Throughout the Summer leading into training camp, the “first world problem” discussion among Patriots fans consisted of wondering where the team would find room to place its fifth championship banner.
Although Robert Kraft promised fans a surprise as to where the banner would end up, the teams official Twitter account, along with obvious construction work, provided an answer to the question.
Party of five. pic.twitter.com/4i56jgaCMx
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/SullyBunz/status/900817823131471872
The journey home.
Watch the banners arrive at @GilletteStadium, including some pretty cool footage from the crane: pic.twitter.com/ahXSsE424o
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 25, 2017
ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss shared some of the details to the Gillette Stadium banner reconfiguration;
“If the team ever earned four banners, all of them would then be moved to the pre-cast concrete around the video board (where they called home in 2015 and 2016) because it would be nice symmetry. Then, if the total ever reached five, the team would entertain raising the Gillette Stadium sign/structure.”
“What team officials liked about the possibility of raising the Gillette Stadium sign/structure to fit five banners was that it becomes a central element of the stadium — straight-on center in the main end zone, above the video board and below the stadium name. The five banners also filled the space nicely. Anything smaller and it would have looked too sparse.”
“Plans to raise the Gillette Stadium sign/structure were hatched in late February/early March, and what surprised club officials was the extensive engineering involved because of the weight and also the considerable steel behind the banners that helps support them. Unlike the banners that hang in an indoor arena or stadium, these banners require a lot more support so they don’t rip and become compromised by bad weather or wind.”
Another interesting tidbit from Reiss’ research was that during the Gillette Stadium design phase, “there had never been any thought on where to put a Super Bowl championship banner,” as the team had nothing but two AFC Championships to their name, and a 5-11 season in 2000. More of the same was expected in 2001 and beyond, but you know the rest of the story.
The movement of the Gillette Stadium sign also allowed for the placement of at least two additional Super Bowl championship banners, so at least for now, the dilemma has found a solution. Our long national nightmare is over.
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