for the 'old' Pats Fans

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I am 43 and I survived the NFL season of 1990 so these times are of dreaming qualities and I don't want to wake up!!

 

[Double G]

Great topic, great posts as well. I remember going to my first game vs the Oilers at Fenway Park in the late 1960's (we lost 14-0) and I watched the team whenever they were on tv in the early 70's (which wasn't very often).

1976 changed all that; the Raiders (actually the refs) stole what should have been our first Super Bowl win, I was happy anyway as I thought the team had arrived, then the wheels fell off in 1978. The 1985 season was one I'll never forget, that run to the Super Bowl was stuff dreams are made of, I was at the Orange Bowl and couldn't believe we were going to the Super Bowl; the SUPER BOWL. The end result was a disaster, but I still enjoyed the whole experience.

I really thought we were going to win the thing in 1997 but Howard burst our bubble. When Adam's kick sailed through the uprights in 2001, it was the most incredible thing I had ever seen; New England Patriots, Super Bowl Champions, just incredible. Ever since then, it's been a thrill a minute, a fantastic ride. Last year still hurts, 58 seconds away from another trip, but they reloaded and this year has been unreal. Only one more team stands in the way.

New England Patriots; a dynasty and noone can ever take that away from us.

EVER....................

 

[pats60]

Bought season tickets in1960.Today my sons have them.
Hard to believe if there was a crowd of 18,000 it was miracle.
But if it wasn`t for Billly Sullivan there would be no Patriots.
Too bad there is no statue of him outside of stadium.
He could have made a fortune selling the team in 1968.

 

[Patriotic]

I've been from the valley to the mountaintop.

The Valley to the Mountaintop

Joe "INT" Kapp to Tom "TD" Brady

The Fighting Sullivans to The Classy Krafts

Clive "Electrifying Hush" Rush to Bill "Lombardi" Bellichick

Schaffer "High School" Stadium to Gillette "Pro Bowl" Stadium

The Bay State "B S" Patriots to The World Champion Undefeated Patriots

The mountaintop is better.

 

[oldskool138]

I'm not one of those old fans but here's my story.

I hated football when I was younger. Didn't get it and I really wasn't all that interested. My buddy is was and (obviously) still is a huge Pats fan but I still couldn't get into it until they drafted Bledsoe. After that I was hooked. I hated the Carrol years (I can only imagine the Rust, Rush and McPherson years)...

And I was the only guy on my boat (I was in the Navy) that picked the Pats to win the SB in 2001. I made a killing . But I remember watching it at home in VA and then running outside after Adam V. kicked that field goal and yelling. My roommate at the time didn't even watch the game because he didn't like football. He came downstairs after he heard me yell and asked, "So, did they win?".

I can't believe the run the Pats are on. It still really hasn't sunk in for me. Maybe at the start of next season or during the summer sometime it will but not now.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I always find it that article ironic in that Belichick and Buchsbaum were good friends. I've read that BB was the only NFL guy to attend Buchsbaum's funeral.

For those who don't know, Buchsbaum was an unusually interesting and well-informed journalist -- much missed.

But there's something very BB about it, isn't there? Of course, BB would have to be friends with a journalist who called things as he saw them and wasn't blinded by the fact that some NFL coach took the time talk to him one-to-one (*cough* King and "Dr" Z *cough*). Passionate about football? Yes. Sentimental? No.

 

[carolinatony]

NO
I would have been happy to win a few playoffs games.
But , than again I didn't think the Sox would ever win the WS.

I am enjoying it and always will!
I few more Boston titles and I'll have enough t-shirts to last a lifetime.

 

[Patti37]

As I was sitting on those aluminum benches in section 219, Row 10, seats one and two at Schaeffer/Sullivan Stadium and when parking at the liquor store was 8 dollars (and is now 50), I never in my wildest imagination thought we would be on the verge of 4 Super Bowl Championships.

The past Super Bowl experiences brought the thrill of the Super Bowl against the Bears and the anguish after the loss...the games, the playoffs that season were so exciting. I will never forget Irving Fryar standing on the benches, clapping his hands to get the crowd going...it was such an exciting time primarily because of the suffering of the past and then the drug chargers immediately after the loss. It felt as if the Patriots could never have a positive, exciting season remain positive and exciting. I remember the anticipation of the Packers/Pats Super Bowl and then the loss.

I recently had the opportunity to meet some of the players from those days. It was nice to have meet them, thank them and talk a little bit about the good and the bad of days gone by.

I have been to four playoff games at Gillette since the run and everytime I get a tear in my eye (okay for the Jags game there were more tears) because it is such an emotional experience for me to be at this beautiful new stadium...the home of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.

There has never been a time in my life when I did not love this team and I thank my father and uncles for being such early Patriots fans and sharing that love with me.

