Memories-Stories from Schaefer-Sullivan-Foxboro Stadium

Re: Parachute Jumper

patsfan13 said:

I remember going to the racetrack when Schaffer stadium was being built for the Superfoot competition. That was how J Smith became our kicker.

An early game against the Jets, played in the remants of a Hurricane either 70 or 71, must have rained 3 or 4 inches during the game. The stadium was a swamp.

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A slight correction ,John Smith was not the winner of the Superfoot Competition.One Mike Walker was and He kicked briefly for The Patriots.

One of my favorite memories of Schaeffer Stadium was the first regular season game played there .It was against The Raider and no one gave The patriots much of a chance but the crowd was fired up and Our brand new Quarterback Jim Plunkett stole the day and "Plunkettt to Vataha" became a Patriots Slogan Final score Patriots 20 - Sorry Assed Raiders 6 .The more things change ,the more that things stay the same.

Mike the Brit said:

I think Mike Reiss has been reading your thread, IPTP!

Here's Mike's personal contribution:

'Like most teenagers growing up in New England at that time, the first memory that came to mind was "Squish the Fish" in the 1985 playoffs, followed by the Super Bowl loss. I also vividly remember attending a late-season game in 1992 at Foxboro Stadium, one of the 19,429 in attendance to see a 6-0 loss to the Colts at the tail end of the **** MacPherson era. Times have certainly changed since that day.'

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nice to read it, thks

anyway 1985 Squish the Fish game was one i would have loved to see

One particular incident I've never forgotten is Steve Nelson coming off the field screaming in pain with a seperated shoulder. The shoulder was so bad, his arm was just hanging like a wet rag. One of the team doctors/trainer/assistant coach (who knows in those days) took him off to the side of the bench where Nelson held onto the bench and the doctor/trainer/assistant violently yanked on his shoulder until it popped into place. During all of this you could see Nelson screaming. He went back in the game on the next defensive series and played the rest of the way. Nelson was one tough son of a b!tch.

p8ryts said:

My kids (NashvillePatsFan for instance) used to think I was crazy.

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ummm, well, being that YOU brought it up. Yes we did.

Although my memories from the 90's till now have been pleasent, the 70's were a completely different story. I was simply too young (7/8 years old) to appreciate the fact that i was watching Patriots history in the making. Even though, it was mostly bad history. Plus, being that young, i simply don't remember much about my visits to Foxboro.

I do, however, remember some things that have scarred me for life

1. The mad dash to the bathroom at halftime (and only halftime). Trying to get around all the fights outside the bathroom, only to have myself pushed to the front by my father yelling "c'mon boy get up there, we're gonna miss kickoff". Then, finally reaching what i thought would be a nice toilet like home, only to find a rusted out old trough, with 100 old guys chugging beer, who can't aim. (granted, most of this hasnt changed in 30 years, but im older now, and one of the ones who can't aim, so i dont care now)

2. Then there was the time we tailgated with some friends, and my dad slammed the car door on my hand by accident. Being a little kid, i thought the pain would be taken care of by a doctor at a hospital.....yeah right. There's my dad saying "c'mon boy, you'll be fine. we can't miss kickoff"

3. Always being the kid stuck in the middle when we got to our seats. For those of you who never went to THAT stadium, it had bleachers, not individual seats. So naturally i was squished the entire game, except for the mad dash at halftime.

I'll stop there.lol. For the most part I am glad i went to those games, but just wish i could remember more about seeing the Pats in action.

nashvillepatsfan said:

ummm, well, being that YOU brought it up. Yes we did.

Although my memories from the 90's till now have been pleasent, the 70's were a completely different story. I was simply too young (7/8 years old) to appreciate the fact that i was watching Patriots history in the making. Even though, it was mostly bad history. Plus, being that young, i simply don't remember much about my visits to Foxboro.

