Patriots Sign 3 Players from Navy
Posted by Matt Loede on May 4th, 2009 in News
The Patriots have signed eight players, including three from Navy will likely won’t be available immediately.
New England added running back Eric Kettani and wide receivers Shun White and Tyree Barnes from Navy. All have military commitments ahead of them.
The team also added seventh-year veteran linebacker Vinnie Ciurciu; second-year defensive tackle Steve Williams; first-year running back Omar Cuff; first-year wide receiver Robert Ortiz; and rookie punter Aaron Perez. Ciurciu, primarily a special teams player, was cut by Minnesota earlier this year. He played in 14 games last season for the Vikings.
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Tags: Steve Williams;, Vinnie Ciurciu
This post has 2 comments
May 5th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I have spent a lot of time with the three young men out of USNA. Let me tell you they are not only three outstanding people, but they are very underrated in terms of their on-field talent. White has outstanding speed (4.36/40, was also the Patriot League 60m champion in 2007) and Barnes is physically one of the best receivers to come out of college that nobody has heard of (He ran a 4.38 for scouts a few weeks ago.) And what can you say about Kettani? He’s a 4.6 guy at 240-lbs who literally willed this offense through several games last season. Definitely not your standard fullback – the guy is an all around tailback who can do it all.
-Adam Nettina
GoMids.com
August 10th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Adam,
You are right on target. I have been a mentor to Shun for the past 3 years and can tell you that he is one of the top 3 backs to ever play for Navy. New England has moved him to wide receiver, but are missing a great opportunity to let him run back kicks. I am hopeful that the Navy will let him play pro ball in the short term. Same for Kettani–who could start at full back for many NFL teams right now. Finding a way for these young men to play pro ball would be impacting on service academy recruiting and ultimately great for the country.