NoCal Patriot

Italian Pat Patriot had an idea to start a thread were everyone can participate in and share their memories of some forgotten incidents in the colorful History of Our New England Patriots.I am going to start this thread with a very colorful event.The time machine comes to a stop on a very important date in Patriots History. The date is August 15,1971,a date that will live forever.It was the Night of the FIRST Game ever at Schaefer Stadium.It was a warm August Night and anticipation filled the air.
It was my second season of Season Tickets but the first year that my friends Jack and Sully joined Joe and I as Season Ticket Holders.It had been an eventful year prior to this August Night.The Team had started building The Stadium in the previous fall.The Patriots had changed their name from ,The Boston Patriots to The Bay State Patriots, until finally They settled on The now famous,New England Patriots in March of 1971.The Draft that year had brought Us a ray of hope when The Patriots drafted The Heisman Trophy Winner,Jim Plunkett from Stanford University.There was a great deal of anticipation going into the 1971 Season and things were looking up.
Luckily for Me,my friends were as excited as I was and We left very early to get down for the Game. I drove my 1966 Ford Fairlane into the Parking Lot at 4p.m. I was lucky to beat the worst traffic snafu in the History of Foxboro.I know of many who never made it to the stadium.From the Parking lot the traffic stretched for miles up Route 1.As bad as it was,when everyone reached the parking Lot ,the excitement ramped up.No one knew where to go or what gate to enter.There was the excitement of Christmas Morning as a kid.The crowd that night was 60,423.
This game was 36 years ago and the memory has faded but I remember vividly Gino Cappaletti scoring The Patriots first points in The new Stadium which was only appropriate since He was the leading scorer in Patriots History at that time.On that evening We all got our first look at Jim Plunkett.The guy had incredible expectations on his shoulders.He played well that night for a Rookie and We all could see the promise.
We all know the toilets were less than operational and in fact in some Bathrooms They weren't even installed!There were other bathrooms where the plumbers had installed urinals at Six Feet High due to some kind of dispute with The Sullivans.It was such a desperate situation that many relived themselves against the walls! If You weren't there You would not believe it ! There were not enough concession stand or Beer Stands! The lines were enormous!
The crowd with all of these hardships stayed positive and were rewarded with a Patriots victory.The Final Score was Patriots 20 Giants 14 .
It took Me 4 hours to get back to Belmont,Mass that night but that evening left Me with a lifelong memory. It was simply a great night !
All of your memories are invited and anticipated.Remember,this is a group effort.

Patriotic

Thanks, NOCalPatriot, I can still recall listening to Gil Santos calling the game on WBZ. Well into the 2nd quarter he commented that cars were still slowly entering the parking lots. Two quick stories about the urinals. Will McDonough tells the story about bringing his son to the new stadium just before it opened when the Pats requested their friends in the media to run around the stadium flushing as many urinals quickly to test the plumbing. As for the high placed urinals, visiting QB Roman Gabriel was said to quip that the Pats must have some really big guys.

And poor Jim Plunkett. Very good QB and a class guy. He didn't deserve what the Pats would put him thru in the coming four years. I was happy to see his Super Bowl success with the Raiders.

NoCal Patriot

I alway admired Jim Plunkett.He took a beating for the Patriots but no one ever threw a better"Deep Ball" for The Patriots than Jim Plunkett ( This includes Drew Bledsoe).I met Jim several years later at Stanford and we talked about those days. The one day He has never forgotten was the day in 1975 when He was on the ground after being buried by The Dallas Cowboys' Doomsday Defense and about half of the crowd cheered as Jim layed there injured !That to Me was a dark day in Patriots History.I told Jim"Remember,not everyone cheered".He told Me that He knew that and I think He really appreciated my comments.I enjoyed both of his Super Bowl victories since I always viewed them as well deserved.
It was also the trade of Jim Plunkett to The San Francisco 49ers that built the 1976 Patriots.If anyone can imagine today the Trade was Jim Plunkett for 2 First Round Draft Picks and Tom Owen who was a back up Quarterback for The Patriots for a few years.

italian pat patriot

i hope this thread will become soon a 5 star thread

Jimke

I had a couple of season tickets during the early years at Schaefer Stadium.

The tickets cost a grand total of $80 per year ($5 per ticket) for end

zone seats. You were not required to buy tickets to pre-season games.

NoCal Patriot

The first year at Foxboro Our Sideline Season Tickets in Section 210 including The THREE Preseason Games back then were $80.00 each for 10 Games.
When The Sullivan's began making the needed upgrades to Schaefer Stadium the price of Our Season Tickets skyrocketed to $100. per season.

Sean Pa Patriot

1977 was my first Pats game , on a small black and white tv .. I was in the second grade, and they played the Colts.. I think they could not make the playoffs,but a win would knock the Colts off.. The game was played in a downpour, and the Pats had a 21-3 lead, but then Bert Jones brought the Colts back and hit Raymond Chester for a TD and the Pats lost.. I remember going to my first game in 1978 at Shea Stadium , Pats beat the Richard Todd Jets 19-17 .. So many memories, so little time..

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We going to take it one game at a time

NoCal Patriot

Sean,was that Colts' game the one when Joe Washington ran wild?

zippo59

Sadly I am too young to contribute to this thread (my earliest memories are from the Drew Bledsoe days) but I love hearing about the old time Patriots. This team certainly has had a colorful history and I love to learn about it. (Hence my Michael Haynes avatar.)

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"What Tom Brady just did gives me goose bumps."-John Madden after final drive in SB 36


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Unofficial Kevin Faulk supporter.

Murphys95

I posted these a while back. Thought I'd post 'em again - makes for a good visual aid for NoCal's stories. These are some of the old stubs from when I was a kid (wished I'd saved more of them!):