NFL Team by Team Guide: New England Patriots
The New England Patriots franchise was established in 1959 and began play as an original member of the old American Football League as the Boston Patriots in 1960. After the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, the team changed its name to New England and moved from downtown Boston to Foxborough.
The Patriots did not enjoy much success until the hiring of head coach Bill Belichick in 2000. Since, the franchise has had 18 consecutive winning seasons since 2001 and has won 16 AFC East Division titles as well as six Super Bowl titles. The Patriots successes include a record 126 wins in the ten-year period from 2003 to 2012.
Because of the Patriots recent success, they are continually on national broadcasts like Sunday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and Monday Night Football. Fans can watch Patriots complete schedule by tuning into national and regional coverage on ESPN, FOX Sports, and CBS and streaming games through services like HULU, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTubeTV.
Home of the Patriots
As the Boston Patriots, the franchise played in a variety of stadiums around the city. With the AFL-NFL merger, the team moved to Foxboro Stadium where they remained through 2001. Since 2002, the Patriots have been playing at Gillette Stadium. The stadium holds a capacity crowd of 65,878 fans.
Championship History
The Boston Patriots didn’t achieve much success winning one division title in 1963, also the team’s only playoff berth. There were periods of success through the mid-1980s and again in the late 1990s before the recent string of success under Belichick.
The Patriots now have 22 division championships, 27 playoff berths and 11 conference championships. New England played in eight straight AFC title games from 2011 to 2018. The franchise is tied with Pittsburgh with the most Super Bowl championships (6).
Best of the Patriots
Tom Brady spent the first 20 years of his NFL career in New England. A sixth-round draft choice, Brady became the Patriots starter in his second season. He has rewritten NFL record books since. He has been selected to 14 Pro Bowls and led New England to six Super Bowl titles. Brady is a three-time NFL MVP and a four-time Super Bowl MVP. He was also the league’s Comeback Player of the year in 2009 and is headed to the Hall of Fame someday soon after he retires.
Gino Cappelletti began his pro football career in Canada and wound up with the Boston Patriots in 1960. He would play for the franchise for 11 seasons right through the merger with the NFL in 1970. He was a five-time All Star and was the league’s MVP in 1964. A wide receiver and the team’s kicker, Cappelletti was the AFL’s all-time leading scorer with 1,130 points and he’s among the top ten receivers in yards and receptions.
Stanley Morgan played 13 seasons for New England and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and a two-time All-Pro. He led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 1979 and finished his career with an NFL record 19.2 yards per reception.
Legendary guard John Hannah played his entire NFL career with the Patriots from 1973 to 1985. He was an All-Pro ten times and made the Pro Bowl in nine seasons. In 1978, Hannah anchored an offensive line that set a then-NFL record for rushing yards in a season (3,165). For his efforts, Hannah was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
Author: Dan Anderson