for the 'old' Pats Fans

[italian pat patriot]

one question: do you ever thought possible when you followed the franchise in the '60, '70 and '80 that we would have playied now to win the 4th Super Bowl ?

probably i will have an obvious reply but still i'm interested about yr feelings, opinions, sensations

thanks

 

[Watson's IQ]

I'm certainly not old, but I can answer in my own respect. I came of age as a sports fan in the 90s, and fully grew up never thinking the success Boston area teams are now enjoying would be possible. Before the Pats in 2002, the last Boston championship was the '86 Celtics, and I was 1 year old. Given what's happened since, with not only the Sox and Pats but now with the Celtics this year, I definitely appreciate it more than I would have given prolonged and continual success in my formative years.

I can only imagine how that feeling must be magnified for my dad (more a Sox fan than a Pats fan) and older generations.

I also kind of feel bad for the younger crowd who don't know how good they have it, and might grow up EXPECTING things to go this well.

 

[Sporin]

one question: do you ever thought possible when you followed the franchise in the '60, '70 and '80 that we would have playied now to win the 4th Super Bowl ?

probably i will have an obvious reply but still i'm interested about yr feelings, opinions, sensations

thanks

My wife and I are lifelong Pats fans, we are in our mid-late 30's. We keep marveling to one another that our 5 year old son is so lucky, he ONLY knows Patriots Domination...not to mention the Red Sox success. A lot different then the years of our youth.

I'm happy to enjoy the good times! :rocker:

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

one question: do you ever thought possible when you followed the franchise in the '60, '70 and '80 that we would have playied now to win the 4th Super Bowl ?

probably i will have an obvious reply but still i'm interested about yr feelings, opinions, sensations

thanks

I know exactly where you're coming from ItPat!

I can recall back as far as watching Jim Plunkett and Mack Heron and Randy Vataha and Julius Adams.

In those very lean years from say 1987 to 1993, I wondered if we would even have a team, much less ever win.

Now we are the model franchise of the league?!?!?!

Getting ready to unseat the '72 Fins as the greatest team ever?!?!?!

Dolphin fans jealous of ME in South Florida?!?!?!

You gotta be kidding me!

Thanks you Bill Parcells, Drew Bledsoe, Bob Kraft, Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, et al, for getting us here!

ADPF

 

[PATSNUTme]

After 30 years of frustration, I only hoped for one SB win. Just one and I would be a happy man.

I remember that during 2001 playoffs, part of me didn't want them to go to the SB again. I was afraid that they would become the Bills or the Vikings. I'm not ashamed to say that tears came to my eyes when the FG was made. I stood there in disbelief that it finally happened. Then the next week, I updated my will.

Now I'm a greedy bastard. I want this one bad becasue of the history and who we are playing. After this, they owe me nothing as a fan for the rest of my life.


Until next year!

 

[mosi]

Not in my wildest dreams. Man I remember when winning 11 games was a great season.

We should enjoy this now because stuff like this does not come around that often.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

My wife and I are lifelong Pats fans, we are in our mid-late 30's. We keep marveling to one another that our 5 year old son is so lucky, he ONLY knows Patriots Domination...not to mention the Red Sox success. A lot different then the years of our youth.

I'm happy to enjoy the good times! :rocker:

That's too funny. We have a six year old and we say the same thing! We call her the good luck charm!

Since she was born on 12/06/01, we have sat through three Super Bowl championships, two World Series titles, and we might be getting ready to sit through a fourth Lombardi and a Celtics banner #17!

 

[Deus Irae]

Well, 'we' lost one with the Raiders game in the '70's, and I thought that team in the mid '80's would win one before everything went into freefall (Thanks, Bears!). Then, I honestly thought the team would beat the Packers. Hell, to this day, I believe that the difference between the Patriots winning and losing that game was Howard, and nothing more.


So, I guess it depends on how you're looking at it. I thought that first one was coming several times, but never a whole slew together.