Edited to add the like Italian Pat fan, I would occasionally love to see the old uniform. It is part of our history.

 

[Patti37]

I've been from the valley to the mountaintop.

The Valley to the Mountaintop

Joe "INT" Kapp to Tom "TD" Brady

The Fighting Sullivans to The Classy Krafts

Clive "Electrifying Hush" Rush to Bill "Lombardi" Bellichick

Schaffer "High School" Stadium to Gillette "Pro Bowl" Stadium

The Bay State "B S" Patriots to The World Champion Undefeated Patriots

The mountaintop is better.

I remember when Joe Kapp was traded from Minnesota to the Patriots. I was not even a teenage girl when my father took me to that game. I was so excited I couldn't stand it. In my ignorance I believed Joe Kapp would lead us to the promise land or at the very least beat the Vikings. I stood next to the Purple People Eaters as they walked from wherever their locker room was to the Stadium. There had been a large snowstorm the night before and of course no one bothered to clean off the seats or the aisles.

Joe Kapp was terrible that day...but it was so exciting to be at the game.

Edited to add..And although in retrospect (okay at the time), Schaeffer Stadium was a subpar stadium to say the least, it was home. I will always be nostalgic about the old one although I would never want to go back there. I like our new home so much better.

The mountaintop is much better.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Jim Plunkett was going to be the savior, as I recall... Sam "Bam" Cunningham was everything a real runningback should be... Sure the early 70s were tough. But we woulda/shoulda/coulda won it all in the mid-70s with Steve Grogan! Perenniel underachievers, they said. Well "they" could kiss my fat fuzzy white behind. We made the playoffs.. well.. several times....

And then came 1985, and that wonder kid, Tony Eason. He was no statistical monster, mind you. He was the guy who managed the game competently, always had you in a position to win. Did what you asked of him. Okay so we went and lost. First time you go to the dance, second time you win it. It's what happened to Shula in '71, right?

Eason turned out to be crap. The Bears disintegrated, but somebody else picked up the pieces, certainly not us.

And then, the real messiah! Mirer or Bledsoe...Mirer or Bledsoe... Bledsoe! We had a big, strong-armed QB, his dad was a coach, and after his first season, some sportscaster said "If I was going to pick a quarterback to have for the next ten years, it would be Drew Bledsoe." Passing yards in the top 5 every year... um unless it was the top 10... and you were never out of a game... except when, you know, you got your butt kicked... but it was DREW! And then you put him together with Bill Parcells... are you kidding me? I knew, deep in my bones, I just knew... that straight line from mediocrity to AFC Champion was going to be followed by the hoped-for, but never realized, Lombardi Trophy.

Until Tuna f**ed us. Well, no matter, I told myself. Still the same core of guys. Until Curtis Martin went with him. Then before I knew it... Robert Edwards! Rookie Running Sensation! All was well... until that pro bowl.

Predictably, into the toilet we went. And that weird-***** shuffle when we ended up with (talk about a consolation prize,) that Bellichick guy? The guy that sucked when he coached Cleveland? And that was what we were targeting? Looked like someone was grasping for straws.

2001. Crap season to start with, then Drew goes down. Well, another year down the tubes, but what else is new... oh yeah we're winning now, I figured later in the year, but I know it's coming... oh yeah, we made the playoffs, but there's no way we get past Oakland... oh yeah, fine, we win on a weird rule and a fluke field goal... but we still have Pixburgh to deal with, the 500 pound gorilla... we did what? Okay fine. All set up for a re-run of 1985. Cindarella's gonna beat the Rams. Righhht.

Okay, so we scored. Okay, so we were leading. Okay I'll have some damn hope. What the hell. The Rams start coming back (what did you THINK was gonna happen...) But then we get down to the last ticks of the clock, and we're still in it, lining up that last field goal...

And holy CRAP he makes it!

We're the Super Bowl huhwha? Champions of the Whozit? WHOA! I start thinking, okay, next year... nah, not gonna happen. But it could. What if this is a changing of the guard, and we become the next dy... dyn... nahhhhh. But hell, why not hope for it?

2002, that's why! It was all a fluke, a flash in the pan. Sure that Brady kid was good. Took care of the ball. Made the short-to-intermediate throws. But he's not Brett Favre, for the love of God. Don't fool yourself. And that run defense? Come on.

2003. Play solid football. Go back to the playoffs. That's all I ask. WHOA! 2 out of 3 you say? Well then that's sorta kinda a DYNASTY! Hey, when Ricky Proehl said "a dynasty is born," that's what he was talking about, 2 out of 3, right? So that makes us a...

Oh. Turns out it doesn't count... yet.
2004. More than we could hope for, wasn't it? I mean, everybody was picking us. But really, back-to-back Super Bowls? I have to say, I hoped, and I even believed, despite myself. I just had too much rational mind to think it would really happen.... then it did.

