For fans not from NE

[FCB02062]

Great thread... Interesting

 

[livinginthe past]

From the UK - started following the Football when I was 11/12 years old (approx 1987/8) we had one of our 4 (4!) TV stations showing highlights on a Sunday evening - I guess from the previous weeks games?

Anyhow I wanted to have a rooting interest so I picked the team with 'England' in their name (I was too young to appreciate the irony!) and started checking up on the storied history of my new team - well, I was underwhelmed to say the least!

Checked back on all the past years (in an NFL football annual) hunting for many Superbowl Victories only to find the butchering we took in our one and only appearance to that point.

Still, your team is your team and I stuck with the team through thick and (very) thin despite the fashionable Dolphins being our division - now i'm glad I did.

Love Football.

Love The Patriots.

 

[Dagg]

Born and raised in upstate NY but my Grandfather and Dad were from CT. While my Dad was gone from CT for the military (packers fan) when the patriots started my grandfather was lived in CT and was big fan and would listen to pats/sox on the radio. I just kind of followed in his footsteps. Early 80s was hard to get Patriots gear outside NE or even see them on TV (the odd MNF) or Bills games. I am 1.5/2 hours from Buffalo so I have seen pats many times from Grogan to Bledsoe to Brady. Still do want to make it to foxboro here at somepoint sucks always being the fan in the minority,

 

[drewskie]

Born in Hong Kong, raised in Toronto for most of my life.

Started following this team and the sport in general during the Drew Bledsoe era with Curtis Martin. Witnessed the loss against Green Bay in SB 31. Then when the uniforms changed and we brought in BB and TB, the culture stepped up another level and I've loved everything about this team (ranging from how no one gave them a chance in SB 36 to all the noise and cheating propaganda) since. The IQ of this organization has been off the charts and it has been a privilege to see how they conduct themselves with class, draft well, no I in team, adapt with the rule changes, go from a defense-first team to one where its offense-first, etc.

With the amount of detractors and outside factors determined to make it an uphill battle for us (Goodell/refs), I follow this team and every move they make religiously and am proud to rep them wherever I go as I truly believe the current run is the greatest dynasty in the history of pro sports! Go Pats! #blitzforsix

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I grew up on a dairy farm in (gulp) Indiana, of all places, but before the Colts moved to Indy. I wasn't an NFL fan growing up, though I watched the Bengals a little. I went to Yale in the mid 80s for school, had friends from Massachusetts, and got to like football, then I moved to Northborough MA in 1995 for 10 years. I moved to Florida in 2005.

 

[WeezyFbaby]

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta Canada. 28 years old been watching the patriots since i was a toddler. My Dad grew up in Montreal (5 hours to New England) and due to proximity cheered for the Pats, I was basically born into it as he would watch the games on sundays. Basically the best thing ive ever had passed down to me.

I consider myself a diehard, I live and breathe pats, ive been lucky enough to attend 7 patriots games in my life and my first this year at Gillette, the monday nighter vs the Ravens. The best game I was lucky enough to attend was the 2007 game 16 vs the giants where we went 16-0 and Brady and Moss broke their respective records.

I was also lucky enough to be in Arizona for the 14 superbowl, unfortunately couldnt secure affordable tickets but amazing to be in the same city for the win. My dream is to see a superbowl live but unfortunately the cost has always been a touch overwhelming

Ive been a member for many years but rarely post, read every single thread however and feel i know most of you like a friend. Love the forum, love the fans, love the team. GO PATS

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I've told my story several times...from Toronto so Buffalo games were often blacked out and the NBC station would show the Patriots. Once Mack Herron joined them from the CFL, they were my team.

There's a lot of Patriot fans in Eastern Canada and Quebec because they get the Patriots as the default AFC team on their American network television. In Toronto, there's similarly a lot of Patriot fans because Toronto people won't generally root for Buffalo since people look down on the place (snobbery). I see more Patriot jerseys (and Steeler jerseys) here than Bills jerseys.

Toronto-based fan checking in to say we don't look down on Buffalo because of snobbery, but because the place (and the people) legitimately suck ass. What a bunch of mouth-breathing inbreeding yokels. Holy ****.

