Another former Patriot to be featured on “A Football Life”

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

It's hard to tell if the uniform in this picture looks awesome (which it does) because of the uniform itself or because the guy wearing it would make anything look awesome. Now my mind is biased forever that this is the best look, but I wonder if I'd draw that same conclusion if that were Hugh Millen.

 

[PatsDeb]

None of those players or coaches ever wore blue or the Flying Elvis logo (the symbol of victorious dominance) so they don't qualify.

Troublemaker...

 

[Joey007]

I'd say you've fully redeemed yourself with this one. lol.

Like Jerry Seinfeld once said, “I always even out!”

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yeah, the symbol of three decades worth of mediocrity that were highlighted by a roughing the passer call, and getting throttled in the Super Bowl by the 85 Bears.

So, aside from the impossibility of anyone believing that statement having any interest, awareness let alone fondness or experience rooting for the team ever, let's identify those in three plus decades who would have to be labeled, "sub-mediocre", and also include some stretches for franchises considered dynastic:

1960's: [Giants, Eagles, Bears barely qualify as "mediocre", "equal" to Pats]

Cardinals, Saints, Steelers, Redskins, 49ers, Falcons, Lions, Dolphins, Broncos, Bengals

1970's: [Chiefs, Colts barely qualify as "mediocre", "equal" to Pats]

Eagles, Redskins, Cardinals, Giants, Lions, Bears, Bucs, Falcons, Saints, 49ers, Seahawks, Chargers, Broncos, Oilers, Browns, Bengals, Bills, Jets

1980's: [Rams, Bengals, Seahawks barely qualify as "mediocre", "equal" to Pats]

Cardinals, Eagles, Bucs, Lions, Vikings, Saints, Falcons, Chiefs, Chargers, Oilers, Browns, Jets, Colts, Bills

1990-1992: A three (3) year period amidst utter turmoil in ownership and front office

Years of James Busch Orthwein's presence and ownership in New England on March 31, 1993:

Zero. [A day less than ten months, three weeks]

Years of Anheuser-Busch presence and ownership of Budweiser beer on March 31, 1993:

107


"Sub-mediocre" (that is, worse than Patriots in any given historical time frame):

Green Bay Packers: 1945-1958 (14 seasons); 1968-1991 (24 seasons)
Pittsburgh Steelers: 1933-1971 (39 seasons); 1980-2003 (24 seasons)
San Francisco 49ers: 1946-1969 (24 seasons); 1973-1980 (8); 2003-2010 (8)
Dallas Cowboys: 1996-2017 (22 seasons)

No objective person would consider the Broncos getting throttled 55-10 by the 49ers the "highlight" of their run in the 8o's; nor would anyone do the same for the 49ers getting throttled 49-3 at the Meadowlands the "highlight" of their run in the 80's.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

It's hard to tell if the uniform in this picture looks awesome (which it does) because of the uniform itself or because the guy wearing it would make anything look awesome. Now my mind is biased forever that this is the best look, but I wonder if I'd draw that same conclusion if that were Hugh Millen.

Well, we looked like champs
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/football-new-england-patriots-coach-****-macpherson-with-qb-hugh-picture-id81370399

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Well, we looked like champs
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/football-new-england-patriots-coach-****-macpherson-with-qb-hugh-picture-id81370399

Now it doesn’t look so cool.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Now it doesn’t look so cool.

It does to all the fans and present/former players I've spoken to.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

It does to all the fans and present/former players I've spoken to.

Hmmmm...something tells me this is not an honest statement. Let’s just start with this: I am a fan, and while you haven’t “spoken” to me, I’m pretty sure my opinion alone immediately discredits the very idea this is an all/unanimous opinion, since I am part of that group. Should I call you on the phone to make it official, or will this post suffice?

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

It does to all the fans and present/former players I've spoken to.

