Evergreen State football roots stretch farther than you think

I promised myself I would wait at least one column before I talked about the New England Patriots.

The Columbia Basin Herald’s readership, I’m sure, isn’t that interested in a loathsome team on the other side of the country. However, to me, the Pats have been my favorite professional football team for as long as I can remember.

For all intents and purposes, I am loyal to the soil. I live and (mostly) die with the Mariners every summer and am a proud Central Washington University Wildcat. I loved the Sonics, but a Clay Bennett-sized wrench was thrown into my fandom a little over a decade ago. I beamed with pride when Everett, my hometown, hosted the WNBA champion Seattle Storm for a few games while the Key Arena continued to be renovated.

The Pats were always the outlier, but not as much as you may think.

Patriot quarterbacks did, in fact, exist before Tom Brady. Some were even pretty good, like Drew Bledsoe.

Bledsoe was born in Ellensburg — notice the connection to my alma mater — and there is a signed picture of the Washington State University star hanging in the Campus U-Tote-Em restaurant not far from Central’s grounds. I would stare longingly at the picture, a combination of jealousy and hunger overtaking me as I waited for the chicken strip basket I invariably ordered. I have a Bledsoe football card that ends in the late ’90s if someone needs to check my credentials.

New England’s connection to the Evergreen State during my formative years didn’t end there.

Lawyer Milloy was a strong safety for the Patriots from 1996-2002 and was a member of the team’s first Super Bowl winner. Although Milloy was born in St. Louis, he attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma before starring at the University of Washington.

I received a stark reminder I was aging when Moses Lake’s fastpitch softball team was scheduled to play Redmond in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament last spring. Redmond’s standout pitcher was Kiki Milloy, a University of Tennessee commit.

That name sound familiar?

Sure enough, it was Lawyer’s daughter.

I didn’t get an opportunity to fan out as I attempted to escape the torrential downpour that marred the first day of the state tournament.

I know it’s an unpopular choice, especially in this state (thank you, Malcolm Butler). But reasonable Patriot fans exist, I promise.