt good to help my teammates win. I’ve worked hard to come back and I really grateful for the Patriots giving me an opportunity.”
There was some thought he might play against the Titans, but the bye week allowed him a chance to better acclimate to the playbook. He knew he’d play Sunday.
“I think my versatility can help a lot,” Melifonwu said. “I’m the type of person wherever the coach and team needs me to play, I’m there.
“I was huge Patriots fan growing up. I grew up 40 minutes from Gillette Stadium (in Grafton). I’ve been watching them my whole life. My whole family is excited about this.”
After he was acquired last month, he told reporters, “To finally get to play for the team that I watched on TV and idolized is definitely something that’s special to me. I feel like everything is coming full circle.”
Yes, everything is coming full circle and hitting Todd Bowles in the face. When James White got nailed for offensive pass interference late in the first quarter, Bowles decided to accept the penalty. Instead of fourth-and-2, the Patriots were looking at a thirdand-12. And, well, you know what happens when you give Tom Brady a second chance.
“Third-and-12 are better odds than fourth-and-2 and we knew they were going to go for it because they typically do on fourth-and-two,” Bowles insisted.
Would Belichick definitely have gone for it from the 24? Or would he have settled for a 41-yard field goal attempt? This much we know. Bowles decided to test the arm of the greatest quarterback in history, the day devolved into another loss and he ended up getting splattered with criticism.
Sure enough, Brady found Gronkowski down the middle behind linebacker Avery Williamson. Gronk held on through contact from Morris Claiborne for the 34-yard touchdown. It led to only Gronk’s second spike of the season. Jets fans undoubtedly had the urge to do that to their beleaguered coach.
After missing nearly a month with a back injury, yes, he had been left with some paltry numbers. He had only caught 29 passes and one touchdown.
“I know Tom is always going to throw that one if it’s open,” said Gronk, who finished with three catches for 56 yards.
The New York Daily News got plenty of mileage the other day out of a clever tabloid back page parity of “Weekend at Bernie’s.” Only this was Belichick and Brady propping up the corpse of Gronk in “Weak End at Gronkie’s.” Manish Mehta essentially wrote an Gronk obituary, saying if you love football you wanted to remember Gronk as he was. Strong. Powerful. Chugging beers on a parade float. Awful dance moves. That Gronk is gone, Mehta, wrote, replaced by some guy “plodding along like some tip-calculator-carrying resident of Del Boca Vista. His body is 29 going on 92.”
Great stuff. Until the Party Animal returned.