- Newly claimed off waivers New England Patriots TE Jake Ballard (photo by John O’Boyle/The New Jersey Star-Ledger)
By Ralph Vacchiano and Ebenezer Samuel
The New York Daily News
NEW YORK – Jake Ballard helped beat the New England Patriots twice last season. Now, he has joined them.
On Tuesday, in a surprise move, New England claimed the injured Ballard off waivers, just one day after the Giants waived him. The sudden turn of events left the 24-year-old tight end stunned, yet grateful.
“While this was very sudden and I am still experiencing a great deal of differing emotions, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you and place some closure on a wonderful chapter in my life,” Ballard said in a statement through agent Blake Baratz.
It was a chapter that neither Ballard nor the Giants expected to end. Ballard is still rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in Super Bowl XLVI against the Patriots and recovering from microfracture knee surgery. He has said multiple times that he will miss all of 2012.
READ REST OF THE STORY HERE:
