How Far This Franchise Has Come

[shmessy]

I was the little kid in 1973 who left the Needham IHOP each time disappointed. Disappointed because, even in Massachusetts, they didn't have Patriots helmets.

Some of you remember. IHOP in the 1970's for a few years, had a campaign of giving kids little plastic NFL helmets - - you could hold them in the palm of your hand. If you ordered one of their special breakfasts, they'd give it to you. A big deal for an 8 year old back then.

Well, you know where I'm going with this. The "real" NFL teams, from "real" NFL cities dominated my pile of IHOP helmets. The St Louis Cards, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, etc. I eventually had 40-50 of these helmets (from about 20 teams) that I collected from eating alot of starch (and from friends/relatives).

Not one Patriots helmet. Not one.

This morning, I see this column from a nationally known columnist writing in a newspaper for the locals in a "real" foootball city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702358.html

Sometimes, it all doesn't seem real.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

I was the little kid in 1973 who left the Needham IHOP each time disappointed. Disappointed because, even in Massachusetts, they didn't have Patriots helmets.

Some of you remember. IHOP in the 1970's for a few years, had a campaign of giving kids little plastic NFL helmets - - you could hold them in the palm of your hand. If you ordered one of their special breakfasts, they'd give it to you. A big deal for an 8 year old back then.

Well, you know where I'm going with this. The "real" NFL teams, from "real" NFL cities dominated my pile of IHOP helmets. The St Louis Cards, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, etc. I eventually had 40-50 of these helmets (from about 20 teams) that I collected from eating alot of starch (and from friends/relatives).

Not one Patriots helmet. Not one.

This morning, I see this column from a nationally known columnist writing in a newspaper for the locals in a "real" foootball city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702358.html

Sometimes, it all doesn't seem real.

Nice nostalgia, but if you got a St. Louis Cards helmet back then, someone was being quite the Nostradamus. I do remember the Patriots not being televised in New England (Giants were) in the early years of the Pats existence.

 

[FlyingElvis75]

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

I think it's anti-nostalgia. Like, someday we're going to look back on these years and be nostalgic.

 

[dryheat44]

I remember every year if I wanted a gym bag, lunch box, whatever for school, my choices were Steelers or Cowboys.

Of course, getting tickets to Shaefer was never a problem back then.

 

[shmessy]

Nice nostalgia, but if you got a St. Louis Cards helmet back then, someone was being quite the Nostradamus. I do remember the Patriots not being televised in New England (Giants were) in the early years of the Pats existence.

Perhaps, you mean "St Louis Rams"?

Back then, though, it WAS Jim Hart, Conrad Dobler and the old St Louis Cardinals.

 

[shmessy]

Of course, getting tickets to Shaefer was never a problem back then.

Not to mention, go across the parking lot to watch the Harness Racing!

 

[Pats726]

Hey....everyone is talking OLD at Foxboro...OOLD is fenway Park...BC..BU...Harvard....and yes the NY FOOTBALL GIANTS..invaded every living room...and while it was the closest club..as a kid I hated them....and when the Pats arrived, they STILL had the Giants on every week...

 

[PATSNUTme]

The thing is that as the years go bye, there are more and more younger fans. These fans have no first hand knowledge of what it was like to be a Patiots fan in the dark times.

It's good to have a thread to remind people that things were not so rosey before Bob Kraft bought the team. There were several times that there was real fear that our team would be moved. Ther were years when Patriots games were balcked out on TV because they could sell enough tickets to the home games.

Those who have been around longer remember those times and I think cherish these times more.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

I moved to New England in '92 and instantly became a fan, despite how the team played. Season tickets were easy to get, and we endured 9 straight losses to open the season, with the Pats finally getting a win in game 10 against Indy. From there, we went on a win streak of one more game, beating the Jest behind Scott Zolak. That was it for the year in regards to wins, 2!

But next year gave us a new beginning with the Tuna, and Drew, and Mr. Kraft.

 

[Franchise12]

I'm amazed at how far we've came.According to the book "Patriot reign" belichick came here with a 5 year plan that was supposed to get the pats to the super bowl in the 5th year but an unseen turn of events led to that 5 year plan materializing into a second year superbowl appearance and win.the rest, they say, is history.

sometimes I wonder what would have happened if mo lewis hadnt injured drew.
belichick wasnt too fond of drew as a player but he signed a very lucrative long term deal with us. so financially and from a public standpoint it would have been outragous.

im still amazed that I thought the season was over once Bledsoe was injured in that 2nd game. who in the world would have thought that, at that point that we'd be sitting here today legitamately discussing the possibility of bringing a 4th championship home.

who would have thought that a coach that cleveland crucified, New york didnt appreciate would come here and draft a scrawny unproven kid that never got his due. who would have thought at the time that they would pair up to become one of the best coach/qb tandems EVER.

Im a "what if" type a person, always analyzing things with the use of those two words.

1. what if butch davis had accepted the job before belichick? both were highly favored for the job.

2. what if mo lewis doesnt get to bledsoe? does he play out that contract. does brady ever see the feild

3. what if we moved the franchise to conneticut?

4. what if the jets new owner at the time (woody) gave belichick full control over the football operations and not use belichick as parcells puppet? would they be the kings of the afc east while we raid their cabinet looking for the manginas of the world, desperately hoping for some of their success to rub off on us.

WHAT IF? .........good thing we'll never know.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

This is a great thread.

I'm not that old (32) but I remember the 80's real well-the Bears/ Pats SB.