And every non Pats fan I've spoken to couldn't give a rat's ass what our uniforms look like, they just want their team to win as much as we do.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Hmmmm...something tells me this is not an honest statement. Let’s just start with this: I am a fan, and while you haven’t “spoken” to me, I’m pretty sure my opinion alone immediately discredits the very idea this is an all/unanimous opinion, since I am part of that group. Should I call you on the phone to make it official, or will this post suffice?

The majority of posters on this site prefer the flying elvis logo.

No, not one person I've spoken to on the subject in the last 25 years has done so.

I've done a bit of travelling in the Northeast and up and down the coast, and been to Europe a few times; and I've also seen online responses.

The flying elvis likers tend to be dependent upon winning for their attention, let alone fandom.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

And every non Pats fan I've spoken to couldn't give a rat's ass what our uniforms look like, they just want their team to win as much as we do.

Then, you'll have no problem with our new replacement American flag:

as long as we win

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Then, you'll have no problem with our new replacement American flag:
View attachment 20930
as long as we win

You really need to find some perspective in life if you equate our team logo to what that symbol represents. Wow.

 

[Joey007]

You really need to find some perspective in life if you equate our team logo to what that symbol represents. Wow.

I think he’s just mad because you stole the username he wanted when he first joined.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Oh damn...I didn’t realize they offer a Doctorate now in Psychology and Patriots Fans Uniform Preferences. I think I gave the old ones a pretty good compliment re: the Brady picture, but I guess I’m a front runner and not a real fan since I’m not having a spiritual catharsis about the old uniforms.

I’d be curious to see your thesis publication and all the interview notes since this was an impressive undertaking, with a proved theory on the level of Einstein or Tesla. Were the interviews videotaped, and did you control the study with different variables? That’s so bizarre that no one in person - ever - has preferred the flying Elvis but there’s an abundance of those people on this message board, plain to see for everyone. Russian bots?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Then, you'll have no problem with our new replacement American flag:
View attachment 20930
as long as we win

Swastika on an American flag...that’s totally appropriate for this discussion. Now people see you as reasonable and not a crackpot.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Oh damn...I didn’t realize they offer a Doctorate now in Psychology and Patriots Fans Uniform Preferences. I think I gave the old ones a pretty good compliment re: the Brady picture, but I guess I’m a front runner and not a real fan since I’m not having a spiritual catharsis about the old uniforms.

I’d be curious to see your thesis publication and all the interview notes since this was an impressive undertaking, with a proved theory on the level of Einstein or Tesla. Were the interviews videotaped, and did you control the study with different variables? That’s so bizarre that no one in person - ever - has preferred the flying Elvis but there’s an abundance of those people on this message board, plain to see for everyone. Russian bots?

On November 22, 1959, the eighth and final franchise in the new American Football League was awarded to a 10-man ownership group from Boston (led by Billy Sullivan), and was named the Boston Patriots. Though homeless throughout their time in the AFL in the sixties, the Pats had some competitive teams and outstanding players, who exhibited determination and courage, on and off the field, representing their region well, despite often poor management by ownership. Without league initiative or leadership, and without local government support, the Patriots managed to open a new home stadium in Foxborough in 1971, after joining the National Football League, and were renamed the New England Patriots. As every franchise does, the Patriots were in the midst of a losing stretch that would span seven seasons, their longest to date. However, under the leadership of head coach Chuck Fairbanks, the team added enough young talent to reach the pinnacle of professional football in 1976. Despite having the title stolen from them, their nationally televised playoff defeat in Oakland attracted fans nationwide. Within nine years, the Patriots had a world-wide fan base, and became the first team to win three consecutive playoff games on the road on the way to their belatedly first Super Bowl appearance in 1986. Due to the head coach’s decision, quarterback Steve Grogan did not start this championship game as he likewise did not in Pasadena nine years earlier, and the Pats not only lost the game but similarly suffered premature season-ending losses without Grogan in 1986, and then without local hero Doug Flutie in 1988, who was cut a year later, only to go on to set records and win championships in the Canadian Football League.

