Who Saw Patriots at: Nickerson Field - Harvard - Schaefer/Sullivan Stadium.

[Family]

Who remembers the preseason game at I think BU when the seats caught on fire. The guy sitting behind me dropped a cigarette between the benches underneath and it created a pretty major fire.

They evacuated our section and I got to hang with Ron Sellers and Mike Taliaferro until they put it out.

 

[patsfan13]

So I'm a HS Junior when Sullivan Stadium opened.

I remember the WBZ Sports Huddle program had a competition to find a kicker for the Patriots. They went to England to find (Soccer Style kickers) because the Giants had Pete Gogolak and our kicker stunk. They held the contest in the Race Track next to where the Stadium was under construction (it was a dog racing track IIRC). The fans voted on who would get a tryout with the team. Think of THAT, can anyone imagine BB allowing the fans to select a camp roster spot for a ST player? Anyway I voted for John Smith who was a good kicker for a number of years.

I bought 2 season tickets for my brother and I along with my best friend in the East end zone. $45/year 7 reg season and 2 preseason games. We parked by an underpass about a mile south of the stadium. We brought sub sandwiches and soda to the games (Inagine then allowing you to take a meal into the stadium these days).

I took a cousin from England to the first preseason game at the Sullivan stadium vs the Oakland Raiders, we won 20-6, he asked a lot of questions about why they stopped all the time to talk, he was a rugby fan.

The other 2 notable games from that year was a game played in hurricane remnants against the Jets, I remember Jim Nance hydroplaning about 10 yards after being knocked down. And the last hoime game of the year when we upset the Dolphins, it was damn cold that day,

 

[FCB02062]

Saw Doug Flutie beat the Houston Oilers and Warren Moon in 1989 at Sullivan Stadium...

 

[borg]

I only remember one tidbit from my first visit to Schaefer Stadium in the early 80's. The guy sitting behind me mooed like a cow for 4 quarters.
He screamed his moos non stop .......the only syllables out of his mouth.
And looking around around the rest of my section, I determined that the Patriots organization was filling their tin bench bleachers with One Flew Over the ****oo's Nest extras.
Gravel parking lot, tin bleachers, genetic mutations everywhere..........a sight to behold. Kraft definitely bought low.

 

[1960Pats]

The first Pats game that I attended was with my father and uncle at Fenway Park vs the Chargers in 1963. I can still picture Ernie Ladd going over to the goalpost in right field during warmups and banging into them with so much force that they were swaying back and forth. From what I read since that was a tactic the Chargers used to try and psyche out the other team. Ladd was one of the original big men of the game.

I also saw them play the Aints at Schaefer in 1976 with my future wife (40 years this past December btw) and two cousins who had moved to Louisiana a few years before. It was one of the worst experiences I ever had at any event ever.. My wife and two cousins were/are very attractive and we had to put up with some of the most vile and disgusting comments from a group of drunks behind us. It was so awful that when we were walking out one of my cousins looked at me and said, in her LA drawl, "cousin _____, this is why we will never ever come back and live here again." And they haven't.

Over the years it seemed like every time we needed a big win by the team, or help from another team to get into the playoffs, it rarely happened. Thankfully, Brady, Belichick and Kraft have put that negativity to bed for good.

 

[Mr. Objective]

The first Patriots game I ever went to was when my father took me to see the Patriots play the Baltimore Colts at Harvard Stadium in 1970, the first year following the merger of the AFL and NFL. It was also shortly after the Patriots had signed former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp. The things I remember best from this game, other than the fact that the Patriots lost, was shaking hands with some pol I didn't recognize as I entered the stadium (I later realized the guy was Mike Dukakis) and hearing mock cheers from a couple of fans who wanted to see Kapp play when Patriots quarterback Mike Taliaferro got sacked and, it appeared, possibly injured. The reason this stuck in my mind was that there was an article in the Globe the next day condemning the cheering. You'd of thought from the article that the whole Stadium was roaring with approval when Taliaferro went down. Some things never change.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I was also at the game back in the 80s where they had the fans vote (by yelling) between the One True Logo and the proto-Elvis. The One True Logo won in a landslide.

 

[p8ryts]

Any forum members here who saw them play there ... I know we had some back @1999-2000.

I suppose we can include Shaefer / Sullivan Stadium in there - any season ticket holders from Shaefer/Sullivan Stadium.

Stand up and be known ... Fenway Park? Alumni Stadium?

My first game was in 1972 vs the Dolphins - froze my skinny ass off on the aluminum bench.

first game 1965 Fenway Park, season tickets starting in 67 to 82, let them go the strike year. Present for the concession stand fire at BC, sat in the snow in Harvard Stadium, opening night in Schaefer, had to leave my car in the entrance road opposite the south end zone. I used to consider myself the king of rationalization. After some terrible games I was always able to rationalize why things happened by the time I got home an hour later. It's hard to fathom what has happened the last 20 years. For years all the bad things happened to the Pats now it happens to everyone else.
Great times.