As for my own story, I've told it a few times, but I'm a Brady guy from his Michigan days. Grew up near Detroit, everyone was either a Toronto fan or a Detroit fan, and I followed none of the teams from either city. Didn't like the NFL (partly because of the Lions), but loved college football and loved Brady.

At the time, I was in high school and battling with a younger classmate for my starting job on some sports teams. He was taller and more athletic, but not as smart about the game, but that potential mattered. So I personally identified with Brady trying to fend off the younger, more popular Drew Henson, and rooted for the guy.

I did not end up winning the starting job, nor did I go pro and win a bunch of championships or marry a supermodel. Then again, I didn't expect any of that for Brady either when he got drafted so late. But I was hoping to see him make the team, play a bit in the pre-season, maybe get a few garbage-time snaps in the regular season before he got cut and became an insurance salesman.

I kind of missed the mark on that one a bit...then again, I wasn't the only one.

When Bledsoe got hurt, I didn't even think they would start Brady that next week, but try to find a more experienced guy. I really didn't watch a lot of NFL at the time, and it was hard to get Patriots games on regular TV back then in Toronto. But I'd see them when they played the Bills, and the playoff games...and holy ****, Tom was managing the game well, he wasn't getting overwhelmed. I mean he only threw for 300 yards in one game that first season, he wasn't the GOAT back then. But he stayed within himself, did his job, and gave the team a chance consistently.

And then the Tuck rule. And then Bledsoe came in against the Steelers, and I wasn't sure Tom would get to play in the Super Bowl, but he did. And then, they ran out of that tunnel as a team after the Rams got introduced personally, and I switched from a Brady fan to a Patriots fan. That team just resonated with my younger self, the kid who was smart and would work hard but maybe not the most gifted athletically, the guys who just want to play the game and hang out with their teammates, not needing individual recognition but wanting to be part of something bigger. Win or lose, I was hooked. But then we won. Just unbelievable pandemonium in that upset over the Rams.

And then I thought he was done. Great year, still couldn't believe they'd keep the game manager Brady over the $100M Pro Bowler Bledsoe, though it was pretty obvious they would. All I could think was if they keep Drew and Brady ends up being a backup, this is way more than I could have ever hoped for my favourite player ever. Little did I know...

It's hard for me to reconcile this Brady with the guy who struggled to keep his job at Michigan. It's odd to see him go back there and be celebrated when I remember how many of those boosters were pushing to oust him. The chip on his shoulder against Goodell is a snowflake compared to what he must have felt towards Lloyd Carr.

But here he is, the GOAT, with the GOAT coach and the GOAT dynasty. Not bad for the 199th pick overall...

 

[juxtapoz15]

I was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania. Most of my family and friends are Steeler's fans, but in the mid 80's the team was terrible at the end of the Chuck Noll era with Bubby Brister as their QB. I never really had a team until I watched week 17 of the 1993 season where a rookie Drew Bledsoe threw it all over the field in an OT win against the Miami Dolphins. After that game I was hooked and have been a Pats fan ever since.

 

[conway]

It's been gradual for me. Was a fan of Boggs, Clemens and the Sox as a kid when they went to the World Series in 86. Started following the NFL with that Pats-Bears Super Bowl and just kinda adopted the Boston teams. I liked Bledsoe and Coates and Glenn and Martin, but still wasn't fully committed. Became more committed to the Pats in the early Brady years mostly bc of Troy Brown. (I live in Huntington, WV, home of Marshall University. We love Troy.) When Moss signed, I was fully on board. Have come to really appreciate Belichick's genius. Now, I'm listening to the podcasts, following the 53 and practice squad, and totally into it. But no real connection to New England.

 

[jax24]

I'm from New Zealand and became a fan after watching the Pats epic first Superbowl win against the Rams. Before this game I had followed other NFL teams back through to the 90's but was never a die hard fan of any. I was just a fan of certain players. We didn't get much NFL coverage over here in N.Z until the late 90's either.

I actually only rooted for the Patriots in Superbowl 36 because I was a big Eddie George fan. I wanted the Rams to lose after they had beaten Eddie and the Titans 2 years earlier at the Superbowl lol.

While I may have originally had alterior motives for the Pats to win Superbowl 36, this game was the birth of me becoming a "PatsFan" and a part of "PatsNation".