The brief period from 1989-1992 saw struggling on the field coincide with the inevitable, ultimate financial collapse of the Sullivan ownership. As they did consistently since the 1970 merger, including in 1981 which turned out to be the single losing season in a stretch of thirteen for the Patriots, the league and opponents heaped denigration and insults upon the Patriots franchise, using propaganda such as “The Patriots damaged the league” and “The Patriots are a national embarrassment” and “The Patriots are a broken and ridiculed franchise” in expressing bias and hatred unmatched within any other professional team sports organization in history. New owner Robert Kraft encouraged, and by his actions concurred with, all the inaccurate bias and corruption, accepting and continuing the makeover perpetrated less than a year prior to his purchase, which included virtually the same replacement logo that a packed home stadium of Patriots fans booed into orbit in 1979. Besides joining his new league colleagues in giving the middle finger to lifelong Patriots fans, Kraft built his new following by endorsing propaganda that the three-season losing stretch was more like 25 years, or a millennium. He then picked up where his predecessor James Busch Orthwein left off, promoting the team with the ugly, strange uniforms as “new”, “exciting” and “different”. This was the genesis of an indeed new fan base, which never heard of or cared about the Patriots before, and which bought in entirely the false pretense that the Patriots were as worthless on and off the field as the league and opponents had been crying for over two decades. Emboldened by league initiative and assistance in the form of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s lackey, Roger Goodell, and a complete reversal in ideology by the Massachusetts government (neither of which Sullivan had), Kraft kept the team in state and began construction of a new stadium.

After seven nondescript seasons which were not as accomplished as any of the team’s previous three decades, Kraft did what losing team owners do: give an enormous new contract to a quarterback, to make headlines and hope that throwing a lot of money at something will yield success. While, for example, in 2011 the Bills gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a contract extension worth $59 million over six years, including $24 million in guaranteed money, they simply anointed him a “franchise quarterback”; Kraft, when giving Drew Bledsoe a $103 million, 10-year deal, the richest in NFL history, referenced Ted Williams, Bill Russell and Larry Bird. Now, like Tony Eason, Drew is a nice guy and a decent quarterback I guess, but I would never start him over Steve Grogan, Jim Plunkett, Babe Parilli or Doug Flutie in a football game I was interested in winning. Anyway, the "new look" was just starting to wear thin when Tom Brady rescued everybody, and Kraft of course lumps in the bland prior seven seasons into the "dynasty", which at the earliest should be demarked as 2000, when Bill and Tom first showed up. It's his ownership. He should have renamed the team the Krafts, or the Ravens.

Bob Kraft is no more egotistical than Billy Sullivan. But his rhetoric about the "fans" is disingenuous.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Willie still (occasionally) provides good insight on WEEI.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

On November 22, 1959, the eighth and final franchise in the new American Football League was awarded to a 10-man ownership group from Boston (led by Billy Sullivan), and was named the Boston Patriots. Though homeless throughout their time in the AFL in the sixties, the Pats had some competitive teams and outstanding players, who exhibited determination and courage, on and off the field, representing their region well, despite often poor management by ownership. Without league initiative or leadership, and without local government support, the Patriots managed to open a new home stadium in Foxborough in 1971, after joining the National Football League, and were renamed the New England Patriots. As every franchise does, the Patriots were in the midst of a losing stretch that would span seven seasons, their longest to date. However, under the leadership of head coach Chuck Fairbanks, the team added enough young talent to reach the pinnacle of professional football in 1976. Despite having the title stolen from them, their nationally televised playoff defeat in Oakland attracted fans nationwide. Within nine years, the Patriots had a world-wide fan base, and became the first team to win three consecutive playoff games on the road on the way to their belatedly first Super Bowl appearance in 1986. Due to the head coach’s decision, quarterback Steve Grogan did not start this championship game as he likewise did not in Pasadena nine years earlier, and the Pats not only lost the game but similarly suffered premature season-ending losses without Grogan in 1986, and then without local hero Doug Flutie in 1988, who was cut a year later, only to go on to set records and win championships in the Canadian Football League.

