Just call him Father Flanagan.
Bill Belichick continues to specialize in reclamation projects, with the Patriots’ taking on two more knuckleheads yesterday by agreeing to trades for defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.
Belichick has relished turning bad boys into choirboys in recent years, most notably with Randy Moss, and has had great success in keeping them in line with strong locker-room leadership and what has been dubbed “The Patriot Way.” Those turnaround skills will be put to the test by Haynesworth and Ochocinco.
Haynesworth, acquired from the Redskins, has All-Pro skills when properly motivated but already has worn out his welcome in Tennessee and Washington with his petulant behavior in the locker room and legal trouble off the field. He was particularly toxic in his lone season with Mike Shanahan last year, prompting the Redskins coach to ditch the two-time All-Pro for a fifth-round pick after Daniel Snyder paid him $35 million for just 20 games.
Haynesworth has been dubbed the costliest mistake in Redskins history, but his expected arrival was a big hit in New England.
“I think he’s a great player, hell of a player,” Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork told Boston-area media yesterday. “The guy is a freakish athlete.”
Haynesworth, a mountainous presence at 6-feet-6, 320 pounds, seems an odd fit with the Patriots on the field, too. New England uses a 3-4 defensive scheme, which is the same system Haynesworth complained about last year in Washington.
Ochocinco burned his bridges
in Cincinnati after publicly mocking coach Marvin Lewis and the team’s ownership following last year’s 4-12 disaster. Despite (or perhaps because of) pairing with Terrell Owens, the 31-year-old Ochocinco had one of his worst seasons as a pro in 2010, catching just 67 passes for 831 yards and four TDs in 14 games.
The Patriots were willing to take a chance, though, because they lack a deep threat at receiver after trading Moss to the Vikings in the middle of last season.
bhubbuch@nypost.com