Career Highlights
- Considered one of the best free safeties in the NFL, Tim was finally selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time last season
- For the fourth straight year, he was the top tackler in the Patriots’ secondary with 44 initial hits and 12 assists for a total of 56 stops
- In ’79, he was the team’s second leading tackler with 70 1/2 stops while adding 68 in 1978 and 54 more in 1977
- Finished second on the Patriots’ interception list with four steals, raising his five year career total to 14, good enough for the tenth spot on the all-time club interception list
- Also turned in six pass defenses in ’80, third best effort on the squad
- Since missing the season opener with a hip injury as a rookie in 1976, Tim had made 75 consecutive starts, second only to Bill Lenkaitis (76) among the active players
- He also added two interceptions, four QB pressures, four pass deflections and one fumble recovery to his impressive 1979 tackle total
- Tim was the type of player who plays with reckless abandon and likes to charge up and hit opposing ball carriers
- Turned in 52 tackles and 27 assists as a rookie while also contributing a top effort on special teams, especially as a blocker
- Earned UPI and PFW all-rookie honors in 1976
- In season opener of ’79 vs. Pittsburgh, he was the game’s top tackler with nine hits and three assists
- Recorded a sack on a blitz vs. Baltimore (11-26-78)
- Was one of three first round draftees selected by Patriots and 21st player selected overall in 1976 draft
- Acquired with a first round choice from San Francisco (originally Houston’s) in Jim Plunkett trade.
- Games Played/Started: Total: 75/75
- Stats: Fumble Recoveries: 1976 -4, 1977 -1, 1978 -1, 1979 -1. Credited with one safety vs. Buffalo, 12-10-78.
College Highlights
- A four year starter under Woody Hayes at Ohio State, he played in 43 of 46 games during his four year Buckeye career
- Consensus All-America selection who helped lead the Buckeyes to 40-5-1 record in his four years at Columbus
- Co-captain of unbeaten (11-0) squad in 1975
- Led Big Ten during senior year in punt returns (22 for 256 yards, 1 TD) and ranked 12th nationally, just one spot behind Patriot teammate Mike Haynes.
Personal
- Tim was born and raised in Ohio, Canton to be exact. Of course, football fans know Canton as the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame but Tim says the focus where he comes from is not the pros.
- “Pick up the sports page in Ohio and you’ll find high school football is No. 1, college is No. 2 and only then do you read about the Browns and Bengals,” says Tim.
That being the case, Tim really didn’t focus on college ball until his high school career at Canton Glenwood (now Canton Glen Oaks) High School was over. When it was, he moved on to Ohio State and started as a cornerback for the Buckeyes. By his senior year, he was playing free safety and was co-captain of Woody Hayes’s 11-0 team. - In 1976 Tim was drafted in the first round — 21st overall — by the Patriots in a pick acquired by the Patriots in a trade with San Francisco.
- “I wasn’t even sure where the Patriots were,” recalled Tim. “At the time people still referred to them as the Boston Patriots.
- “The other thing that I remember is thinking that as you progressed up the chain from high school to college to the pros, things like coaching and facilities got better. That wasn’t necessarily the case in New England.”
- Tim played with the Patriots through the 1981 season. He was then traded to the San Diego Chargers where he stayed until 1984. He finished his playing days with the Los Angeles Rams in 1986.
- With his family spending most of their time in New England, Tim decided to make Westwood, Mass., his permanent home after football.
- While still playing with the Patriots, he had completed a couple of years of law school at Suffolk University in Boston and also received his license to sell stocks and bonds and was quickly hired by a local brokerage firm.
- Since 1992, Tim has worked for RR Donnelley, a financial printing company out of Boston where he is Sales Director for the New England region.
- Tim and his wife Debbie have three children, Landin, 28, who went to Arizona State and received her MBA from The Citadel and now works at Charles River Laboratories; Haley who played field hockey for Ohio State, received her Masters in Special Education and now runs a school for autistic children in Hershey, Pa.; and Chris, 18, a senior at Xaverian High School and who has committed to play football for Boston College next year.
- In addition to his work at RR Doneley and for NEPAC, Tim also is involved with the Friends of Wrentham, a charitable organization that benefits the Wrentham State School which houses citizens with mental disabilities.
- He also serves as auctioneer for 30 to 40 events per year. His advice to getting the most out of any auction: “Make sure there is an open bar.”