Three most important people in Pats franchise history

[reflexblue]

1)SULLIVAN/bought the franchie
2)KRAFT/smart,and savey owner,with a passion to win.In any organization the fish rots from the head i.e jeremy Jacobs.Kraft is the anti J.Jacobs
3)BELICHICK/great coach,who decided to go with Brady.

PARCELLS/ Brought resect,disipline,and sold out stadiums,he renergized fooball for the fans of this team.

 

[mb6592]

How old are you? The team had a great teams in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, all before Belichick and Brady.

The the 1963 team was in the playoffs, even before the merger. The 1976 team was an awesone team, a team for the ages. They lost an infamous game to the Raiders in the playoffs. The 1985 team was a fine team that lost to the best team in history in the Super Bowl. The 1996 team waltzed to the Super Bowl, after a great season, and having soundly winning its playoff games. Of course, that 1996 team followed some horrible teams. And who was responsible for this turnaround? Well, his name was Bill.

I just don't take the perspective that the only teams that count as successes are those that win Super Bowls. I understand that I am likely in the minority of patriot fans in that regard.

Yes, but that creation was almost undone (or at least, relocated) and was saved by Kraft. The Patriots achieved very little in the timespan between its creation and Kraft saving the team.

The three MOST IMPORTANT people in franchise hx. Repeat. The three MOST IMPORTANT people in franchise hx. I don't need a hx lesson. Sullivan was a great Patriot. He just wasn't one of the three MOST IMPORTANT people in franchise hx. We have three Superbowl wins. Maybe we have too many and you are taking them for granted. Three Superbowl wins - three most important people in Patriots franchise hx - Kraft, Bellichick, Brady.

 

[QuiGon]

2. James Orthwein - contributed by NOT moving the team to St Louis AND by hiring the Tuner, making the team marketable to a new owner.

But he tried to move them to St. Louis. I think when you buy a franchise and try to move them, but fail, you shouldn't be considered an important person in Pats history. I would consider Kiam more important that Orthwein.

 

[BradyManny]

The the 1963 team was in the playoffs, even before the merger. The 1976 team was an awesone team, a team for the ages. They lost an infamous game to the Raiders in the playoffs. The 1985 team was a fine team that lost to the best team in history in the Super Bowl. The 1996 team waltzed to the Super Bowl, after a great season, and having soundly winning its playoff games. Of course, that 1996 team followed some horrible teams. And who was responsible for this turnaround? Well, his name was Bill.

I just don't take the perspective that the only teams that count as successes are those that win Super Bowls. I understand that I am likely in the minority of patriot fans in that regard.

I've been watching the Pats since the mid 80s, admittedly, that gives me much, much less perspective than many people here, albeit more than plenty others who have just joined on for the recent success.

Nonetheless, as for what the team accomplished, nearly every team in the history of sports can make a list like that. It's far short of extraordinary.

But not every team can say they were truly a dynasty and defined the pinnacle of sports achievement within a given frame of time.

And that's the entire point. Brady, Belichick and Kraft have turned this franchise into something so ridiculously impressive that we now measure success based on the ability to win Super Bowls or not. That in and of itself proves my point.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

its:

Mo Lewis
Tom Brady
**** Rebhein

LOL

Perhaps the three people who had the most significant roll in jumpstarting a dynasty for Kraft and Belichick to expand on - that's for sure.

 

[letekro]

With out Billy Sullivan there are no Patriots period. No matter what he did keep them here when he would have made far more money some were else. He is the most important period.

For the other two Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick.

Yeah, but somebody would've started a franchise here. It's a major market: if it wasn't him it would've been someone else.

Using your rationale, Pete Rozelle should be on the list, b/c without his leadership, the league might not be able to support so many franchises.

My list:

1. Bob Kraft (put his money on the line to save the team)
2. Bill Parcells (brought them legitimacy)
3. Tom Brady (brought them championships)

Brady and Belichick are basically interchangeable because its impossible to isolate their impact, but Brady gets the edge b/c Belichick was 5-13 before Brady.

 

[QuiGon]

I can't believe how many people are overrating Bill Parcells. That guy hasn't accomplished crap in his career without Bill Belichick at his side. I don't believe he's won two playoff games without BB.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I have to go with Tuna for one. He is more responsible for turning this team around than anyone else. The attitude he brought began the rise of this team.

I guess that explains why Belichick had to fairly clean house to change the culture of entitlement here on arrival, not to mention dig out of a cap mess :rolleyes....

The only things of lasting significance Parcells did for this franchise were take BB back as his DC after he got dumped by Cleveland and teach Kraft what he didn't want to work with in a HC/GM. Tuna didn't shop for the groceries, yet he gets mediot and fan credit for those Greer picks that worked out while the ones that didn't represented his ticket out of town, he didn't respect the role of ownership, he took a HOF RB with him when he left this team in potential shambles after engineering a sleazy backdoor exit out of town in the midst of a trip to the Superbowl, and for good measure he tried to trap Belichick in the Meadowlands to stick it to NE.