I remember when the team was going to move to CT

Thanks to the Kraft family the Pats stayed!

We deserve this as Pats fans over the last 7 yrs!

Some people still can't embrace our success-even in the media.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I was the little kid in 1973 who left the Needham IHOP each time disappointed. Disappointed because, even in Massachusetts, they didn't have Patriots helmets.

Some of you remember. IHOP in the 1970's for a few years, had a campaign of giving kids little plastic NFL helmets - - you could hold them in the palm of your hand. If you ordered one of their special breakfasts, they'd give it to you. A big deal for an 8 year old back then.

Well, you know where I'm going with this. The "real" NFL teams, from "real" NFL cities dominated my pile of IHOP helmets. The St Louis Cards, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, etc. I eventually had 40-50 of these helmets (from about 20 teams) that I collected from eating alot of starch (and from friends/relatives).

Not one Patriots helmet. Not one.

This morning, I see this column from a nationally known columnist writing in a newspaper for the locals in a "real" foootball city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702358.html

Sometimes, it all doesn't seem real.

Wow, I think I remember that IHOP thing, although I was in pre-school. Growing up, I was always into the exciting team, the Bruins, and the dynasty, the Celtics.

I always liked football, but even the local media ignored the Pats, so it was almost like you never heard about them, like they were an arena football team or something. It was Steelers, 49ers. Later, it was Dallas.

The Pats were worse than bad, they were almost a black sheep, the media really kind of snickered at them. I remember in school that all the kids would say "The Patriots suck." That was an actual expression!

So I always defend the Pats now because that chip is still on my shoulder, remembering how the Pats were a joke even to the local school kids who grew up to be yuppies.

The national media has been built around ignoring the Pats for so many years, that it has taken this many superbowls to even really get on the radar. We were a one hit wonder by 2002, a curiosity in 2003. The media followed us for a while in 2004, until the Steelers became a more 'interesting' story after they beat us. Along the way, we have picked up more and more interest, even if it has seemed begrudging and usually negative.

The shining moment of the media ignoring us came in 2003, during our 15 game win streak to end the season. The Packers were the team of destiny, because Favre's father died. Then the Eagles were the team of destiny because they had been there and failed so ofter. Then the Panthers were the team of destiny because they were just like the 2001 Patriots and we were has-beens...Meanwhile the season started and ended with the same scores in the Bills game, but reversed. The Miami snowbowl. The shut outs at home. Number 1 defense. The sudden blizzard forming only in Foxboro exactly one hour before the Colts game. We were the team of destiny and arguably our greatest run in history was completely overlooked by the general media.

Somehow this year we became a big story early on because of spygate and Randy Moss, so I guess we get noticed when things are salacious and a bit tawdry, but I will take that any day over hearing school kids say "the Patriots suck".

 

[RayClay]

Hey....everyone is talking OLD at Foxboro...OOLD is fenway Park...BC..BU...Harvard....and yes the NY FOOTBALL GIANTS..invaded every living room...and while it was the closest club..as a kid I hated them....and when the Pats arrived, they STILL had the Giants on every week...

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

 

[Frezo]

Hey....everyone is talking OLD at Foxboro...OOLD is fenway Park...BC..BU...Harvard....and yes the NY FOOTBALL GIANTS..invaded every living room...and while it was the closest club..as a kid I hated them....and when the Pats arrived, they STILL had the Giants on every week...

I remember the parking/traffic debacle raised by locals when they played at BC. Fenway memories are really fuzzy.

 

[Flying Fungi]

I was the little kid in 1973 who left the Needham IHOP each time disappointed. Disappointed because, even in Massachusetts, they didn't have Patriots helmets.

Some of you remember. IHOP in the 1970's for a few years, had a campaign of giving kids little plastic NFL helmets - - you could hold them in the palm of your hand. If you ordered one of their special breakfasts, they'd give it to you. A big deal for an 8 year old back then.

Well, you know where I'm going with this. The "real" NFL teams, from "real" NFL cities dominated my pile of IHOP helmets. The St Louis Cards, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, etc. I eventually had 40-50 of these helmets (from about 20 teams) that I collected from eating alot of starch (and from friends/relatives).

Not one Patriots helmet. Not one.

This morning, I see this column from a nationally known columnist writing in a newspaper for the locals in a "real" foootball city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702358.html

Sometimes, it all doesn't seem real.

I remember having a Steelers and Vikings one...my brother, the now reformed Dallas fan, had his Cowboys helmet...

 

[italian pat patriot]

i love too this kind of threads

 

[Bella*chick]

What shows me how far this franchise has come is the interrogation you get from people when you mention you are a fan of the NE Patriots (living outside of New England). "Oh, when did you become a fan?" "Oh, really? And where were you born?" "Well, what did their old uniforms look like?" All said with a dose of heavy skepticism as though in this day and age of world travel no family has ever moved to a different state.

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

 

[shmessy]

I remember having a Steelers and Vikings one...my brother, the now reformed Dallas fan, had his Cowboys helmet...

Remember how they would come in a small plastic bag and there would be a card in it with the logo stickers? You'd have to unpeel the stickers and VERY carefully affix them to the sides of the helmet.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

i love too this kind of threads

http://cgi.ebay.com/1977-IHOP-28-NF...8271150QQihZ007QQcategoryZ50133QQcmdZViewItem


It's not too late to get your own ones.......

 

[Bella*chick]

Remember how they would come in a small plastic bag and there would be a card in it with the logo stickers? You'd have to unpeel the stickers and VERY carefully affix them to the sides of the helmet.

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