FOXBORO — Dan Connolly did not play in the second half on Sunday, thanks to what the Patriots called a head injury. It shouldn’t have been surprising. The fifth-year offensive lineman absorbed a brutal celebratory beating from his own teammates after he returned a squib kick 71 yards late in the second half, as improbable a kick return as the NFL has ever seen.
Officially, it was the longest kickoff return by an offensive lineman since the league started keeping records in 1994 – breaking the record of 27 yards set by Stephen Neal, the right guard Connolly replaced, in 2008.
“I don’t know what happened,” center Dan Koppen said. “I don’t think he knows what happened. I don’t think anybody knows what happened. That was just unbelievable.”
Here’s what happened: Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby one-hopped a short kick straight at Connolly, a perfect execution of the Packers’ don’t-kick-to-Brandon Tate strategy. The 313-pound offensive lineman plucked the ball out of the air and wrapped both arms around it — fundamentally flawless execution — before he started to run. He got one block from Dane Fletcher and another from Jarrad Page, and he broke into daylight on the left side of the field.
“He made a bounce-out and beat everybody to the edge,” Koppen said. “You’ve got No. 63 running down the field. It’s pretty amazing.”
Said linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, “He was like Gale Sayers out there – a much bigger version.”
(Connolly, as is customary for injured players, was unavailable to the media after the game.)
Green Bay safety Charlie Peprah jumped on Connolly briefly along the sideline but was shoved away by blocker Sergio Brown. Connolly then cut back toward the middle, dodging Crosby and Atari Bigby, and stumbled across the 10-yard line.
“I tried to go for the ball, thinking he was a big man without ball skills,” Peprah said. “I should have just made the tackle.”
Said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “It kind of looked like he was looking to go down, but then they couldn’t really find anybody to tackle him.”
Green Bay linebacker Robert Francois finally tripped Connolly up from behind at the 5-yard line. Three plays later, Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez to pull the Patriots within a field goal at halftime.
“You put a ball in an offensive lineman’s hand, and, naturally…” left tackle Matt Light said with a grin. “It’s not a shocker. And, you know, he wasn’t stingy with it, either. He knew, when he got close to the goal line, ‘Let’s let one of the other guys score.’”
Said Crosby, “Usually when a lineman picks up the ball, you get him down in a couple of yards. But he made a great play – and he had a little speed down the side.”
bmacpherson@projo.com
