How Far This Franchise Has Come

[shmessy]

Back in the day with the old helmets, people questioned your fandom not because it was considered trendy but because you were considered pitiful.

I miss those days when other teams' fans treated us with sympathy!

 

[Patriotic]

I remember whining to my dad. "Why can't the Patriots be on TV"? LOL!!

I remember when the Pats didn't come on TV I'd race upstairs to turn on the radio in my bedroom to listen to the game. The signal from WBZ Boston into Western Mass wasn't very strong especially on a Sunday afternoon. I felt like the only kid in my town that listened to a Pats game. I loved the team and the players except for the dreadful Joe Kapp.

It was a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

 

[Dagg]

I was a fan because my grandfather who lived in CT liked them, being in Western NY, I got to see them once a year when they played Buffalo. Neither team was great at the time (1981). I think NE finished 2-14. None of my friends could understand why I liked such a horrid team.

In fact I think we lost to Buffalo that year on Hail Mary pass from Joe Ferguson and I cried (hey I was only 9!)

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I miss those days when other teams' fans treated us with sympathy!

Not me. I much prefer the angry, defensive, wounded animal look I get when I mention the Patriots nowadays versus the former days of giggling condescention: "The Pa-TRIII-ots?????"

 

[Flying Fungi]

I miss those days when other teams' fans treated us with sympathy!

or when the AFC was generally ridiculed as the 'lesser' league

 

[RoughingthePasser]

I used to get them for a quarter out of gumball machines in grocery stores.

That's how I got mine!

 

[jaytyme]

i love this thread

i feel like a newbie, only been a pats fan since '86. one memory is:

on squish the phish sunday, 16 of us played a morning snow/mud football game destroying a field in tewksbury. the game/party that followed was epic. the night ended with 5 of us driving to warwick (drunk of course), to welcome home our conquering heros. i can't describe the feeling as grogan and tippett stepped off the plane around 1 am with 1000+ rabid pats fans cheering every step of the way. the police seemed happy to yell "kill" to their trained german shepherds as the crowd surged toward our invincable heros. meanwhile, the players seemed to overcome the shock of such a big receiving party and managed to high 5 every fan in sight

 

[The Boston Patriot]

I knew I was old when my kid came home one day with Ross O'Hanley's kid by his side and they were in the same class.

 

[jaytyme]

WTF...more old memories please

 

[dryheat44]

I was a fan because my grandfather who lived in CT liked them, being in Western NY, I got to see them once a year when they played Buffalo. Neither team was great at the time (1981). I think NE finished 2-14. None of my friends could understand why I liked such a horrid team.

In fact I think we lost to Buffalo that year on Hail Mary pass from Joe Ferguson and I cried (hey I was only 9!)

I remember this game vividly. We had just scored a touchdown with about half a minute left to take the lead, and Joe Ferguson threw a Hail Mary play with about 5 second left to win. Man, that sucked! Wild emotion swing for me.

 

[dryheat44]

That's how I got mine!

That was my first thought too. I remember having the Cardinals and Redskins...possibly an Oilers. I'm willing to bed if I go through my parents' house they're still around.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Here is a nice sight for you old AFL'ers:

http://www.conigliofamily.com/1964AFLeastAllstars.htm

 

[FrontSeven]

I still have my "Bears Busters" T-shirt. Who you gonna call? Not the Pats, I guess.

Call Dan. He smoked 'em like a cheap cigar.

 

[buile]

> Not one Patriots helmet. Not one.

Yep. Seems like my dad could never find any Patriots stuff in the 70s (even when we had a good team). Between me and my brother, we had Vikings pillow cases, a Packers helmet, Packers-colored jerseys, and I had a Broncos winter jacket. The only thing "Patriots" was a trashcan!

The only time you'd see the Patriots on the highlight reels was when other teams made great plays against them....

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Here is a nice sight for you old AFL'ers:

http://www.conigliofamily.com/1964AFLeastAllstars.htm

Thanks. Brings back memories. One of my geezer neighbors was just on a cruise with Paaahty Animal Larry Eisenhauer. He hasn't changed a bit.

 

[marty]

This thread is so much more enjoyable than the 200plus post thread about "bandwagon" fans. Man I wish some of these children would just go play on their own boards!!!

 

[Bella*chick]

I remember one awesome piece of Patriots memorabilia we had. Still do have, in fact. My brother had a lamp with a base that was the old Patriots helmet sitting on a square piece of astroturf.

We had a whole ton of those little plastic helmets and I think we actually did have a Patriots one because I now we had all the teams at one point. At least I think we did. I'm going to have my brother when I see him this weekend.

 

[Bannoman]

We were lucky at my house. We lived on a hill in RI so during home games, if we wrapped enough tin foil to the top of our "rabbit ears" and angled them juuussst right, we could catch the game on Channel 3 out of Hartford. The bonus was that the static made every game look like a snow bowl!

(same setup worked for Saturday afternoon viewings of "Creature Double Feature" on Channel 56!!)

 

[Omega Supreme]

I remember watching a Patriots game on TV when I was in first grade and then being a fan from then on out. My parents got me a notebook for school that had helmets of all of the NFL teams. I memorized all of the teams and circled the Patriots helmet on that notebook. I wish I still had that thing, if nothing else than for the nostalgia. Plus it'd be a trip seeing the "Baltimore Colts" and "L.A. Rams" helmets.

Ohh....almost missed the "Creature Double Feature" reference! I used to absolutely LOOOOVE watching that, even though just about every movie they showed would end up scaring the crap out of me. Actually, come to think of it, I may have been more scared of the intro than of any of the movies...

 

[Tricorn Hat]

After 5 yrs this thread prompted me to stop merely lurking and write.
When I was 7, I hated Keith Lincoln with a passion.(206 or so rushing yards against the Pats in the '63 title game)
I was one of the sink pissers at the exhibition with the Giants that opened Schaefer stadium.
I'm still pissed at Chuck Fairbanks, and I wouldn't brake for Joe Kapp, or Mike Taliaferro, for that matter