Patriots practice on Winston Churchill's old stomping grounds in London
LONDON (AP) — They’ll toil and sweat but hopefully without the blood and tears.
A London game is more than just a typical road trip for NFL teams. It’s a chance to learn about local history, too.
In fact, the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars — who play Sunday at Wembley Stadium — don’t even need to leave their practice facilities to do so.
The Patriots trained Friday at the exclusive Harrow School, whose most famous alumnus is Winston Churchill. Farther out in the countryside, the Jaguars have been using a practice field that is nearly on top of a maze of World War II air raid shelters.
Harrow consists of 324 acres on a hill overlooking London where Churchill spent his high school years before entering politics and leading Britain through World War II as prime minister.
“If any of the Pats players take a break from practice, they should walk around and see the school grounds because they’re quite grand," said Lee Pollock, a director and senior adviser to the board of the International Churchill Society.
A highlight is the Speech Room, where young Churchill recited 1,200 lines from the poem “Lays of Ancient Rome” from memory and won a prize for the feat.
“At Harrow, he learned what he called the most noble thing in the world: the construction of a sentence in the English language,” Pollock said.
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo noted another big character — a fictional one — from Harrow's more recent history.
“I’m definitely a big history guy and I would also say I just learned that there was a Harry Potter scene shot here as well, which I thought was pretty interesting,” Mayo said.
Deatrich Wise Jr., a defensive end, said he already knew Churchill was an alum because “someone said it on the way in.”
Pockets of American politicians have long admired and quoted the cigar-chomping Churchill, and that's spilled over into sports too. San Diego Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is a big fan. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker cited Churchill in a social media post about courage, though he's not the first to misattribute a quote to him.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson had a large Churchill portrait in his office at the U.S. embassy when he was ambassador to the United Kingdom under then-President Donald Trump. Outside of his wartime leadership, Churchill’s legacy is more complex.
The Jags are close to history, too. To avoid German bombing in WWII, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway bought the Grove estate in Watford and moved its headquarters there. It was called “Project X.”
Air raid shelters were built and are still intact — explorers have posted videos online even though the entrances appear to be at least partially blocked. At one point they were being used as “bat roosts,” according to historical records. The Grove luxury hotel where the Jags now regularly stay opened in 2003.
Several entrances to the shelters are visible in the woods next to the Jags' practice field.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, speaking generally about the team's annual London trip, says he's always up for learning more about the region.
“I do enjoy history and learning about things," he said on Wednesday. "I don’t know a ton about the area, to be honest. Usually when we’re here it’s pretty busy and we’re kind of focused on the game and trying to win that, but I am intrigued and I think it’s cool just everything here at the Grove but also just in London — it’s so much older than in America.
“The history behind it,” Lawrence continued, "you pick up bits as you go ... it is interesting hearing different things about it.”
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