Dan Connolly was a mainstay on the New England Patriots’ offensive line for six seasons, starting 71 regular-season games and two Super Bowls at center and guard before calling it a career in 2015.
But the lasting memory from Connolly’s tenure in New England wasn’t a pancake block or a blitz pickup. It was the glorious 71-yard kickoff return he had on “Sunday Night Football” — the longest return ever by an offensive lineman.
Tuesday marked the seven-year anniversary of that play, which occurred during a 2010 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium.
Connolly displayed surprising nimbleness for a 6-foot-4, 313-pounder, stiff-arming Packers safety Charlie Peprah and side-stepping past Atari Bigby before being dragged down inside the 5-yard line.
“I tried to go for the ball thinking he was a big man without ball skills,” Peprah said after the game, via ESPN.com. “I should have just made the tackle. You just saw a big dude rumbling down the field.”
Connolly’s Patriots teammates naturally were impressed. From that same ESPN.com story:
Quarterback Tom Brady: “I’ve never seen anything happen so slow in my life.”
Center Dan Koppen: “I don’t know what happened. I don’t think he knows what happened. I don’t think anybody knows what happened. He made a bounce-out, beat everyone to the edge. To see No. 63 running down the field was pretty amazing.”
Cornerback Kyle Arrington: “That was by far the most impressive run I’ve seen from a 300-plus-pounder to be able to run away from guys my size. That should be on ‘SportsCenter’s’ Top 10, hands down.”
Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain:Â “He was like Gale Sayers out there — a much bigger version.”
