Red Sox have 1967. We have 1974.

[Actual Pats Fan]

Prior to 1967, the Red Sox had eight straight losing seasons, Fenway was a dilapidated dump ready to be razed, and interest was at its lowest in history. That thrilling, storybook season when we had our radios tuned in daily and nightly to Ken Coleman launched the modern era which has seen only brief interruptions in consistent competitiveness which has been sustained to this day.

This video contains vital, definitive detail and specific statistics describing how Chuck Fairbanks put the Patriots in championship contention very quickly when he got here. That 1974 season, while the team missed the playoffs, is the pivotal point in Patriots, and really modern football, history, taking into account we now have the greatest dynasty comparable only to the Packers.

I don't begrudge at all those who enjoyed the excitement of the Bledsoe ascension, but it's fueled by insane media (and Kraft ownership) hyperbole and ignorance of historic reality. The inevitable financial collapse of the Sullivan ownership and Kiam's failure to keep Flutie made them happy as pigs in sh*t, with no quarterback and an old stadium with little reason to brave Route One to go there.

Media insanity over the Patriots has been epidemic since the merger of the two leagues in 1970. In 1981, the Patriots experienced their single (1) losing season over thirteen years, and the media, national broadcasters and opponents behaved as though the Patriots were historically hapless. Meanwhile, the Saints for example had their first winning season in their history in 1987.

Anyway, Bob Kraft likes to promote himself and he deserves credit for setting the standard for championship excellence, making the Hartford deal which despite making the prospect of leaving very real, wound up forcing the league and the state legislature to do something to encourage him to stay, and allow CMGI to be built, and hiring Bill Belichick. But ridiculous credit of Bledsoe for any of it which he had nothing to do with plus the fact that yes he can throw a football (so can Neil Lomax and Jeff George) but possesses no more football acumen than Tony Eason and is little more to us than Joe Thornton is to the Bruins, plus the fact is was three (3) poor seasons prior to 1993 exaggerates reality and pretends Fairbanks, Hannah, Francis and Grogan do not exist when they in fact were world championship caliber, in 1976 at least.

Anyway, like all us old timers I saw this game and season and this is our Impossible Dream. Patriots games were a must watch/listen from this time onward, to this day.

I definitely like to think we'd have drafted Russ regardless, even if Bob hadn't torn up his knee that day. But the excitement of that day has never really been equaled for me. It's like your first kiss. We knew the Patriots were headed for greatness, and although we've never come close to shutting them up, it's still satisfying to expose the league, media and opponents for the total morons they are.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

 

[borg]

But ridiculous credit of Bledsoe for any of it which he had nothing to do with

Huh?
Nothing to do with it?

Except..........Gillette is the House that Drew built ..... the fortress where history transpired

Check out home attendance pre-Drew and during his reign
'91......302,000
'92.....308,000....lowest in NFL
------------------------
'93......362,000
'94......472,000
'95......468,000.......and a top 6 Away Game draw

His 418, 371, & 365 yd passing games to start his 2nd season ignited fan interest the likes of which the organization had never seen.
Ground and pound NE finally had a passing star who we believed was on a level of other elite passers of that era like Marino and Montana....and everyone in NE tuned in, not just the mouth breathing, pot bellied alchies that roamed the half empty stands of Schaefer.
The Pats had arrived playing a new modern style of football, they were big time, and everyone wanted in on the action....all thanks to Drew and begrudgingly, Fat Tuna

Without the major boost in interest and $$$ Drew created for the organization, who knows this teams future

 

[italian pat patriot]

Windsor recalled that after the game when they carried him out from the field a couple of Vikings were spitting at him...complaining that it was not a td...

Now i feel not so much sorry they lost 4 Super Bowls...

Also Tarkenton reaction was inexcusable...no reason to react in that way

 

[DarrylS]

Nice trip down memory lane the Pats had some really good players during that season and were well coached by Fairbanks, it gave us hope in those years. Interestingly the '74 was relatively young with an average age of 25.1 and average of 2.1 years of NFL experience. This was the year after the Pats drafted in 1973 Hannah, Cunningham and Stingley. In 1974 they drafted Nelson and Andy Johnson. They had more talent than we were used to and well coached made that team very likeable.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Nice trip down memory lane the Pats had some really good players during that season and were well coached by Fairbanks, it gave us hope in those years. Interestingly the '74 was relatively young with an average age of 25.1 and average of 2.1 years of NFL experience. This was the year after the Pats drafted in 1973 Hannah, Cunningham and Stingley. In 1974 they drafted Nelson and Andy Johnson. They had more talent than we were used to and well coached made that team very likeable.

I believe the 1976 team was the youngest in the NFL...not the scripted Super Bowl champion the league and media expected, let alone it being the Patriots.

