Andre Tippett squares off against Milt Schmidt in the first round of Boston’s Biggest Sports Legend tournament.
The most recent Patriot to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Andre Tippett was one of the greatest to ever play in New England. The linebacker collected 100 sacks — a team record — in 151 games, making five straight Pro Bowls from 1984 to 1988. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Tippett spent his entire 12-year NFL career with the Patriots. He was selected to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and was recently named to the Patriots’ 50th anniversary team. Tippett closed out his career in style, starting all 16 games in 1993 and recording 8 1/2 sacks. He was part of a transformation in New England, helping turn a team that was 2-14 the year before his arrival into a Super Bowl team four years later — preparing New England for its emergence as one of the best teams in the NFL.
To the average Bruins fan, he is a faceless name, but to those whose blood runs thick with Black and Gold, Milt Schmidt is simply one of the greatest icons in franchise history. Schmidt began his 16-year career in the mid-1930s and quickly emerged as one of the game’s best two-way centers. Schmidt bagged a scoring title in 1940 playing alongside his childhood friends, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer, to form the famous “Kraut Line,” or the “Kitchner Kids.” Schmidt led the B’s to two Stanley Cup titles in three seasons (1939, 1941) before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942. He didn’t return until 1946, taking four prime years away from his career. After his retirement in 1955, Schmidt coached the B’s for 11 seasons before becoming general manager. As GM, Schmidt pulled off the biggest trade in team history when he acquired Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Standfield for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris. After this megadeal, Schmidt’s Bruins captured two Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. In 2000, Schmidt was named the 27th greatest hockey player in NHL history by the Hockey News.
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