I like Pat too, although I'll never admit that directly to
@Actual Pats Fan
My only problem with Pat is that on a helmet, you can't tell from any distance what the hell he is. He might as well be a camera tripod. Also, the cartoon style he was drawn in is very dated, if he ever made a comeback he'd have to be reimagined.
Tuney, thank you so much for your patience, honesty and engagement on this subject. I think you can make a good case for fans in GB, PIT, SF, DAL if presented with an unprecedented run including six Super Bowls, they'll (grudgingly) accept grotesque, abhorrent, disgusting replacement uniforms which insult all the fans and everyone who supported their team for over three decades, even perpetrated solely to disparage and denigrate all the on field accomplishments of the franchise in its history.
(Stupid, idiotic) makeovers are in fact quite common in pro sports ownership. The ego/money driven owners do this bush league crap in a desperate, loser attempt to drum up interest: A typical marketing gimmick you see all the time ("New!" "New & Improved!" "New Look!") They can't resist, no matter how good/successful/liked by consumers that product is. Most of the time, it sucks. Lombardi did the new uniforms himself in Green Bay for entirely different reasons: To establish an identity. The Packers were already (and really, remain) the preeminent dynasty in pro football. That had been over a decade prior, and things then were as close for them, prior to him uprooting his family from New York because nobody else would give him a head coaching job, as you can get to the ridicule directed at the Patriots. Green Bay was accurately described as "The Siberia of the NFL". It was. Despite having a new stadium, the public-owned club was on the verge of folding.
For the sake of this analysis, let's set aside the three year period from 1990-92, which can be called the nadir in our history. We went 9-39 with no quarterback (Sorry, Hugh), coinciding with the Sullivans' financial house of cards finally collapsing. Kraft didn't own the team yet; Meanwhile, Doug Flutie set the CFL on fire, setting rushing and passing records which will never be broken, winning 6 MVP's and 3 titles. I take Doug over Kelly and Elway and Young, too. Young didn't do anything special in the USFL and he was putrid in Tampa.
The most important thing he ever did is hiring Belichick, for which he was heavily criticized, and which he famously had to go to an abnormal amount of trouble to simply hire the guy as well. Without that, you can forget about Brady and everything else.
The Patriots were sub-.500 lifetime in those HISTORICALLY INCORRECT red-and-white abominations.
After the inaugural 5-9 season with the tri-corner hat, The Patriots, with Pat Patriot on our helmets, from '61-'89 went
202-200-9.
With the flying elvis on silver stripeless helmets, from '93-2001 before Brady took over we went
64-66.
This is how we finished in these AFL seasons, when the two division winners met in the championship:
1961 - 1 GB champion Oilers
1962 - 1 1/2 GB Oilers who lost title game in 2OT to Texans (future Chiefs)
1963 - Lost title game in SD
1964 - 1 1/2 GB champion Bills
1966 - 1/2 GB Bills
Here's what we did after drafting Steve Nelson:
1974: 2 GB wild card Bills (lost two games to them by a total of 3 points)
1976: Title stolen in Oakland
1977: 1 GB Colts & Dolphins
1978: Won AFC East
1979: 1 GB Dolphins
Grogan was the main reason we won in the 80's:
1980: 1 GB Bills
1982: Lost wild card @Miami
1983: 1 GB wild card
1984: 2 GB wild card
1985: Lost Super Bowl in New Orleans (conceding by starting Eason)
1986: Won AFC East (because Grogan replaced injured Eason and led us in Orange Bowl finale; but Eason started [assuring loss] in Denver)
1987: 1 GB Colts
1988: Lost wild card tiebreaker to Colts (Flutie benched in favor of Eason who barely played all year and started finale [assuring loss] in Denver)
How we did with Drew:
1994: Lost wild card @Cleveland & BB
1996: Lost Super Bowl in New Orleans (Curtis Martin: 11 carries total)
1997: Won AFC East
1998: Lost wild card @Jacksonville
1999: 1 GB wild card