Dreith robbery was, among other things, child abuse.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Huh?
Nothing to do with it?

Except..........Gillette is the House that Drew built ..... the fortress where history transpired

Check out home attendance pre-Drew and during his reign
'91......302,000
'92.....308,000....lowest in NFL
------------------------
'93......362,000
'94......472,000
'95......468,000.......and a top 6 Away Game draw

His 418, 371, & 365 yd passing games to start his 2nd season ignited fan interest the likes of which the organization had never seen.
Ground and pound NE finally had a passing star who we believed was on a level of other elite passers of that era like Marino and Montana....and everyone in NE tuned in, not just the mouth breathing, pot bellied alchies that roamed the half empty stands of Schaefer.
The Pats had arrived playing a new modern style of football, they were big time, and everyone wanted in on the action....all thanks to Drew and begrudgingly, Fat Tuna

Without the major boost in interest and $$$ Drew created for the organization, who knows this teams future

It took me years to appreciate and understand Parcells' brilliance, and his contribution to the game and us. But the intensity and excitement among local fans at that time is specifically demarked by Orthwein hiring Bill. It gave the team and franchise instant credibility. There is no overstating this fact, nor that this is the foundation of the dynasty. No guarantee things would have worked out had Kraft not inherited him, and subsequently driven him away, and had that conversation on the plane home with Belichick.

Kraft paid off Orthwein's massive debts inherited from the Sullivans, and had the capital to proceed with and plan CMGI when he got the chance, and make Drew the highest paid athlete in 2001.

Drew could throw the ball. He's a little bigger and stronger than Eason. He was given the royal treatment (starting job, big contract). Had he been kept within his limits and called on to hand the ball off to Martin in New Orleans, he might have two rings. Like Eason, he did play hurt and through pain, and led us to some exciting wins.

The notion that Drew saved the franchise is nonsense. He is the most overrated athlete in Boston sports history. His passing accomplishments are notable, but done in the context of what the team had to work with. The derision of the franchise and infinite hyperbole about how moribund the franchise was and how heroic he is perpetuates the myth that this player is anywhere near the football greatness of Plunkett, Parilli, Grogan or Flutie, to name four.

Kraft adopted Drew - and the flying elvis - to promote his brand. I understand his motives: he wanted the team to be relevant on the level of the other three major local pro teams, and he wanted separation from the previous ownership.

He got that and much, much more from Belichick and Brady. But none of this success has taught him anything, and I'm not complaining. He's human like the rest of us. He drove Parcells out of town, he did not give Brady the fawning attention and accolades that Tom earned, not Drew; and his complicity and brazen promotion of the false laughingstock narrative only fueled the false cheating allegations which have led - so far - to three fake scandals including three stolen first round draft picks. I can easily see most if not all other owners raising hell and simply not allowing a kid like Brady to serve a completely absurd suspension.

In short, Bledsoe like Eason is a decent kid who did his best here, having been treated like Doug Flutie should have been.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I believe the 1976 team was the youngest in the NFL...not the scripted Super Bowl champion the league and media expected, let alone it being the Patriots.

Dreith robbery was, among other things, child abuse.

Around then, I remember the Pats being the perenniel sexy pick to "come from nowhere." I think I remember SI doing an actual feature story on how they were the greatest team to never get out of the first round of the playoffs. In the Fairbanks years... well, at least some of them... you really did not want the Pats on your schedule.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Also Tarkenton reaction was inexcusable...no reason to react in that way

Yeah, but ****ing hillarious! The good old days where 175-pound QBs would celebrate the go-ahead TD by chucking the ball at the defender's head. It made it worth watching the entire video



The four man pile-on, body slam...as Wrestlemania I reaches its pinnacle.

 

[oldrover]

The 1974 team was kind of like the 2015 team... started 6-1... crushed by injuries... finished 1-6.

But you had hope going into 1975... and they went 3-11, losing the last six. I thought, okay, SOP. (Same Old Patriots)

That's why 1976 was so awesome.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

The 1974 team was kind of like the 2015 team... started 6-1... crushed by injuries... finished 1-6.

But you had hope going into 1975... and they went 3-11, losing the last six. I thought, okay, SOP. (Same Old Patriots)

That's why 1976 was so awesome.

'75 was a rough year, with the continuing rash of injuries - most famously Plunkett.

But, Chuck was ready to move on from Jim - and he got the opportunity to get a king's ransom from the 49ers. Eat your heart out, Herschel.

He clearly saw something in Grogan. Some special athletes have it. Dave Cowens is another of them. The experience Grogan got as a rookie was invaluable.

So although '75 sucked...we still picked up some awesome talent (Hi, Russ Francis, Rod Shoate, Steve from K-State). I just thought if we could stay healthy, we could beat anybody.

And I was right about that.