Memories-Stories from Schaefer-Sullivan-Foxboro Stadium

[italian pat patriot]

Another Foxboro memory... 1974. My Dad got us tickets to the season opener. That year, the Pats opened the season against the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins had just won their second Super Bowl in a row. We were supposed to get killed so there were plenty of tickets. My Dad was able to get us 4 tickets in the front row of the end zone.

Unbelievably, the Patriots won. They weren't supposed to have a chance but they beat 'em. My memory was that the crowd went nuts, but then again, I was IN THE FRONT ROW so my memory is foggy about anything else. I sat in the FRONT ROW.

simply great, thks

 

[supafly]

Haven't read the entire thread, but I am sure many told you what a great thread this was, Italian Pat.

Nice change of pace, and good all around.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Haven't read the entire thread, but I am sure many told you what a great thread this was, Italian Pat.

Nice change of pace, and good all around.

many thanks; some memories are simply great: difficult, impossible to forget if you take a look on some of them

i noted also that probably the fans remember with pleasure some facts (also the 'bad' ones) because they were young and-or they were with their father or with their friends etc etc

this is normal

remember the 'old' times it is always a good memory

 

[MetalBleachers]

December 1985: The Pats had to beat the Bengals for the wild card spot. I went with two high school friends and a father of one of them. My exact memory of the situation was iffy, but it was definitely fourth and short and NE had to convert to hold onto the ball. A backup RB/FB/TE named Greg Hawthorne carried it and broke through the line, busting through the cheating defense on his way to a TD. We all jumped up and, at the same time, got drenched with what must have been cheap liquor from one or two rows up (Wild Irish Rose, maybe?). Someone who literally couldn't handle his booze.

Spent a few minutes after the game watching fans storming the field, rushing past a young state trooper who tried to body check as many fans as he could, with little effect. They should have heeded his warning: that was the celebration where a small group of pillagers planted part of the upright in a parking lot trash can, failing to heed the power lines above and ending up going to the hospital. We were safely on our way home by then.

Ah, what a stadium. Earlier in the game a bunch of shirtless guys (keep in mind, this was December) had gone after a group of other fans because they had been on the opposite side of the "Less filling/Tastes great" debate.

 

[italian pat patriot]

up up up up up

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

There used to be fights every game, all across the stadium. Fans would get into it, and a section would turn into a giant pit, flailing at each other. Then another section. Then another. Eventually the Krafts just started ejecting anyone who fought, permanently. However, that fan group was wild. Nothing like the current group. Just screaming for four hours. Before the game. During the game. After the game. It was a long, loud roar. And because we were all jammed into such a small space, it was deafening. Now the stadium is twice the size, with the same number of seats, open end zone and thousands of luxury box seats behind glass, without all the guys who have lost their tickets for behavior or cost. And not just men. There were four women who sat two rows in front of us who brutally cursed the opposing team and fans from start to finish.

I made it to a few games during my teen years in the '80s, mostly preseason. I remember an August game vs. Washington where a family wearing Redskins jerseys were verbally abused non-stop. We're talking F-bombs galore directed at kids. I remember the regular season game vs. Cincy in '86 where several fat drunk guys kept squeezing onto our bench, coming down from their cheap seats up top. The Pats had scored at least 20 points in every game leading up to that December game, so of course they decide to lose 31-7 (Esiason and James Brooks were money that day). The game was so out of hand that a foodfight broke out in our section. My sister took a bag of chips to the face. A guy in front of us kept scratching his head, unaware the itch was caused by a huge mustard spill from the top of his head all the way down the back of his jacket. Good times.

As for the football action, my biggest memory was a preseason game in 1987 (I believe), watching Reggie White absolutely destroy everyone put in front of him. My father wasn't well versed in the opposing players, so I told him to watch #92 on every snap. White put on a virtuoso performance, with a sack or pressure on practically every dropback, even on many double-teams (which were mostly with RBs back then). He even blocked a FG. By the end of the night, my not-so-easily-impressed father uttered a "Wow, he's good." Coming from him, that's the highest of praise. I think Bruce Armstrong is on record saying that White made him cry that night. No surprise, considering Armstrong was a highly-touted rookie who got schooled along with everyone else.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Stall6g]

Re: Bocci ???

I remember my first game that my dad took me to as a kid. His seats were in Mosi's Mooses section. It was freezing cold and everyone, for the most part,was wearing hats, including us, in that section that had a moose on it. This was during the bud light commercials of "tastes great!" and "less filling!" only it was modified during that game where one section was chanting the tastes great part while our section was chanting "bull$&@!".

That game with the fun atmosphere and everyone around genuinely having a good time was what really turned me into a fan of the Pats. I took my son to his first game last year against the Bills and ever since then he'll sit down and watch the games with me because of the fun time that he had. It's really something when you can see that same spark of fandom ignite in your own kids and think back and reflect on yours. I keep warning him though that he should enjoy these great times now because they were t always this way.