I was totally awestruck by this young upstart QB Tom Brady who looked so mature for his age and experience. Also the fact he had displaced Drew Bledsoe intrigued me. The way he navigated the team on that last drive to get into FG position was a masterpiece. Then watching Vinatieri nail a 48 yard FG to win the game as time expired had me hooked. What a victory, what a team!!!

From that day forth I am proud to say I am a "PatsFan". I could never have fathomed that 15 years on we would have won 4 more championships and played in 6 more Superbowls. However I am also not entirely shocked either as that is the greatness of this team and organization!!!

Go Pats!!!

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Well I have said before I live in Fredericton New Brunswick. Our feeds for American tv are from Boston. Maine PBS with feeds from Boston, and Detroit. So with the Patriots, because of demand, playing on Thursday, Sunday nights, Mondays and on as well as being the regional game just in case Dallas is playing New York, we get to see all the games on TV. I was born in Southern Ontario in Chatham, and that is 50 miles from Detroit and 65 miles north of Cleveland, and so there were many years on ineptitude to drift in and out of. I was stationed in Barrington NS in 1970 and 71 and listened to the games as the only feeds (during the daytime) that we could get clearly were from Boston and that started it. I watched with interest when I could and counted myself a Patriots fan. I enjoyed the good years, I endured the bad. I moved to Fredericton in 2002 and except for my passion to shovel snow, I love the area. And of course it coincides with the rise of Belichick and Brady and Football became a must be viewing/cheering/ and annoying non Patriot fans. I have developed a terrific Muttley laugh when I hear their mournful cries. Mostly it is "we wuz robbed" and the Pats cheat. Yeah....Yeah neener neener. Go Pats! By the By, My old man was born and raised in Regina,
served with The Regina Rifles in WWII and went in first thing on Juno and happily survived the ordeal for me to tell you about it. He was good guy and we have his name enscribed at Juno Beach on the wall. He loved to yell at the Lions. He was very descriptive!

Props to your dad. My grandfather was in the first wave on Omaha beach. He won the silver star that day. He survived the war but passed away before I was born. I often wonder what went through his mind that first night in France.

 

[PatCat]

Born raised and still live in CT. I got into watching football in 1999 and instantly picked the Pats as they are somewhat the home team. Been on the train ever since, one hell of a ride.

 

[102 Pat]

I live in the NB, just to the right of Maine (geography time kids!) and the Pats were always on TV since they were the "local team"

It's no real surprise that the Maritimes (more geography lessons kids!) has a real strong Patriot fanbase.

I did get a good laugh at how my friends and I were treated like oddities (in a fun way) by our tailgate parking lot neighbours for the Bengals game this year. They found it crazy that someone would travel that far (about 9 hours) to see a game.

 

[gatsby47]

Props to your dad. My grandfather was in the first wave on Omaha beach. He won the silver star that day. He survived the war but passed away before I was born. I often wonder what went through his mind that first night in France.

My profound thanks to your Dad. I asked mine a similar question and he said he was fretful of letting his mates down. I think, more than anything, the previous 4 years in England, training, instilled that mechanical response that one must go through with it regardless,and by and large most did. It was a relief to finally get going.

 

[Mountain_Commando]

Moved from India to Franklin, MA in 2001 (good year to become a pats fan ). Being that we were some 6 miles from Gillette and that everything Pats is religion in that area, pats fandom was inevitable.

Was living in Long Island NY in '08 and watched SB42 at a buddy's place in Queens with 9 other Giants fans, I was the only Pats fan there. After that experience and Mara's douche-ness in defamegate, the Giants could cure cancer and I'd still loathe them from the bottom of my soul.

Spent this new years watching a comedy show at the CBS Scene in Patriots Place. The obligatory "Pats gonna win this year" from the stand-ups didn't sound cliched this time, not for a second, not with this team. It sounded prophetic, that was the feeling and reaction from everyone in that place.

Currently in Melbourne, OZ. After that win, walked into the Crown casino wearing my Brady jersey with my buddy (from Bridgeport, CT) wearing his Moss jersey. Walked past a dozen or so peasants in assorted NFL jerseys (Rodgers, Manning, Watt, etc.) with **** eating grins on our faces. Plan to paint the town blue this weekend in my GOAT jersey .