I do, however, remember some things that have scarred me for life

1. The mad dash to the bathroom at halftime (and only halftime). Trying to get around all the fights outside the bathroom, only to have myself pushed to the front by my father yelling "c'mon boy get up there, we're gonna miss kickoff". Then, finally reaching what i thought would be a nice toilet like home, only to find a rusted out old trough, with 100 old guys chugging beer, who can't aim. (granted, most of this hasnt changed in 30 years, but im older now, and one of the ones who can't aim, so i dont care now)

2. Then there was the time we tailgated with some friends, and my dad slammed the car door on my hand by accident. Being a little kid, i thought the pain would be taken care of by a doctor at a hospital.....yeah right. There's my dad saying "c'mon boy, you'll be fine. we can't miss kickoff"

3. Always being the kid stuck in the middle when we got to our seats. For those of you who never went to THAT stadium, it had bleachers, not individual seats. So naturally i was squished the entire game, except for the mad dash at halftime.

I'll stop there.lol. For the most part I am glad i went to those games, but just wish i could remember more about seeing the Pats in action.

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So basically all of your memories have to do with pee and injuries. That's special.

nashvillepatsfan said:

ummm, well, being that YOU brought it up. Yes we did.

Although my memories from the 90's till now have been pleasent, the 70's were a completely different story. I was simply too young (7/8 years old) to appreciate the fact that i was watching Patriots history in the making. Even though, it was mostly bad history. Plus, being that young, i simply don't remember much about my visits to Foxboro.

I do, however, remember some things that have scarred me for life

1. The mad dash to the bathroom at halftime (and only halftime). Trying to get around all the fights outside the bathroom, only to have myself pushed to the front by my father yelling "c'mon boy get up there, we're gonna miss kickoff". Then, finally reaching what i thought would be a nice toilet like home, only to find a rusted out old trough, with 100 old guys chugging beer, who can't aim. (granted, most of this hasnt changed in 30 years, but im older now, and one of the ones who can't aim, so i dont care now)

2. Then there was the time we tailgated with some friends, and my dad slammed the car door on my hand by accident. Being a little kid, i thought the pain would be taken care of by a doctor at a hospital.....yeah right. There's my dad saying "c'mon boy, you'll be fine. we can't miss kickoff"

3. Always being the kid stuck in the middle when we got to our seats. For those of you who never went to THAT stadium, it had bleachers, not individual seats. So naturally i was squished the entire game, except for the mad dash at halftime.

I'll stop there.lol. For the most part I am glad i went to those games, but just wish i could remember more about seeing the Pats in action.

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I got a good laugh from this.

p8ryts said:

I got a good laugh from this.

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I'm calling the Department of Social Services.

(Seriously, that's great stuff. It brings backs so many wonderful/hilarious memories of "family outings" to Schaeffer ("The One Beer to Have When You're Having More Than One") Stadium.

italian pat patriot said:

i would like to hear from you some stories-memories-facts you remember about the past at the 'old stadium'...

thanks a lot !

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I remember going to games with my Father and when the Patriots would make a play everyone would standup and I could not see the field - I was a younger and shorter back then.

The parachute jumper was not a parachute jumper at all...

It was half time of a Monday night game between the Colts and the Pats (1978 or 79).

His name was Jumpin' Joe Gerlach. A large cushion was placed on the field while Joe inflated a hot air balloon. Up he went in the balloon, down he jumped onto the cushion. Patriot officials were concerned that an ill-timed gust of wind must push Gerlach wide of his target, something that the 60,000 or so in attendance seemed to be rooting for.

More 70's era weirdness:

A fan who came into a game dressed in a bear costume was unceremoniously tossed out of the stadium early in the first quarter. Same fan purchases another ticket and returns to the same seat in the south end zone. Police quickly escort the fan outside the stadium where he is handcuffed to the chain link fence for the remainder of the afternoon.