The brief period from 1989-1992 saw struggling on the field coincide with the inevitable, ultimate financial collapse of the Sullivan ownership. As they did consistently since the 1970 merger, including in 1981 which turned out to be the single losing season in a stretch of thirteen for the Patriots, the league and opponents heaped denigration and insults upon the Patriots franchise, using propaganda such as “The Patriots damaged the league” and “The Patriots are a national embarrassment” and “The Patriots are a broken and ridiculed franchise” in expressing bias and hatred unmatched within any other professional team sports organization in history. New owner Robert Kraft encouraged, and by his actions concurred with, all the inaccurate bias and corruption, accepting and continuing the makeover perpetrated less than a year prior to his purchase, which included virtually the same replacement logo that a packed home stadium of Patriots fans booed into orbit in 1979. Besides joining his new league colleagues in giving the middle finger to lifelong Patriots fans, Kraft built his new following by endorsing propaganda that the three-season losing stretch was more like 25 years, or a millennium. He then picked up where his predecessor James Busch Orthwein left off, promoting the team with the ugly, strange uniforms as “new”, “exciting” and “different”. This was the genesis of an indeed new fan base, which never heard of or cared about the Patriots before, and which bought in entirely the false pretense that the Patriots were as worthless on and off the field as the league and opponents had been crying for over two decades. Emboldened by league initiative and assistance in the form of Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s lackey, Roger Goodell, and a complete reversal in ideology by the Massachusetts government (neither of which Sullivan had), Kraft kept the team in state and began construction of a new stadium.

After seven nondescript seasons which were not as accomplished as any of the team’s previous three decades, Kraft did what losing team owners do: give an enormous new contract to a quarterback, to make headlines and hope that throwing a lot of money at something will yield success. While, for example, in 2011 the Bills gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a contract extension worth $59 million over six years, including $24 million in guaranteed money, they simply anointed him a “franchise quarterback”; Kraft, when giving Drew Bledsoe a $103 million, 10-year deal, the richest in NFL history, referenced Ted Williams, Bill Russell and Larry Bird. Now, like Tony Eason, Drew is a nice guy and a decent quarterback I guess, but I would never start him over Steve Grogan, Jim Plunkett, Babe Parilli or Doug Flutie in a football game I was interested in winning. Anyway, the "new look" was just starting to wear thin when Tom Brady rescued everybody, and Kraft of course lumps in the bland prior seven seasons into the "dynasty", which at the earliest should be demarked as 2000, when Bill and Tom first showed up. It's his ownership. He should have renamed the team the Krafts, or the Ravens.

Bob Kraft is no more egotistical than Billy Sullivan. But his rhetoric about the "fans" is disingenuous.

We get it. The Patriots had a rich history which was unfairly characterized as a laughingstock before Kraft got here. That has nothing to do with why someone likes the color blue over the color red or what their particular taste is when it comes to the style of a uniform and logo. I'll bet a lot of Patriots fans who prefer the flying Elvis would choose a better uniform that they just think looks better, if presented with that option as well. You are reading way too much into why people like one uniform over another. It's not like the team decided to rename themselves and purge their pre-Kraft record books and history. Many teams change their uniforms; it just isn't a big deal.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Many teams change their uniforms; it just isn't a big deal.

https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story...ge-ron-wolf-ted-thompson-lambeau-field-081715

When the 49ers changed their logo, and fans revolted

Billy Sullivan said he received only six letters after the Leon Gray trade but received a flood (actually about 100) after the first stories that said the Patriots were thinking of changing their logo.


Now, THIS guy is right up your alley!:

A Steelers uniform change could be just what the doctor ordered

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

None of those players or coaches ever wore blue or the Flying Elvis logo (the symbol of victorious dominance) so they don't qualify.

Wow.

I guess things change in nine years.


TunescribePatsFans.com SupporterPatsFans.com Supporter

Re: Failed 1979 logo.

Those logos are horrid. Shame on the Sullivans for even suggesting them.

Tunescribe, Jun 25, 2009