 

[tigerjohn]

Grew up in upstate NY across the lake from VT. My dad was a fan since his grad school days in Boston and our tv was VT stations, so the Pats were on every week.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

I began following the team in the mid 80's. I was a very young fan and was new to the sport but loved watching Grogan, James, Tippett and Clayborn. They had a pretty decent team for a bit in the mid-80's.

The decade that followed i watched games here and there. It was easy not to watch there for a couple years. When Parcells was hired in the early 90's i would say I became a stout follower of the team. He reminded me a bit of Don Cherry and the personality got me hooked.

When Bledsoe was drafted I followed the team pretty religiously.

Living in Halifax, N.S. I got the New England regional US network feeds and i would say that probably helped to keep me hooked.

So yeah...been a fan for 30-ish years.....damn i am old....

 

[PortPatriot]

Adelaide, Australia here.

As a kid every year I'd watch the Super Bowl starting from the mid-late 90s. I played a bit of Madden on the Super Nes but I never really picked up a team. Super Bowl 36 I decided I'd support the under dog and I haven't turned back since then, I've been obsessed with this team.

We got cable TV in the early 2000s so it was a lot easier to watch Patriots games live and since I've been subscribing to game pass (last 6 or 7 years) I've hardly missed a live game. It's been a lot of early mornings at 430am and long days at work, including a few sick days when we play prime time and the games start at mid day.

I've made 4 trips to the US and have seen the Patriots play 11 times including the London game v the Rams at Wembley. I've got a 10-1 record with the only loss was that damn MNF game in Carolina where they picked up that flag. The crowning moment for me was Super Bowl 49. I'd been saving and saving and waiting for the Patriots to finally get back to the Super Bowl. I didn't think it would happen after a couple of AFCCG losses to Baltimore and Denver. Being there for that game was one of the best moments of my life.

In my travels I've met so many great people watching the Patriots and made a lot of friends. I love Boston and the people. I can't wait to return either end of 2017 or 2018 which in all likelihood will be the final time I see Brady play which will be quite emotional for myself.

 

[Oz_Patriot]

Melbourne Australia here, but when I started following the NFL it was Sydney.

In the late 80's I saw my first game televised and it was a Patriots game. I can't even remember who they were playing or even if they won or lost, but I had to choose a side to support and I chose the Pats and have been a fan ever since.

Loved the Patriots through all the highs and the lows in the last 28 years and still have the cap I bought that first year. Watching old school players such as Leonard Russell and Jon Vaughn who were nice enough to sign football cards for me and send them back here to Australia.

The Patriots have always been the best team in the NFL in my opinion, it has just taken everyone else in the NFL 28 years to realise it.

 

[Batman]

Mine is a bit of an odd one. My parents are British I was born in Germany, moved around a few places as a kid. I currently live in Scotland. My dad is a huge Raiders fan last season he was living in the bay area so got to see them a few times, he's now moved to SC. In the early 90's I woke up one night as a kid I could hear the TV downstairs, my dad was watching a game, I was hooked! From then on anytime I played a video game I would pick the pats I thought they were England’s team (Hey! I was a young kid I didn't know)


In 95 my dad got me a Bledsoe Jersey, I still have it. He also worked in Boston for a bit that year sadly not during the season. So I didn't get to go to any games


I hated when we Lost the SB in 2011 for me that was us 3-3 I know we were 3-4 then but I never had to deal with the early Super Bowl loss to the bears. I remember calling my father on a Monday to get the scores as we didn't live together, I remember the disappointment each time we lost and the joy of the wins. The internet changed it all for me I could get my own scores didn't have to rely on someone writing them down when they came up on the late game.


I was really angry when Drew didn't get his job back in 01, I got over that though I was always team Drew but BB was right I was not. Since 2006 I try to get to a Pats game as often as possible. Last time in Gillette was 10/05/14 what a game. I got to go to this years game vs the broncos and 49ers as I was visiting my Girlfriend in Nebraska twice and then made a trip to see my dad in the bay area, I say to see my dad I wouldn't have gone if the Pats weren’t playing that weekend. We are looking at going to Mexico city next season to see our teams face off.