By far, the strangest amd most alarming thing I have ever witnessed in my life happened during the Monday night game against the Jets in 1976 (Pats win 41-7). During the first half, a full scale donnybrook breaks out in my section, about 4 rows in front of me. Picture a huge mass of drunken fans flailing away at each other while a handful of police are trying the peel combatants off the pile. Inexplicably, the guy who sits right behind me (we used to call him "the Bugler") approaches the scrum and removes the gun from a policeman's holster. With a strange, vacant smile on his face, the Bugler starts to wave the gun around while every fan in the section hits the deck. As you might expect, the Bugler quickly found himself on the receiving end of a fearsome pounding administered by Foxboro's finest. Now I don't happen to think the guy had a malacious bone in his body, but he did (apparently) have a brain full of dangerous chemicals (this was not an uncommon occurrence for the Bugler) that had seriously impaired his judgment. During the next home game, we were visited by a private detective looking for witnesses; he came away empty handed. It seems that massive alcohol consumption was widespread - at least in Section 22 - that evening. Inebriated football fans have lousy memories and are not generally regarded as credible witnesses in court.

nashvillepatsfan said:

ummm, well, being that YOU brought it up. Yes we did.

Although my memories from the 90's till now have been pleasent, the 70's were a completely different story. I was simply too young (7/8 years old) to appreciate the fact that i was watching Patriots history in the making. Even though, it was mostly bad history. Plus, being that young, i simply don't remember much about my visits to Foxboro.

I do, however, remember some things that have scarred me for life

1. The mad dash to the bathroom at halftime (and only halftime). Trying to get around all the fights outside the bathroom, only to have myself pushed to the front by my father yelling "c'mon boy get up there, we're gonna miss kickoff". Then, finally reaching what i thought would be a nice toilet like home, only to find a rusted out old trough, with 100 old guys chugging beer, who can't aim. (granted, most of this hasnt changed in 30 years, but im older now, and one of the ones who can't aim, so i dont care now)

2. Then there was the time we tailgated with some friends, and my dad slammed the car door on my hand by accident. Being a little kid, i thought the pain would be taken care of by a doctor at a hospital.....yeah right. There's my dad saying "c'mon boy, you'll be fine. we can't miss kickoff"

3. Always being the kid stuck in the middle when we got to our seats. For those of you who never went to THAT stadium, it had bleachers, not individual seats. So naturally i was squished the entire game, except for the mad dash at halftime.

I'll stop there.lol. For the most part I am glad i went to those games, but just wish i could remember more about seeing the Pats in action.

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great post: i smiled a lot, thks

italian pat patriot said:

i would like to hear from you some stories-memories-facts you remember about the past at the 'old stadium'...

thanks a lot !

Click to expand...

One specific one, and one general one come to immediate mind:

1. In general, I use to love grabbing the binoculars from my seat, and just watching John Hannah. He's the only offensive linemen ever that I would watch like that. The funny thing is, there were others doing it too, and there would be comments like "whoa, Hannah just leveled two different players on that play". Great memories.

2. More specifically, I remember going to a game against the Bills pumped to see OJ play, and he got in a fight and missed the whole game, as he was ejected.

2A. I definitely remember the cold aluminum seats.

I wish I could remember the game... it was against the Buffalo Bills in the 70's. I was very young. The Pats were getting killed. Absolutely creamed. Some running back... I don't think it was OJ... wracked up tons of yardage.

There was a Bills fan in our section maybe 50 feet away. He was decked out in a Bills hat, jacket, sweatpants and even pom poms. Every play the Bills made, he stood on his seat and turned around at the crowd and just whooped it up. Twirling his pom poms and getting in everyone's face.

As the game went on and the score went up, the alcohol-fueled crowd started turning ugly. Finally, the guys behind him stood up and got in his face and told him to sit down and stay down. They told him to stop or there'd be trouble. The next big Bills play, he jumps up again. The guys behind him pick him up and hand him down to the next row and this continues down the section. He was body-surfed down & over to the edge of the section when suddenly, they tossed him over the edge into a tunnel!! It was probably 10-15 feet. The crowd roared.

He was definitely going to be hurt. I seem to remember seeing him walking around with a bloody head, trying to point out who was sitting behind him.

My father couldn't believe what happened. He was freaked out. We were all freaked out. He grabbed me & my brothers and we ran. We weren't the only ones. There was a mad dash for the exits. The cops were running around grabbing people but no one would tell them what happened.