Kraft floundered a bit in the aftermath of that ugly exit, but he somehow had the sense recognize that and follow his nagging gut instinct that said this Belichick fellow he used to sit and talk football with when Tuna wouldn't was not only potentially the real deal, he was passionate without being egotistical and he had the courage of his convictions and a vision of a system encompassing what a winning football team and organization should be and he was a perfect fit for their organizational model. Kraft took a lot of heat for what transpired between the time Tuna left and the night we won Superbowl XXXVI, including being lambasted for trading for a failed former HC to be his 3rd HC in 4 seasons.

Then Belichick floundered a bit in the aftermath of his own hire as he struggled to clean up Tuna's mess that had eventually floundered after 3 years under an interim a feel good HC. But he somehow had the incredible good sense just months after arriving to follow a hunch backed up by his QB coach and draft the QB from Michigan to groom behind a face of the franchise QB he had all too easily exposed in the interim. Fate landed that kid on the field probably a season before Belichick could or would have ever been able to (and survived the media storm both that benching and continued suckitude would have ignited), and the kid fortunately not only didn't flounder - he flourished, and made them all look like geniuses in hindsight in just his first year as a starter and Belichick's second year as HC and Kraft's 8th season as an NFL owner .

Having good individual teams or stretches and being a poorly run and at times embarassing franchise are not mutually exclusive. Sullivan did the best he could with limited resources or vision. Kiam did nothing but use the team to sell razors - but at least he sold to Orthwein. Orthwein played the bad cop but in the end he sold to a prince - after kickstarting a marketing transition designed primarily to make his asset more marketable by hiring THE biggest name in coaching at the time.

Kraft is the one who pulled it all together, what each of them had contributed along the way retaining the past as history, succeeding in the present in less than a decade and creating a model franchise that should be competitive for the forseeable future. He gets the owner nod. Belichick is the best HC in the NFL let alone the greatest to ever coach here, and Brady is going to the freakin' HOF with them. Any and everyone else can stand in line for honorable mention.

 

[Bruschi 3:16]

Bob Kraft
Bill Belichick
Tom Brady

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Yeah, but somebody would've started a franchise here. It's a major market: if it wasn't him it would've been someone else.

Using your rationale, Pete Rozelle should be on the list, b/c without his leadership, the league might not be able to support so many franchises.

My list:

1. Bob Kraft (put his money on the line to save the team)
2. Bill Parcells (brought them legitimacy)
3. Tom Brady (brought them championships)

Brady and Belichick are basically interchangeable because its impossible to isolate their impact, but Brady gets the edge b/c Belichick was 5-13 before Brady.

Do you know anything about the history of this team and football in this area. Reading that I don't think so. You know how many NFL team there were in Boston before the Patriots and all failed. The Patriots were not part of the NFL when it started, they started in the AFL, so the Pete Rozelle point is pretty stuped. If you said Lamar Hunt you could make a point there.
If the NFL did not survive with the Patriots they would not have been in any hurry to get a team up here considering the history of pro football in the area. Good thing that Billy Sullivan didn't move, look at Los Angeles and they have a much more successful history with pro football then the Boston area.

 

[Danny Boy®]

Sullivan
Parcells
Brady

All 3 put them on the map.

Nobody else matters.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Forgive me if this has already been posted, but its clear who the three most important people in the Patriots history are

The ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future, all of whom collectively convinced Jim Orthwein not to move the team to St. Louis and to sell it to Bob Kraft.

Nice job ghosts!

 

[Danny Boy®]

All this talk of Kraft...why was he so important? The Pats would still be the Pats regardless of him.

Again,
Sullivan
Parcells
Brady.

 

[mgteich]

Without the Krafts, the patriots would be a mediocre team from St. Louis.

All this talk of Kraft...why was he so important? The Pats would still be the Pats regardless of him.

Again,
Sullivan
Parcells
Brady.

 

[Danny Boy®]

Without the Krafts, the patriots would be a mediocre team from St. Louis.

Really? tell me....what is the number for next weeks lottery?

The Pats would still be the Pats, good or bad, in another city.

 

[Danny Boy®]

although it would have been pretty short lived had Kraft not taken a shine to his then young DC.

Have we forgotten the Carroll era?

 

[Danny Boy®]

1) Tom Finneran
2) Whitey Bulger
3) Danny Boy (r)

Please explain...and copy this..®

 

[Danny Boy®]

Sounds like someone who's just trying too hard to make their list spark discussion. Let me make it simpler for you, the list is:

Bob Kraft
Bill Belichick
Tom Brady

Anyone who argues with that has issues. They've won three Super Bowls.

And it was all due to two men....Sullivan and Parcells.

 

[Danny Boy®]

Without Kraft, there's no franchise in New England.

Oh, I didnt realize the question was "Three most important people in New England franchise history"

My bad.

 

[Danny Boy®]

as much as I love Brady, who is #3 on my list, the franchise would still exist if he never came around.

And it wouldve folded had Kraft not come around?