Projo Pats Blog

The Patriots chose two New Englanders in the second round, the first time the team has done that since 1999 when they picked Damien Woody of Boston College and Sean Morey of Brown.

This time, it was defensive tackle Ron Brace of BC and cornerback Darius Butler of Connecticut.

As recently as three days ago, Brace had no idea where he would end up.

``I asked my agent what he thought and he said it could be any of the 32 teams,'' Brace said. ``The fact that it ended up being the Patriots is crazy. I never thought I'd end up with the team I watched growing up.''

Brace, a 6-foot-3, 330-pound defensive tackle was selected by the Pats in the second round, with the 40th overall pick. Brace grew up in Springfield, Mass., and played college football for Boston College.

``It's really a great honor,'' he said. ``Going from BC to playing in the NFL for the Patriots is a dream of mine. I can't wait to get to work.''

``He's an inside player, big, powerful, explosive,'' Pats coach Bill Belichick said of Brace.

Butler, on the other hand, had an inkling he might become a Patriot. When UConn held its pro day, Belichick was the only NFL head coach on hand.

``The Patriots pretty much ran my workout,'' he said.

Later, he had some doubts, because he had more contact with a number of teams than the Pats.

``There wasn't too much contact (with the Pats) after by pro day,'' he said.

As he was watching the draft, Butler saw where the Pats traded to get picks 40 and 41. He said, ``I had a feeling that might be where I'd be landing.''

Butler said he has modeled his game on that of former Patriots' now Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel.

Belichick described Butler as ``a real good athlete, a high quality kid, smart.''

It all was an example of how far football has spread. The team drafted a player born in Jamaica in Patrick Chung, a player born in Germany in Sabastian Vollmer, and two guys who played collegiately in New England in Butler and Brace.

 Tags  Bill Belichick Darius Butler Patrick Chung Ron Brace Sebastian Vollmer

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