FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Houston Antwine, one of the Patriots' top defensive players in their early years, and his wife, Evelyn, have died, the team said Tuesday.
Antwine, 72, died Monday in Memphis, Tenn., of heart failure, and his wife died Tuesday of lung cancer, the team said.
A member of the Patriots' 50th Anniversary Team, Antwine played from 1961 to 1971 with the franchise before spending the 1972 season with the Philadelphia Eagles. In 142 regular-season games for the Patriots, he had 39 sacks, leading the team in that category during the 1967, 1968 and 1969 seasons, although sacks were not an official statistic then.
"For those of us who grew up watching the Boston Patriots, this is a really sad day," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "In the 1960s, the defensive tackle tandem of `Twine' and Jim Lee Hunt was as good as any in the league and helped propel the Patriots to the franchise's first division championship in 1963.
"I loved hearing Houston's stories about those early days in Boston. It was such a thrill for me, personally, to spend time with the players from that era."
Antwine attended Southern Illinois, where he became a multiple sport athlete, a defensive tackle and an NAIA wrestling champion.
In addition to making the Patriots 1960s All-Decade team, he was chosen to the all-time All-AFL team.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.
