Long-time New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins joined the latest "Pats from the Past" podcast with hosts Matt Smith and Paul Perillo to share his perspective on his career with the Patriots and it was another episode loaded with great nuggets for fans.
After being selected 32nd overall in the 2005 draft, Mankins went on an 11-year career with 130 games played for the Patriots. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler and was named a first-team All-Pro in 2010 while being named second-team All-Pro five times. Praised as one of the toughest players in Patriots history, Mankins played all 16 games in six of his nine years with the team.
Over the course of the 45-minute podcast, Mankins shared some great untold stories from his time in the NFL. Here are five of the best.
On facing Richard Seymour in practice as a rookie:
"I remember my rookie year Richard Seymour was here, he was holding out, I was like 'Who's this guy everyone is talking about?" I found out the first day he came back, he was a handful, I got a lot of 'Welcome to New England' moments. I was like 'Damn this guy's big, what the heck.' Of course, where he lines up every day for practice is right over me. The first one-on-one he ran me over, I was like 'Holy [expletive], I better figure out how to block guys like this.' And then we went to the first game and I was like 'Oh man everyone's not like him. Thankfully not everyone's like this guy.'"
On filling it at left tackle a few times:
"Those games I actually liked going out to tackle every now and then. It was fun just to change it up every now and then. That was the second time [against Baltimore]. the first time I played tackle I didn't find out until like 20 minutes before the game. So that was a little tougher. The one against the Ravens was nice because I actually got to practice all week at tackle. I like tackle, it was fun."
On playing the 2011 season with a torn ACL:
"They said maybe I was used to having a loose knee or something. I had to wear one of those weird braces for most of the year. It hurt for the first couple games and then it just kind of went away. And then after the season we went and saw the doctor and he's like 'This thing's been torn a long time.' We didn't know it was fully torn [initially]. The doctors just shook it around and said 'Well, what do you think? Well, I can give it a shot this week in practice.' I got through two drills and I was like we'll just go with it."
On whether or not the 2007 team just ran out of gas:
"Possibly. I was still so young, only my third year, I was just happy to be playing football. But we had so many older guys that really knew and understood football at that time. And maybe they did. And it was a very stressful season. As the year went on it got more stressful. More pressure on you, not just from not losing, Bill that year had his foot on the gas pedal, every game felt like when we watch film I felt like we lost the game. And we'd beat somebody by 40 and then you come in and it felt like you lost the game. I didn't feel burned out by the end of the year but on the offensive line, we didn't play good enough in that game. Usually, if the o-line doesn't play good you don't win, that's how it goes a lot of times."
On losing the 2006 AFC Championship to the Colts:
"My second year we had to go lose to them in the AFC championship game, which we would've won that Super Bowl for sure. That was a heartbreaker losing that game. I was a second-year guy sitting on the sideline like 'Holy crap, I don't know what we're winning by, 21 or something. I was like, 'We're going to go to the Super Bowl,' and then we crapped the bed in the second half. Oh my gosh, I can't believe we lost that game."
On never winning a Super Bowl:
"People ask me all the time and I'm like yeah I wish I had won a Super Bowl but at the end of the day I try to tell my family members would that make me a better dad, better husband? Now I want to be a farmer, now would that have changed my life at all? No. I tried my absolute hardest to win one but it just didn't work out."
On being traded to Tampa Bay:
"The day I got traded there ended up being a big party at my house that night. I didn't throw it, just a lot of guys came over and we tore it up pretty good that night. It was good to know that I meant something to most of those guys."
Pats from the Past Podcast
The 'Pats from the Past' podcast features in-depth conversations with some of the greatest Patriots players in franchise history. Hosted by Sr. Executive Producer Matt Smith, and Patriots.com's Paul Perillo, who combined have nearly forty years of experience in the organization to expertly tap into the players and their unique insights.
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