 

[Spiral]

Whenever I tell people that on my first trip to Fenway, I didn't sit on top of the left field wall, but in front of it, they always think I'm confused. They may be right, but the story is true. 1965 or 1966.

 

[BlueThunder]

I have followed the Pats since 1960 as a Senior in HS.....prior to that was a Giants fan. Missed them for the most part after graduating since I went right into active military duty. First game attended was a night game at Schaefer Stadium. All I can remember is Pats lost, getting up into the press box after the game via an unguarded elevator, and the traffic jam that took hours to untangle....tail lights north and south on Rte 1 for miles.....Went thru the years when they had to sell out to get game televised otherwise it was tune them in on the radio......too busy trying to raise a family so tickets for a football game was out of the question......The 21st Century has been a blast if you're a Pats fan !!

 

[Steve102]

Season ticket holder from the old building... $35 a ticket. Went to every game for years, section 115.

One of my favorite non-football stories is there was this guy coming down our row, and he gets to me and says "you're in my seat". The entire section around us tells him no. He looks at me and says "how do they know?" I said "cuz we are here every game."

Not the same now. I split tickets with 2 other guys... I go to a couple per year. The faces around us always change.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

My first was a preseason game in ‘92 where they got beaten up by the Redskins. There were probably more Redskins fans than Pats fans in attendance. That team was awful - they went on to win only 2 games that season.

How things have changed...

 

[jimnance]

I've had the privilege of watching the Patriots in EVERY home venue they've played in.....in New England:
Nickerson,Fenway,Harvard,BC,of course the gorgeous Sullivan/Schaeffer stadium.
Patriots played 1 home game in...........
......Birmingham,Alabama. No, I didn't go.
Did anyone here attend that game?

 

[IcyPatriot]

I've had the privilege of watching the Patriots in EVERY home venue they've played in.....in New England:
Nickerson,Fenway,Harvard,BC,of course the gorgeous Sullivan/Schaeffer stadium.
Patriots played 1 home game in...........
......Birmingham,Alabama. No, I didn't go.
Did anyone here attend that game?

We need to have a hall of fame for you pre Schaefer/Sullivan stadium fans.

 

[jimnance]

We need to have a hall of fame for you pre Schaefer/Sullivan stadium fans.

I'll say this: growing up in and around Boston, going to the games at Fenway,BC,BU and Harvard was a lot more fun than driving to the old Schaeffer/Sullivan. Traffic backed up for miles afterwards.
Even tho I've lived in the South for 25+ years, I've been back to Gillette and traffic never seemed as bad as it was back in the bad old days. Which is weird, since a lot more people go to games in the BB/ TB era.
A lot of great memories from the 60's/70's as I was usually with my Dad and brother.
Of course,there was the time me and my hoodlum teenage friends took the train to Schaeffer and all of us ( maybe 5 or 6), found a way to sneak in. I won't go into details,lol.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I'll say this: growing up in and around Boston, going to the games at Fenway,BC,BU and Harvard was a lot more fun than driving to the old Schaeffer/Sullivan. Traffic backed up for miles afterwards.
Even tho I've lived in the South for 25+ years, I've been back to Gillette and traffic never seemed as bad as it was back in the bad old days. Which is weird, since a lot more people go to games in the BB/ TB era.
A lot of great memories from the 60's/70's as I was usually with my Dad and brother.
Of course,there was the time me and my hoodlum teenage friends took the train to Schaeffer and all of us ( maybe 5 or 6), found a way to sneak in. I won't go into details,lol.

Those old joints just had a special aura ... we had Rhode Island auditorium for the P Bruins and there was Jack Witchis in North Attleboro Mass.
Didn't matter if you smoked ... those buildings were full of of smoke from Luckys and Camels.

 

[hodgey]

First game was early 80's against the Bills. I can't remember if the stadium was called Sullivan or Schaefer. The thing that blew me away that day was how you could see plays develop or open up. Back then watching on tv you couldn't experience that.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Saw the patriots play in Fenway park. Sat in the bleachers which was the end zone. Saw us get smoked by Lance Allworth and the chargers and saw us get smoked by Denver and lastly the Bills. Saw the patriots play at Harvard stadium and get beaten by the Houston Oilers. Went to the old stadium many times on game day bought a ticket in the parking lot and attended the game

 

[bormio]

Saw the Namath 4 TD game. Cold as sh*t.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Saw Doug Flutie beat the Houston Oilers and Warren Moon in 1989 at Sullivan Stadium...

I wish I had seen 1 Flutie game live.