 

[PatsSox363804]

My earliest Pats memory is getting throttled in SB 20. I remember how my father and grandfather were shocked because this was the Pats, and the Pats weren't supposed to make Superbowls. Then we went in the tank from 89-93, and that's when I was 8-12 years old so I remember those days vividly, we sucked, and we were pretty much told it was our destiny to suck. When we went to the Superbowl in 97 again it was "these are the Pats, they have no chance" and we lost again, so in 2001 I can't say many of us thought we were actually going to win that game until AV kicked the ball through the uprights. But since then, my god what a difference, it's like we can't lose. It's crazy when I think about all of the past Celtic, Bruin, and Sox greats.. your Birds, Orr's , Williams', etc. Then you realize that with the Pats we are living those days NOW. My kids one day will hear legends of Brady marching down the field on the Rams, Bruschi ripping the ball out of Rhodes' hands in the playoffs, McGinests goal line stand in Indy, Brown lateraling to Harris in Pittsburgh, etc. It's amazing when I think about the Pats now and realize that this team which was destined to be awful is now tied for 2nd in Superbowl appearances, may achieve a status only held by 3 other teams, and may be the only team in history to go 19-0. We are living in the golden years of the New England Patriots, and they won't last forever, but fans of 31 other teams wish they were us right now.

P.S. Italy was beautiful, I loved it over there.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

one question: do you ever thought possible when you followed the franchise in the '60, '70 and '80 that we would have playied now to win the 4th Super Bowl ?

probably i will have an obvious reply but still i'm interested about yr feelings, opinions, sensations

thanks

No, Pat. When I saw that team play at Fenway Park, Harvard Stadium, Alumni Stadium, Nickerson Field and then when they built Sullivan Stadium for the cheapest amount you could build a stadium back then, and stayed there so long, I figured they'd be mediocre for my entire lifetime. Robert Kraft was obviously "Santa Claus" for us long suffering fans. Bill Parcells, Drew Bledsoe and others showed us how to win again and Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the rest took it from there.

 

[JaxPats]

SAVOR THIS YOU YOUNG PUPPIES!! It was worth the wait!!!:rocker: We were sooo bad way back, that local TV wouldn't even consider to carry the game. The Sullivan's could't give the Tix away. Boston sports fans are truly blessed.:woohoo:

 

[oldrover]

No. I've been a fan since they drafted Plunkett, and it always seemed like they were a tad snake-bit. Bad calls (Dreith), bad coach moves (Fairbanks), bad Super Bowls, bad owners (Victor Kiam)... I though Parcells would turn it around, but he came up short.

The past 7 years have been like living in a fantasy world. Even the playoff losses aren't tough to take, because I just KNEW the team would return to the Big Game. Good days, indeed.

 

[Jimke]

The first quarterback I saw play for the Patriots was Butch Songin. He was

a former football and hockey player from Boston College and had played in

the CFL. Back in those days the Patriots played their home games on Friday

nights. I assume they did this to avoid competition from the Giants on

Sundays. Most New Englanders were Giant's fans. I used to drive my

uncle crazy on league bowling night on Friday by taking a transistor

radio to the bowling alley to hear the Pats' game.

I had very low expectations in the early years. A season with more wins

than losses was great. Much of the time they were terrible and their

coaches even worse. One of the worst coaches was Clive Rush. He

had been the Jets' offensive co-ordinator when the Jets won the first

Superbowl for the American Football Conference. He was nearly

electrocuted at his first press conference, did interviews nude in the

dark and got on his knees and begged George Sauer not to fire him.

I have been amazed at how good Tom Brady is and what a great coach we

have in Bill Belichick.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I think it's about time ...