And most people said, yeah, 3 out of 4? Longest winning streak in league history? You're a dynasty. But through some odd twist of logic, it didn't count that they were a dynasty, because they only won by a little bit every game...

And then that goddam Denver playoff game in 05. Right when I was ready for the threepeat. And 06, after that war with the Chargers, to lose after having a 21 point lead at the half... to the Colts no less... and to hear everybody say how we're "done." Back to following the off-season and the draft. Ho-hum. Everybody knows we don't make splashy off-season moves...

Wes Welker, yeah okay. Dante Stallworth... hey this is interesting... Adalius huh WHAT? No way. Draft day. And we get...

We get WHO? RANDY FREAKIN MOSS????

HGH. Spygate. Blowouts. Classless. Cowboys down. Colts down. 11-0. 12-0. 13-0....

Yeah you could call 18-0, going to the 4th Super Bowl in 7 years, the Mountaintop.

I like it here. Maybe we can still get our threepeat after all

I can just see it, after we win our 5th out of 8, and we're going into the Threepeat.... or "One for an Inbred's Thumb..." and I'll still hear on ESPN or NFL Network or somewhere...

"You know, if the Patriots pull off the threepeat, I think they can consider themselves a dynasty."

Sorry dude, you triggered a core dump. There you have it, my Patriots life.

PFnV

 

[SunnyDenmark]

Growing up (as a young kid) in the 60's in Boston - it was such a good time for a kid to idolize the Boston Greats - Yaz, Bobby Orr, Espisito, so many Celts to name. I was too young to know all the consecutive Celtics championships with Russell and Cousey but the Aura was still there and the Bruins Cup in the early 70's . But it just seemed that the Sox and Pats were cursed. But I always thought the Sox would win one before I died (I'm 46) as they are usually are in the playoffs every few years - law of averages says they just HAVE to get a break one year....then it happened (and again this year). Sox won ! Unfortunatly it is hard to follow the Sox in Denmark. Though I do buy the webstream MLB package during the playoffs to watch on my computer...still I usually end up knowing the score before I get to watch it.

Now onto the Pats. Grew up listening to them on the radio. Favorite memories are sitting in the station wagon early 70's driving up to Vermont or NH (from the South Shore) and hearing the announcer getting excited when Plunkett made a 1st down to Randy Vataha or Sam 'bam' Cunningham punching it through for a touchdown. But mostly it was my dad swearing as we usually lost the games... Was really sad when Plunkett left and then later on the other good ones left as well - either coaches or players...

It seemed Pats were the IAA conference and when you were a good enough player or coach you went away to the better teams. I can relate going to Washington State Uni and we always lose the talent wars to USC or UCLA or ND or the other 'big boys'.

Then Bledsoe (from MY school!) came to the Pats so was very happy and he was pretty good too! As good as my former hero Grogan. Life was good until Green Bay won in '97 (thankfully I was out of the country for the Bears SB romp). AV's kick in 2001 just kind of left me in a daze....05.00 am Danish time and wife sleeping in next room. I didnt want to wake her so opened the window to let out a big scream outside our apartment. I just sat there for about 30 minutes in a very tired happy stupor - like laughing gas. Knowing it was true but also that it can't be true. Patriots and SB Champions don't belong in the same sentance.
Carolina victory I could yell alot as I watched it in a packed Hard Rock Cafe in Copenhagen. A few more fans rooting against the Pats than for us -but we were LOUDER! Great satisfaction that then people couldnt say we were just got lucky (in 2001) - hey, we won NOW 2 Super Bowls !. Philly game was just 'snug contentment' and that NO one could now not deny we were a Dynasty. (3 SB in 4 years).

But now it is just surreal and we ARE the team that every free agent wants to play for. We are 18-0. We are up there with the 49'ers and Cowboys and Steeler dynasties. I am just happy to get the games here in Denmark (last 10 years) and it is easy to follow a 16 game schedule instead of a 162 game baseball season. Life is good - just ONE more baby! PLEEEZE! 19-0 would be something to tell my 4 year old - who wonders why my football players have helmets on their heads. (and the football players here ie. soccer - DONT have helmets).

 

[oldskool138]

Can you guys still take pride in these Championships* knowing that the the entire planet outside of Patriot Nation questions the legitimacy of the accomplishment of those first 3 Super Bowls*?

Oh I see what you did there. Very clever. Asterisks...did you come up with that all by your lonesome?

 

[Double G]

Glad to see our three Super Bowl wins has firmly jerked a knot in your ass reaper; believe what you want to if it helps you sleep better at night.

Only a fool like you thinks they cheated their way to three Super Bowl wins, none of which was a blow out, plus they didn't get there in 2005 and 2006, which they clearly would have if they had the advantage you claim they did.

