New England Patriots: Gaffney Impostor, Stallworth News

Dec 10, 2012; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Donte

One of the initial highlights of the Patriots minicamp today was the appearance of Jabar Gaffney, who reporters claimed to have caught (and also dropped) some passes from newcomer Tim Tebow. The speculation then began that the Patriots were working him out and could re-sign him to bolster a very young receiving corps. The M. Night Shyamalan ending to this minicamp, however, was that Gaffney was not actually there! There was a receiver on the field that looked very similar to him, so similar that several reliable reporters confused the two. Who is this mystery receiver? No one seems to know. According to Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe, he was wearing #84, but there is no #84 on the roster right now. As minicamp continues we should find out the true identity of this Gaffney impersonator.

The news of the Patriots possibly working out Jabar Gaffney came on the heels of a tweet by Rich Campbell of The Washington Times reporting that the Washington Redskins are interested in former Patriots WR Donte’ Stallworth.

The Patriots had re-signed Stallworth last season but he was placed on IR after just one game with the team. He had one spectacular catch for a 63 yard TD against the Houston Texans, but tore his ACL on the play. All speculation was that the Patriots would attempt to re-sign Stallworth again this off-season, who played well for the team during his previous stint in 2007. In that season he had 46 catches, nearly 700 yards, and 3 TDs. Stallworth suffered more injuries this offseason in a hot air balloon accident, which may have led to the Patriots delaying in making a move for him. Perhaps they merely were not interested, but either way it appears as if the Redskins will be signing Stallworth soon. The Patriots had signed both Stallworth and Gaffney during the offseason last year before cutting them, so the news of Stallworth potentially having a new team could have fueled the fire of Gaffney making an appearance at minicamp today.