I will never forget that game.

Oh man. I used to have seasons tickets in the open end zone in '81 and '82 about 11 rows up, and these two guys that sat in front of us never wore shirts, and they yelled and screamed all game long in some language that is still not understood. On the days when the wind and sleet blew there skin got mighty mottled angry red. Insane.

Then there was the game that if you shoveled you got in for free, I'm pretty sure there were less then 4k people in the stands that day.... '82?

I saw the game at BC when Larry Eisenhauer had either 3 or 4 picks - probably '71.

My last Pats game, I sat in stunned amazement when Adam kicked that ball through the snow - the most amazing sports feat of all time I have seen in person. I still get goose bumps. I have a real (not laser) signature of that picture. I forgive Adam for his weakness in his later life with that "team" he plays for. SG is a better kicker now anyhow.

italian pat patriot said:

i would like to hear from you some stories-memories-facts you remember about the past at the 'old stadium'...

thanks a lot !

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The lasting Image I will all always have for the most gutsy play ever, is TE Bob Windsor getting tackled at the five yard line and obviously tearing up his knee; refusing to go down, and then dragging himself and his dead useless leg forward and over the Goaline for a TD.

Pure Guts...

And also the last play that Bob Windsor ever played in the NFL. He reminds me of the guy in the Film "The Longest Yard", who is asked if winning is worth a life sentence and said, "Hell yeah!"

italian pat patriot said:

nice to read it, thks

anyway 1985 Squish the Fish game was one i would have loved to see

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I did. A buddy and I went down to the Orange Bowl to watch it.
We were so happy, to win and break the gazillion game losing streak there, we stayed to play a couple of days of Golf.

When when we got back, we were informed that the time period to apply for Bear's Superbowl tickets for Season ticket holders was over, and we were just Out of Luck!

Sorry, Nothing can be Done. I was so POed... Five minutes into the TV broadcast and I was happy not to have spent the dough.

Going to New Orleans to watch the Rams get upset was ever so much more satisfying...

1. The mad dash to the bathroom at halftime (and only halftime). Trying to get around all the fights outside the bathroom, only to have myself pushed to the front by my father yelling "c'mon boy get up there, we're gonna miss kickoff". Then, finally reaching what i thought would be a nice toilet like home, only to find a rusted out old trough, with 100 old guys chugging beer, who can't aim. (granted, most of this hasnt changed in 30 years, but im older now, and one of the ones who can't aim, so i dont care now)

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That was funny, I think they had one toilet for every 1000 fans, the halftime dash was rediculous, waiting in line in the bathroom it felt like I was in a cattle car, try pissing with 100 guys pushing and yelling at you to hurry the flock up...good memories

awesome posts and great comments

Another Foxboro memory... 1974. My Dad got us tickets to the season opener. That year, the Pats opened the season against the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins had just won their second Super Bowl in a row. We were supposed to get killed so there were plenty of tickets. My Dad was able to get us 4 tickets in the front row of the end zone.

Unbelievably, the Patriots won. They weren't supposed to have a chance but they beat 'em. My memory was that the crowd went nuts, but then again, I was IN THE FRONT ROW so my memory is foggy about anything else. I sat in the FRONT ROW.

Bostonian1962 said:

One specific one, and one general one come to immediate mind:

1. In general, I use to love grabbing the binoculars from my seat, and just watching John Hannah. He's the only offensive linemen ever that I would watch like that. The funny thing is, there were others doing it too, and there would be comments like "whoa, Hannah just leveled two different players on that play". Great memories.

2. More specifically, I remember going to a game against the Bills pumped to see OJ play, and he got in a fight and missed the whole game, as he was ejected.

2A. I definitely remember the cold aluminum seats.

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I read Your post and immediately thought of My Friend Sully who sat next to me for the entire 1970's and who would often say,"I know that You Guys weren't watching but John Hannah just blocked 7 guys on that play !" We all would laugh since of course We were all watching but due to the power of exaggeration Hannah on each play would usually block two or three guys!
Great memories.