January 5th ... 1997 - Good Times ;)

[Ian]

Still get chills watching this:



Loved seeing Steelers fans bummed out, and then no one expected us to be there and it messed up everyone who had been headed to Denver the following week thinking they were the team to beat in the AFC.

Not so fast

I was at the AFCCG the next week and froze my butt off against Jacksonville, but it was totally worth it. What an incredible year

 

[Chevy]

Watched that game in the dorm day-room @ RAF Mildenhall. Sat alongside a serious (but not obnoxious) Steeler fan. To his credit, he watched to the end.

 

[oldrover]

A great memory! I am grateful that the Patriots fan journey has had many high points. Fewer before 2001... many fewer... but we savored them.

 

[Rob0729]

It is crazy that it took to 1997 until the Pats won a home playoff game even though they had already been to a Super Bowl.

 

[oldrover]

It is crazy that it took to 1997 until the Pats won a home playoff game even though they had already been to a Super Bowl.

That first run was special, all road wins... the Jets, the Raiders, and the Fish in Miami.

 

[Pape]

24 karat victory... the solid gold dancers aint got nothin on that game...

 

[StrawHatPatriot]

That was our first home playoff win? Wow

Seems like that was the case for a lot of teams though. Even the Saints first playoff win (home?) was all the way in like 1999 or 2000.

 

[Sect140]

My brother went to the pro shop (which was probably in a trailer then) and when he came back he said it’s foggier than it looks, he said when he walked by one of the entrances he couldn’t see the scoreboard and screen that you usually could.

We were across the street from where the opposing buses arrived at, people were lined up welcoming the Steelers.

 

[Tunescribe]

I was there, sec. 204. Foggy day.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

As a teenage patriot fan growing up in western pa… That monday was the first time i really couldn’t wait to go to school.

 

[signbabybrady]

I was there, sec. 204. Foggy day.

209...... first but certainly not last.

 

[TheRainMaker]

The year the Pats became a heavy hitter in AFC. The Broncos losing a day earlier was such a shock as they were by far the best team in the AFC. Watching the Jags and Panthers on a potential collision course was crazy given it was just their 2nd year in the league.

It's a shame Parcells and Kraft didn't work it out as that late 90's team was stacked. Had Parcells stayed and they continued to hit on draft picks, they would've been in the AFC title game 2-3 more years in a row at worst. The keys could've still been handed to Bill Belichick after the 1999 season.

 

[signbabybrady]

The year the Pats became a heavy hitter in AFC. The Broncos losing a day earlier was such a shock as they were by far the best team in the AFC. Watching the Jags and Panthers on a potential collision course was crazy given it was just their 2nd year in the league.

It's a shame Parcells and Kraft didn't work it out as that late 90's team was stacked. Had Parcells stayed and they continued to hit on draft picks, they would've been in the AFC title game 2-3 more years in a row at worst. The keys could've still been handed to Bill Belichick after the 1999 season.

Parcels stays then Curtis stays. But I like our real history better and they can keep their green stench.

 

[FCB02062]

I was there, section 223. Couldn't see much of anything. Bledsoe hit a bomb to Glenn on the Pats first offensive play IIRC and we could only tell by the crowd reaction that it was a complete pass.

 

[captain stone]

Watched that game in the dorm day-room @ RAF Mildenhall. Sat alongside a serious (but not obnoxious) Steeler fan. To his credit, he watched to the end.

I went to a cousin’s wedding in Birmingham while I was in the Marines, and flew there on a MAC flight from the AFB in Charleston SC to Mildenhall, from which I took a couple of trains to Birmingham; returned to MCAS Beaufort a couple of weeks later the same way…My only real lasting memory of RAF Mildenhall was the big snooker table at their rec center…

As for the game itself, while it was foggy in Foxborough, it actually snowed in Galveston TX earlier that day! I had a good feeling about the game already, but the weather at both places convinced me that a Pats victory was not only more likely than not, but Inevitable, if not Ordained.

 

[Hyped]

I remember the heavy fog for that one.

And also the loss @Pittsburgh in 1998…the one where Todd Collins didn’t send Kordell OOB and Bruce Armstrong giving up a sack to Vrabel ending our last drive in a 7-6 loss……

 

[italian pat patriot]

I remember the heavy fog for that one.

And also the loss @Pittsburgh in 1998…the one where Todd Collins didn’t send Kordell OOB and Bruce Armstrong giving up a sack to Vrabel ending our last drive in a 7-6 loss……

That 7-6 loss still hurt me today...
We should have won that game
That last drive Vrabel killed us...

 

[Steve102]

I was there, section 223. Couldn't see much of anything. Bledsoe hit a bomb to Glenn on the Pats first offensive play IIRC and we could only tell by the crowd reaction that it was a complete pass.

We were there too, right by the tunnel. I brought a sign that said "She can play", referring to Terry Glenn and Parcells "she" comments in the pre-season. Kraft came over and signed it. Got our picture in the Herald the following Monday. Glenn caught the long bomb and looked up at us and gave us the first down salute, and all my buddies at home groaned a "OMG he see's them". Great memories.

I have maintained all along that Tuna walked by us, saw the sign and thought to himself "I'll show them she can play", and made the decision to leave at that moment. That's my story in my mind, and I am sticking to it.

Y'all can thank me for Bill being here. I started it. All the hate some of y'all have for Bill, blame me he's here. Tuna woulda never left if it wasn't for us tweaking him that day in the fog. All the Bill sucks debates here on PF? My fault. Your welcome.

 

[captain stone]

And also the loss @Pittsburgh in 1998…the one where Todd Collins didn’t send Kordell OOB and Bruce Armstrong giving up a sack to Vrabel ending our last drive in a 7-6 loss……

Dam shame about the Collins brainfart, because otherwise the defense played a terrific game; wish the same could be said about Bledsoe’s…