Per 2 Requests From Italian Pat Patriot

[NoCal Patriot]

My good friend from Italia wants to know a little more about The 1985 Regular Season Ending Game between Our beloved New England Patriots and The Cincinnati Bengals.The Game occurred a couple of Days before Christmas and I happened to be in Boston to visit my parents for The Holidays (I was living in California at the Time).A few days before the game I received a call from my friend Steve (one of the many guys I tailgated with during the decade of the 1970's) and He invited Me to the game. It was like "Old Home Week" as I returned like a conquering hero to The Foxboro Stadium Parking Lot.It was a very cold but sunny Sunday Morning with a light coating of snow in The Parking Lot.There was the usual "Big Game Buzz" in the Parking Lot before the game since everyone knew what was at stake.The wind was blowing just enough for everyone to know this was a December game at Foxboro!
The Patriots came out that day breathing Fire and played with great intensity and passion.I remember Robert Weathers making a big run to seal the game for the Patriots and the roar that went up when He scored shook the foundation of the old place! Boomer and The Bengals never really had a chance.They entered the Foxboro Snake Pit and were consumed .The Defense led by Garin Veris,Andre Tippett,Don Blackmon and Company had a great day.Tony Eason led the Pats Offense and really controlled the ball.It was the Patriots Day and We all knew that early.
All during the 4th Quarter the crowd was roaring! This Team was on a roll and We all knew it.The crowd stayed after the final gun and continued to roar! It was a very special day and no one in the crowd was a bit cold.
We went to "The Red Snapper"after the game and it was just packed! The roar had continued from The Stadium to the Red Snapper.Steve Grogan came in and sat with Us for some time.Our old Friend, Julius Adams stopped by to exchange greetings and Holiday Wishes.Craig James bought our table a round of drinks.Everyone was in The Holiday Spirit.Everyone also knew that this Team,the way they were playing was capable of making a "Playoff Run" which They did.It was one of those days that gets lost in the current 'Super Bowl Runs" Shadow but at the time We all enjoyed it and treassured it.It was a very Merry Christmas in Patriots Nation! Final Score Patriots 34 Bengals 23 !
It must also be remembered that this victory set up a "Playoff Run" that included victories over The New York Jets,The Los Angeles Raiders,and The Miami Dolphins.Until The Super Bowl it was an incredible time to be a Patriots Fan.To put that run into context,it would be the equilvalent of today beating The Jets,The Steelers,and The Colts, in successive weeks.Simply Sensational!

 

[Mike the Brit]

What a great post! Nothing beats an end-of-season victory. Nice too to remember a time when fans and players could mingle. I hope that you've got enough of these to keep us going until training camp.

 

[NoCal Patriot]

What a great post! Nothing beats an end-of-season victory. Nice too to remember a time when fans and players could mingle. I hope that you've got enough of these to keep us going until training camp.

Mike,in those days the players were just "Regular Guys".Many Pats Fans knew players by name including wives and girlfriends.

 

[italian pat patriot]

as usual: great, great job, NoCal Patriot !

 

[italian pat patriot]

...and the fans at the end of the game, if i am not wrong, dismantled the goal posts - correct ?

and they took them outside the stadium too, again, if i am correct

 

[DarrylS]

"Squish the fish" and meeting the plane at TF Green airport.. really great memories, thanks for bringing it up.

 

[Murphys95]

Robert Weathers 42 yard touchdown run on 4th & 1 was one of the top plays of the '85 regular season.

IMO, the number one play of that year was Grogan's flea flicker versus the Dolphins at home in Foxboro (week 9). The Pats trailed 13-3 in the 4th quarter. On 4th and 1 from the 28 yard line, New England lined up to go for it. Grogan handed the ball off to Tatupu, who took a couple steps, then turned around and tossed the ball back. Grogan then hit a wide open Greg Hawthorne for a 28 yard TD pass. The place went nuts!

The Pats later won that game on a classic run by Grogan. The final score was 17-13. At that time it was a game for the ages. To come from behind and beat their nemesis, a Dolphins team that was in the Super Bowl the previous year, a Dolphins team which the Pats always found the most heartbreaking ways to lose to, was simply amazing. My family had season tix from '79 through '91, and that was perhaps the best game I had ever witnessed in that time period (don't get me started on missing the "Snow Plow Game" of '82!).

If I were to nominate a second best play of '85 (regular season), I'd have to go with Don Blackmon's tip of Dave Kreig's pass in the ridiculously loud King Dome. The Seahawks were marching down the field in the 4th quarter, about to put the game away, when LB Blackmon deflected the pass, Fred Marion jumped up and snagged it out of the air and proceeded to run 83 yards down the near sideline....til he ran out of gas! The Pats scored a few plays later and won 20-13. That was the Pats 6th straight win in '85.

Loved that season.

 

[Daniel McJosh]

as usual: great, great job, NoCal Patriot !

My next door neighbor, NEM, who has read this thread told me to tell you that he has a lot of great stories from the sixties and the old days of the Boston Patriots that he will write for me and I will post them for you here. He is not here right now but will be back this afternoon.

 

[italian pat patriot]

My next door neighbor, NEM, who has read this thread told me to tell you that he has a lot of great stories from the sixties and the old days of the Boston Patriots that he will write for me and I will post them for you here. He is not here right now but will be back this afternoon.

thks and send him my regards

 

[NoCal Patriot]

...and the fans at the end of the game, if i am not wrong, dismantled the goal posts - correct ?

and they took them outside the stadium too, again, if i am correct

They did IPP .It was another wild day at Foxboro!

