HOUSTON — If you would like to become a job candidate to catch passes from Tom Brady, put together a resume that won’t possibly get you noticed.
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Stop growing as soon as you’re tall enough to ride a roller coaster. Spend four years not playing football at Penn State before transferring to Monmouth University and start eight games on defense. Bounce like a rubber ball from the practice squads of the 49ers, Giants and Dolphins and underwhelm the Bills so they won’t re-sign you.
That’s the route Chris Hogan ran to becoming a Patriots receiver.
Julian Edelman was a 5-foot-10 quarterback at Kent State.
Rookie Malcolm Mitchell was ignored until the fourth round. When it comes to surrounding their star quarterback with weapons, New England is more willing to take more fliers than Delta.
Hasn’t this always been the case? Whether it’s Danny Amendola, Wes Welker, Troy Brown, David Givens, Aaron Dobson, Daniel Graham, Jabar Gaffney, Troy Brown, Deion Branch or Brandon Tate, the Patriots shop for receivers in the clearance aisle.
Sure, Randy Moss set an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions from Brady in 2007 and eclipsed 1,000 yards in three of his four seasons in Foxboro. Chad Johnson? Player please! He averaged one catch per game in 2011.
Perhaps that why former Bucs receiver Keyshawn Johnson declared the Patriots current crop of pass catchers as "system" guys.
"When you see guys that fail and play for other teams at the receiver position, they can go to New England and excel and everybody goes, ‘Oh my God, Oh my God, these receivers are top of the game,’ " Johnson said. "Well, Cratosslot they couldn’t excel with other teams because of the system. If they were on other teams right now, they probably wouldn’t be on the 53-man roster."
It’s easy to understand why Johnson, the 6-foot-4 former No. 1 overall pick of the Jets may think that. But those kinds of comments keep the chips on the shoulders of the Patriots receivers.
"I’m not worried about what people are saying," Edelman said. "I’m worried about what people are doing. Week in and week out, we ignore the noise."
In the case of Edelman, well, the guy has proven he’s a heck of a receiver. He has averaged 89 receptions, 956 yards and five touchdowns for four seasons. When the Patriots last played in the Super Bowl, he led the Patriots with 109 receiving yards on nine catches. His late three-yard touchdown reception proved to be the game-winner over the Seahawks. His biggest play may have been a clutch, 21-yard catch on third-and-14 when Edelman was struck helmet-to-helmet from Kam Chancellor.
"We’re just guys who can get open, catch the ball and play within the system," Edelman said.
It really is as simple as that. No matter where the Patriots find their receivers, they all are overachieving players who run good routes, understand where they’re supposed to be and make plays. Brady’s accuracy doesn’t demand they get a lot of separation or have a huge reach. All of them know how to take a hit.
"They do a really good job of getting away from defenders," Falcons safety Keanu Neal said. "They have a lot of grit. They’re just ball players."
Hogan, who had nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the AFC Championship game against the Steelers, was a lacrosse midfielder who led the Nittany Lions with 29 goals as a senior to become a first team All-Eastern College Athletic Conference selection.
At Monmouth, Hogan started eight games at cornerback. He caught only 12 passes but three were for touchdowns.
The Patriots signed Hogan to an offer sheet that the Bills decided wasn’t worth matching. He responded by leading the AFC in yards per catch (17.9).
"Chris has been incredible in what he has added to our team," Brady said Hogan, who had 38 catches for 680 yards and four touchdowns. "Playing for Buffalo and playing against them, we knew how talented he was."
Mitchell has gotten progressively better. The Patriots picked up Cardinals castoff Michael Floyd, who had a 1,000-yard season with Arizona in 2013, after a DUI arrest. Amendola will play Super Bowl LI practically in his backyard of Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston.
But like all the Patriots unheralded receivers, he’s right at home in New England.
Contact Rick Stroud at rstroud@tampabay.com. Follow @NFLStroud
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