Remembering Bucko

Flipping through the Patriots' 2008 Media Guide this morning, I came across this nugget:

April 6, 1979 -- Francis "Bucko" Kilroy named general manager.

The late Kilroy was an institution around Foxborough. It is 30 years to the day that he became the team's general manager (he first joined the team in 1971 as player personnel director).

It's been almost two years since Kilroy passed away, but his impact on the game -- and the Patriots -- is not forgotten.

Consider that Kilroy was credited as one of the founders of the National Scouting Combine, the event which has grown considerably in recent years and leads into the ever-popular NFL Draft.

I remember talking to former Patriots linebacker Steve Nelson at the time of Kilroy's death for an obituary in the Boston Globe.

Said Nelson at the time:

"He was an incredible character in the NFL -- a great player, coach, general manager; he did everything you could do except own a team. It's always sad when you lose guys who helped found the league and watched it grow to what it is today, and maybe don't get the credit they deserve for all the long hours they put in."