 

[italian pat patriot]

They did IPP .It was another wild day at Foxboro!

i can imagine...i would have loved to be there also at that times...

pity that i never saw a game to the 'old' Foxboro - i know that Gillette is much more better but i think that the 'old' Schaefer-Sullivan-Foxboro was a stadium for 'REAL FANS'

 

[NoCal Patriot]

i can imagine...i would have loved to be there also at that times...

pity that i never saw a game to the 'old' Foxboro - i know that Gillette is much more better but i think that the 'old' Schaefer-Sullivan-Foxboro was a stadium for 'REAL FANS'

To be honest IPP,it was a dump but it was Our Dump.The Old Stadium which only cost $6 Million U.S. Dollars to build the whole thing was the only reason We kept Pro Football in New England.The whole place was built in about 9 months and there were no working toilets in several parts of The Stadium for the first game against The New York Giants. That game in itself should be another episode in The Tales of NoCal Patriot.
The fans in those days are another story.Someone on the board described them as "Boys Night Out " and that is pretty close to the truth.The crowd was far more Male than it is today.I am in no way saying better or worse,it was simply different.
The party always started early and went late.If You like to laugh and have a good time then no red blooded man could help but enjoy Himself. I think You would have fit right in IPP !If You decide to "Cross The Pond" and attend a game this season,please let Me know.There are still many from "The Old Days" still present both on this board and at Foxboro.

 

[Murphys95]

i can imagine...i would have loved to be there also at that times...

pity that i never saw a game to the 'old' Foxboro - i know that Gillette is much more better but i think that the 'old' Schaefer-Sullivan-Foxboro was a stadium for 'REAL FANS'

NoCalPatriot paints the picture. Schaefer was a totally different environment than Gillette. There's a certain "sterility" to Gillette now. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. Back in the day, fights were commonplace. Heck, half the game we'd spend yelling "down in front" at the bozos in front of us because they would always stand up to gawk at all the fights.

The worst fights seemed to always be when the Jets came to town. Over in the band's endzone (where the Diamond Vision was later built), I recall a brutal beat down. One poor fan was being repeatedly kicked as he lay on the ground. Fights were a regular occurrence.

When I was ten years old I got stuck by myself in the Men's room at half-time. If you ever went to old Schaefer Stadium, the one thing you'd remember is how bad the restroom situation was. It was a constant mob scene. Not enough toilets, way too many fans. Being only 10, I got bumped and shoved into the corner by the hoards of stampeding fans (it was like one slow moving stampede). There I was, a little kid, all by myself, cramped into the corner by the sinks and the trash can - completely stuck. Must have been almost 10 minutes before this gruff looking Pats fan noticed me and shouted for everyone to clear out. The guy scooped me up by my collar, lifted me up and carried me out of the restroom (I remember walking on the sinks as he lifted me out!). ....ah, the good ole days. Loved 'em!

 

[NoCal Patriot]

My next door neighbor, NEM, who has read this thread told me to tell you that he has a lot of great stories from the sixties and the old days of the Boston Patriots that he will write for me and I will post them for you here. He is not here right now but will be back this afternoon.

Give NEM my regards. He certainly is missed by many of Us.

 

[italian pat patriot]

NoCal Patriot: you should open a thread like 'Pats memories 60-70-80' and put always on that thread yr very beautiful stories of the past and the people that would like to add simply could write on that thread

i think for NON US fans it could be nice (i.e: Mike from Uk, Fonsy from Es, myself and many others)

i noted a lot of interest from many fans on this board (like Murphys95, Nem, RayClay, Fgssand, Gjaj15, Jimke, Godef, Patriotic, etc)

do you agree ?

 

[NoCal Patriot]

NoCal Patriot: you should open a thread like 'Pats memories 60-70-80' and put always on that thread yr very beautiful stories of the past and the people that would like to add simply could write on that thread

i think for NON US fans it could be nice (i.e: Mike from Uk, Fonsy from Es, myself and many others)

i noted a lot of interest from many fans on this board (like Murphy95, Nem, RayClay,Fgssand,Gjaj15,Jimke,Godef,Patriotic, etc)

do you agree ?

I absolutely agree.I'll start to compile a few stories and I post some thoughts later today.

 

[Daniel McJosh]

I absolutely agree.I'll start to compile a few stories and I post some thoughts later today.

NEM will be giving me many stories from the 60s today and I will retype them and post them here.

He said that one of the most memorable comes from a chartered bus trip that he arranged to Buffalo for the 1963 divisional playoff between the Bills and the Patriots.

Also, one from a game played in a near hurricane at Fenway Park.

And the day that the stands caught fire at Boston College Field.

I am going out now but NEM will be printing them for me sometime later today and if I have the time I will repost them here.

He is concerned that he may get in trouble for having me do this and it could jeopardize his return date to this forum which is soon. But I am like family and will do it for him anyway and he said that this is a very interesting topic and that he has a lot to add to it.

 

[DarrylS]

Felger wrote a book, which I read, entitled "Patriots Sideline" which gives pretty good detail of all the happenings of this franchise, it is a good, amusing and sometimes funny read.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Felger wrote a book, which I read, entitled "Patriots Sideline" which gives pretty good detail of all the happenings of this franchise, it is a good, amusing and sometimes funny read.

yes 'Tales From The Patriots sidelines' - i bought it and i liked it a lot

now we will have the 'NoCal Patriot' version + 'help' from others

 

[Fanfrom1960]

Robert Weathers 42 yard touchdown run on 4th & 1 was one of the top plays of the '85 regular season.
.

That's John Riggins-esque!