... to post this link again just to remind ourselves:

Patriots the team that's most set up for failure

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print March 5, 2001

Patriots QB
Drew Bledsoe

The question posed to NFL insiders was: Which team had the least chance of making the playoffs or going to the Super Bowl in the next five years? The Patriots were a unanimous choice, but several other teams will have more than their share of obstacles to overcome as well.


http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives/features_2000/nflist_030501.asp


The answer to your question (although I only go back as a fan to 1981) is "of course not". The run to the Superbowl in 2001 was extraordinary but I assumed that it would be 1985 all over again -- a heroic run followed by a crushing humiliation and decline thereafter. The idea that this was the first stage in building the team that would dominate the decade never entered my head.

 

[DarrylS]

NOt sure when I became a Pats fan, I started as a Cleveland Browns fan in the days of Otto Graham, then Jim Brown..

Became avid in the late 70's, seen all the very lean times... that is why is savor this time so much. All should read the Felger book, "tales from the Sidelines" if they need their memories refreshed.

It is kinda like we had some very crappy appetizers and now a 5 star main course.. it never ends and has never been better.

 

[SamBamCunningham32]

excitement for the patriots over 30 years was weak and good times were few and far between. From the 63 AFL finalists to the 76 team that shouldve gone the distance to the 86 thumping, we saw periods of embarassment and mediocrity that continued thru the early Kraft era. Its a treat for all New England fans and something any old fans can appreciate.

 

[Krugman]

Well,I guess I fit the "Old Pats Fan"category,watched them go to the Superbowl in '86 and '97,the game against the Bears was a disaster as we know,the game against the Packers was much closer,but in the end we just didnt have the horses.Then some lean years.I recall the 49 ers and their dynasty years,(I didnt like them because they always won..sound familiar?)and thinking .."Wow,what a great team they are ...great players on both sides of the ball,great coaching ..woulnd't it be something if we could be like that?" That was my mantra for several years,but I remained a die-hard Pats fan.I picked up a Pats team jacket .red and white with the old logo on it,that year the team went 1-15,so I got it cheap.I admit I wouldnt wear it that season as we were 1-15,next year i said "Hell with this,I'll wear it if we dont win a single game",luckily that didnt happen.......Anyway,I hear it from fellow workers who are Dolphins or Bills fans,they are insanely jealous of the Pats success.Enjoy this run,friends,it is sweet,but wont last forever...

 

[gomezcat]

After the end of the Green Bay superbowl (I became a fan in 1986, so it was the first one I saw the Pats in) I thought "that's it, we won't win the Superbowl". When we won the 2002 one, I thought it would be one and done. The fact that I expect us to win and go NINETEEN AND NIL, yes, NINETEEN AND NIL, is astonishing.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I know exactly where you're coming from ItPat!

I can recall back as far as watching Jim Plunkett and Mack Heron and Randy Vataha and Julius Adams.

In those very lean years from say 1987 to 1993, I wondered if we would even have a team, much less ever win.

Thanks you Bill Parcells, Drew Bledsoe, Bob Kraft, Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, et al, for getting us here!

ADPF

great my friend !

 

[karran_s]

I used to be a Parcells fan (with the NYG) way back and then switched over to NE when Parcells took over this franchise ... I was disappointed by his antics just before the SB in early '97 with Bledsoe.

I felt he betrayed the team and have been with the Pats ever since.. We hated Pete Carroll a lot and were overjoyed when BB came on board. We knew he was a great guy (from his years with the NYG).

At the start of 2001, the Pats were among the lowest rated teams and I used to travel a lot, wearing a Pats hat... I would always get sympathetic looks, especially from our division rivals. NYG fans were, however, always classy, especially when compared to the Jets fans (the worst of them all). I also didn't like the Denver fans.. (between Jets and Denver, I don't know who was worse).

We hated John Elway and the Broncos more than anything else at the time. They were the real enemy, before the Jets took over.

Anyway, it's been a great ride and all Pats fans should enjoy the moment, especially this year - the greatest season of all.. GO Pats ... I fully expect them to seal the deal this year in Arizona. How could they not do it? It's the final game, the pressure of the season, the playoffs, everything is behind them....If there's one person who knows NYG better than the Giants themselves, it's BB