It was ironic to see Tom Brady topple Tennessee with his arm last Sunday, wearing one of the throwback jerseys the league is showcasing this season to highlight the 50th anniversary of the AFL. The Patriot teams of that era — the Boston Patriots — were an exception to the pass-happy league of Al Davis and Sid Gillman, the cornerstone of the franchise being a 240-pound wrecking ball named Jim Nance.

In Nance's magical sophomore campaign of 1966, he led players in both leagues in carries (299) and rushing yards (1,458). Prior to that, only the great Jim Brown had racked up more carries and only Brown and Jim Taylor had gained more yards in a single season.

That year Nance opened with 135 yards of total offense on 16 touches against San Diego. In a game against Oakland in October, he scored twice and gained 208 yards on 38 carries to help give Boston a 24-21 win. Nance gained 100 or more yards in five of the final six outings, but Boston came up a half-game short of Buffalo in the AFL East race. At the time it was one of the finest seasons a running back had ever posted; Nance became just the third rusher to average better than 100 yards per game (104.1), and both the UPI and the AP named him the AFL's most valuable player that season.

During a four-year stretch, few running backs in either league could compare to Nance's totals. From 1966-69, he ranked first in the AFL in carries three times, and first in yards twice.

All of that success might not have been much of a surprise seeing as how Nance had set a number of football records at Syracuse — the cradle for the game's greatest backs of the 1950s and '60s. Had he signed with the NFL's Bears in 1965, it's possible he would have shared a backfield with Gale Sayers. Instead, Nance picked Boston, which selected him in the 19th round of the AFL draft that year.

Nance shares something in common with current Patriots offensive lineman Stephen Neal — both won a pair of NCAA Division 1 wrestling titles; in three seasons, Nance — college's first African-American two-time champion in the sport — lost just one match for the Orangemen.

An ankle injury during the 1968 AFL season forced him to miss two games, and slowed him for much of the year. Nance gained just 3.4 yards per carry, and never again topped the 4.0-yard per carry mark in a full season (though he was named the AFL's comeback player of the year in 1969).

No rusher had dominated the AFL during its 10-year run quite like Nance. But, whereas AFL stars such as Joe Namath, Lance Alworth and Len Dawson have become immortalized, few still speak of the power back who ran over everything that crossed his path.

And in New England, all of Nance's numbers except one — his 45 career rushing TDs aren't in any danger of being eclipsed anytime soon — have been washed away.

His 1966 rushing tally now ranks third in franchise history behind Corey Dillon (2004) and Curtis Martin (1995); his single-season rushing touchdown mark (11) has been toppled by everyone from Antowain Smith to QB Steve Grogan; and Nance's career rushing yardage total of 5,323 was edged by Sam Cunningham, who remains the career club leader to this day.

Nance is still one of only three Patriots players to have won a major MVP award (Brady and Gino Cappelletti are the other two).

Following the 1971 season the recently re-named New England Patriots dealt Nance to Philadelphia. He sat out the 1972 season and never played for the Eagles. He played just one more season, for the Jets, in 1973, but gained only 78 yards. His final NFL performance was in a November contest against New England.

Nance played two seasons in the World Football league, gaining more than 2,000 yards total, before hanging up his cleats. A stroke and heart attack struck him before his 40th birthday, and in 1992, at age 49, Nance passed away.

This summer the Patriots inducted him into their team Hall of Fame - nearly four decades after he left the Boston area as its all-time greatest rusher.