Patsfan Survey: When Did YOU Become a Patriots Fan?

[EJ Blitz]

Wow, 10 pages and not one person who became a fan within the last decade? Interesting, I feel like I don't belong here.

 

[Joker]

we got thousands of newer fans that read and post here but the old war horses are usually up late, reliving past glories and heartaches...which is par for the course for old war horses....you stick around long enough and YOU will be telling stories about the time Bernard Pollard crippled Brady and the Pats still went 11-5

 

[brady77]

Around 1998, or so, when I was 8.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

we got thousands of newer fans that read and post here but the old war horses are usually up late, reliving past glories and heartaches...which is par for the course for old war horses....you stick around long enough and YOU will be telling stories about the time Bernard Pollard crippled Brady and the Pats still went 11-5

...but we can enjoy telling people we watched the Pats in the Bull & Finch when it was a nice Pub where you might get lucky on a Friday night or grab a quiet dinner with a beer on Sunday...and not the tourist trap it is today.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

1974. I was born in RI and we moved away in 72. By 74 I became an NFL fan. Since I was already a Red Sox (in NE that happens at about 1 1/2) Celtics and Bruins (in those days it was as popular or more popular than the Sox) fan, my first look at the NFL was to the Pats. They started well, I was in. In 76 I made my first trip to Smithfield and couldn't believe I was about to get Russ Francis' autograph when it turned out #88 was a black dude, named Willie Armstead?????????????????? Got Tim Fox after that, in a very good memory that no one attending camp could possibly conceive, as he told me to jog along with him toward the lockerroom because the coach doesn't like if they walk.
By 76 I was old enough to be really, really into it.

Heh heh. 1974 was also your Nick's rookie year, so I sense a connection. I was at his first game. I think he was used on Special Teams and might have returned a kick that day.

 

[Frezo]

tell 'em, Frezo....dyam rookies

and don't forget...*whistle*...Mabel...Black Label!...

Classic Mabel Carling Black Label Beer jingle TV Commercial - YouTube

Oh yeah! I never got married and had a chance to try that. So instead:
"Hey neighbor, have a Gannset!"

 

[PatsDeb]

I'm happy to see that the Pats have many fans in every decade, many who became fans as kids even when times were tough for the team.

 

[wizwor]

I don't ever remember not being a Patriots fan. My father, uncle, and I took in a LOT of games when I was young. Usually, we worked our way out to Route I in the fourth quarter.

My first specific memory of a game came in 1973 when the Pats hosted KC. My uncle was ready to evacuate in the 4th as the winless Pats were down by ten. Then Cunningham brought them within three and I wouldn't leave.

They didn't win, but it was a great comeback on a beautiful day that remains a fond memory forty years later.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Became a diehard fan in 02 when i was 12. I just started to fully understand the game and pats games were always on. For some weird reason i was a fan of syracuse football as well. It really came down to what was on and thank god it was pats and some other team. Also, thank god the pats didn't have hideous uniforms because at such a young age i don't think i could've handled some ugly browns uni etc.

 

[TPL]

Late 70's.
Started watching NFL then.
Like all good Canadian boys I watched hockey.
I was a Bruins / Bobby Orr fan.
Had to choose a team to cheer for so I picked the Pats instead of the local Bills.

Over time I kinda lost interest in NHL but switched to being a Sabres fan.

Was never into disco. KISS was where it was at back then.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Wow, 10 pages and not one person who became a fan within the last decade? Interesting, I feel like I don't belong here.

Look at the poll#s. In the 20s # of new fans. More is better!
Somebody has to replace the old coots who will be shall we say shedding their mortal coils.
You kids get to be the old geezers telling your grandkids that you personally saw TFB the greatest evah play.

 

[wizwor]

I don't ever remember not being a Patriots fan. My father, uncle, and I took in a LOT of games when I was young. Usually, we worked our way out to Route I in the fourth quarter.

My first specific memory of a game came in 1973 when the Pats hosted KC. My uncle was ready to evacuate in the 4th as the winless Pats were down by ten. Then Cunningham brought them within three and I wouldn't leave.

They didn't win, but it was a great comeback on a beautiful day that remains a fond memory forty years later.

I was talking to my wife about this over dinner. She said that it must have been hard to be a Pats fan back in the day. I corrected her. It was great. Every time they won it was like the superbowl. We're so spoiled. People are disappointed when the Pats lose their first game of the year because there can't be a perfect season.

 

[Observer]

2007, since the colts game.
Didn't watch football before then.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I was talking to my wife about this over dinner. She said that it must have been hard to be a Pats fan back in the day. I corrected her. It was great. Every time they won it was like the superbowl. We're so spoiled. People are disappointed when the Pats lose their first game of the year because there can't be a perfect season.

Not quite but I do remember just how good those rare Ws felt.

WAY back in the day my wife and i were at my parents house with our baby daughter. My wife was the Jackie Kennedy type in looks and proper demeanor. My parents liked her much better than my sorry ass. It was a very different social mileu than today. The worst I'd ever heard was my Dad mutter that someone was a jackass. Anyway it's in the 70s and we're watching the Pats. Typical, they do something really stupid to blow the game. My wife always got too emotionally involved and lets out the F-bomb in front of my parents. Thought my mother was gonna die. So here I am a married guy dragged into the other room by my Mom blaming ME for ruining this wonderful girl. For the record, back then I did not do F bombs.

 

[jimache]

1998 ... came to school in MA(from eastern Europe), picked local team ...

Had to deal with crap from a bunch a new yorkers on a daily basis for a while (you're a fck$ing foreigner, don't know s$it about football and picked the worst team ever).

So ... 1998 Pats fan :rocker: ... started hating the Jests the day after.

 

[F0nSY]

I became a Patriots fan when I discovered this sport. I watched the Panthers vs Patriots at the superbowl and I loved it. I'm 19 years old so I discovered this sport so soon to be born in Spain where American Football does not exist.



New England Patriots for ever since that date !

 

[Joker]

1998 ... came to school in MA(from eastern Europe), picked local team ...

Had to deal with crap from a bunch a new yorkers on a daily basis for a while (you're a fck$ing foreigner, don't know s$it about football and picked the worst team ever).

So ... 1998 Pats fan :rocker: ... started hating the Jests the day after.

I LOVE you man...now THAT is how to become a Patriot fan...the best part is the blatant hypocrisy(irony?)...THEY calling YOU a foreigner...when, as we all know...every Jet fan who has ever emerged from the primordial muck and ooze has been teleported to Earth from Planet Moron.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

My dad started taking me to games around 1976. Good year to start being a fan.

 

[jefmblrd]

Basically been with them since the start!

 

[zoostation]

One misconception amongst the 'newbies' is that the teams prior to 2001 were all horrible. Obviously they never had a run like the last 10 years, but then again no NFL team has had a run as successful as the Pats for a 10 year period.

Chuck Fairbanks put some very strong teams together in the 70's. I remember vividly when this article came out in SI Staid, old New England has tossed aside its patrician - 10.14.74 - SI Vault The title of the story was called 'A Patriotic Shout' and it was accompanied by a picture inside the facemask and into the eyes of Jim Plunket as he yelled out the audible under center. Back in those days just having a positive article written was huge....making the cover was almost impossible.

Enjoy this run while you can and lets hope it carries over through the next coach and next quarterback. Go Pats :rocker: