Originally Posted by PatsWorldChamps

how funny is it that matt millen has turned into the worst GM in history?

Originally Posted by bobgeorge

I was at that game where Sullivan got slapped around by Long and Millen.

After I settled down after screaming my lungs out after we had just beat the Raiders at the LA Coliseum, I noticed a "scrum" as the players were heading to the tunnel which led to the locker rooms. The fans down at that corner of the stadium that hadn't gotten out yet started yelling and cheering this "scrum". From my vantage point I couldn't see why the fans were yelling, nor who was at the epicenter of the scrum.

I found out later that it was Patrick Sullivan screaming at Long and Millen, and the latter two cuffing him around. I believe Sullivan said things like "This gets you back for 1976!" or words similar. Long would later state that his five-year-old daughter could kick Sullivan's ass.

The Patriots held a great deal of animosity towards the Raiders back then, and a lot of that may exist today, perhaps in the opposite direction thanks to the Snow Bowl. In 1985, memories of Ben Dreith and Darryl Stingley were still very fresh on everyone's minds. Sullivan more or less carried with him the voices of all Patriot fans who seethed at Dreith and Jack Tatum and grieved for Stingley. I told myself "If Pat Sullivan has enough balls to take on those two guys, he can be my bodyguard any time."

In hindsight, I think Sullivan used bad judgment, and you would never see a Kraft (Jonathan, for example) do something like that. Sullivan came off looking like a buffoon, and it gave the family's detractors more to chide them over. I am glad that Donaldson put the Sullivans in a good light, and I am very touched by what Bob Kraft said to Patrick's kids about their grandfather. But for those of you who knew that era well, you cannot argue that the Sullivans did some things which made themselves look like second class owners who almost didn't belong at the same table with the rest of the big boys.

In 1986, the last time I went to Foxborough to see a Pats game, my late father and I were in the stands to see a preseason game against Washington. This guy with an AFC Championship ring and a walkie-talkie was sitting in front of us. I said to my father, "Dad, that's Patrick Sullivan!" Dad answered, "Who?"

Bob G

Originally Posted by groundgame

The Sullivans meant well. If Chuck Sullivan had turned a profit and not financial disaster with his family's investment with the Michael Jackson venture, they would have poured the money right back into the team.

Originally Posted by godef

Are you kidding? Chuck Sullivan was the cancer in the organization, cheap, and unwilling to pay for the talent that Chuck Fairbanks had begun to compile as head coach. He was one of the main reasons that Fairbanks took off to Colorado.