Why come into this thread and start crap; because you are a loser, that's why, now eff off..................

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I'm 48 and I've been a fan since the early 70s. Living here in Philadelphia ( you want to talk about dry spells- nothing since '83, 25 years) My kids are Boston sports fans. I tell them that they don't realize how lucky they are that the teams are winning so much now. Our basement walls are plastered with magazine covers and newspapers from Super Bowl victories and World Series victories, what my relatives and neighbors call the shrine.
When the locals ask me why I'm not an Eagles fan, I have the same retort. I ask them if they moved to NYC, Dallas or Washington, would they become a Giant,Cowboy or Redskin fan? They all respond "of course not" and then it dawns on them, it's not any different.
This year I felt like a groupie going to games #1,15,16...........

 

[SEA_Pat]

You guys (and gals) have brought up a lot of great memories - as I get older I need these jogs or they get lost in the miasma. I started as a Pats fan (in Toronto) in the days of Mack Herron and Jim Plunkett.

What I wanted to add was that, even in the bad old days when the Pats were Pat-hetic, there was still always something that you looked forward to. At least one or two players who you really liked and would focus on, a play that gave you some hope, an upcoming draft, a game where they played over their heads and made it interesting against a much better team. I knew they weren't going to win, but they were my team.

I used to love that defense of the mid-70's; best defensive backfield we ever had with Haynes and Clayborn and the great linebacking corps with Nelson, Tippett, McGrew and Blackmon. Should have won it all but for evil Ben Dreith. Loved the brief period when we had the superb running game with Craig James and Tony Collins. Always loved the Warrior, Steve Grogan, even if he did overthrow the receiver by 10 yards all the time. The only team I never liked was the strike year, and I probably would have liked them too if it had gone on for much longer.

The return to the pack shall eventually come to pass again with the Pats, and I will feel the same way. Except that, unlike those days, there will always be this warm glow deep within, when I can sort of smile and remember Tom Brady the greatest QB who ever played, the Super Bowls, the guys who always came through in the biggest games with the big plays like Willie McG, Vrabel, Troy, Kevin Faulk, Tedy, Rodney. It will make it a lot easier to smile as we're getting our butts kicked by whoever has climbed up to the top of the pile.

At the end of the day, it's the Krafts we have to thank for all this. Cheers Bob, when you next come to SE Asia, the beer's on me.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I've watched the Pats since their first year 1960. The AFL played night games on Friday nights (I believe) with a white football back then. Saw games at Harvard and Fenway as a kid.

What's funny about this team is that despite some small time owners in the Sullivans, they were really good every 10 years or so for a few years at a time:
- mid 60's - exceptional from '66-'68
- mid-70's - Super Bowl caliber team from '75-'78 - curse of Ben Dreith & Jack Tatum
- mid 80's - made the SB in '85-6
- mid-90's - made the SB in '96-7

Of course, they were wretched in between, but they always bounced back.

Still, I never expected them to reach the level of the Cowboys or Steelers or 49ers, which they now clearly have. I admit I had tears at the first city plaza celebration in Feb 2002, seeing this organization finally get over the hump. We've never looked back.

 

[jiga]

I do not miss many of the pathetic teams of old. I do however miss being able to buy tickets at the door at 1:03 pm on game day for cheap money

 

[IndyKen]

Can you guys still take pride in these Championships* knowing that the the entire planet outside of Patriot Nation questions the legitimacy of the accomplishment of those first 3 Super Bowls*? In criminal law circles, the only time evidence is destroyed is when somebody is attempting to cover up a crime. There is no other logical reason for Roger Goodell to have destroyed the evidence. The fans see this. They also see that not a single current or former Patriots offensive player or coach has ever denied this activity. Silence speaks volumes, and to the fans of the NFL that message is loud and clear. But congratulations on this year, as far as most sports fans are concerned you guys playing for your first legitimate Lombardi Trophy. Best of Luck!

Looky, yet another displaced Colts* fan, with nothing else to do. To answer your question, doesn't bother us in the least, as taping was highly widespread for a long, long, time- just ask the Jimmy Johnson's and Bill Parcell's of the NFL world. Now get lost.

*Count On Losing This Sunday

 

[Steve1iron]

I'm one of the "old Pats fans" and I can certainly say that I never imagined the kind of success we are experiencing now.

52-0 to the Dolphins, the Sullivan family, Rod Rust, Tony Eason, Fenway Park, Duane Thomas, "squish the fish", Joe Kapp, Schaefer Stadium, Mark Henderson, Kenneth Sims .... I could go on.

These are all distant memories.

 

[JaxPats]

I do not miss many of the pathetic teams of old. I do however miss being able to buy tickets at the door at 1:03 pm on game day for cheap money

That and .75 Schaeffers. You could get lit for 10bucks then.:rocker: