A Basic History of the New England Patriots Football Team

The New England Patriots are a professional football team that plays in the National Football League. The Patriots play in the East Division of the American Football Conference.

The franchise was founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots. The Boston Patriots played in the American Football League until 1969. In 1970, the Patriots joined the National Football League, and, in 1971, the team became the New England Patriots when they were moved to Foxborough, Massachusetts.

In the history of the Patriots, the franchise has won a total of ten Division Championships, winning an AFL East title in 1963 and winning the AFC East nine times in 1978, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2001, and 2003-2006. The Patriots have won the AFC Championship five times in 1985, 1996, 2001, 2003, and 2004. All three of the franchise's Super Bowl wins have come recently in 2001, 2003, and 2004.

The Patriots have played their home games in six different locations in their history. From 1960-1962, the team played at Nickerson Field. From 1963-1968, the team played in Fenway Park. The team played one year each in Alumni Stadium (1969) and Harvard Stadium (1970). From 1971-2001, the Patriots played in Foxboro Stadium which was known as Schaefer Stadium and Sullivan Stadium during the thirty years the team player there. In 2002, the Patriots moved to their current location, Gillette Stadium.

The current New England Patriots team is owned by Robert Kraft. Bill Belichick is the head coach and general manager of the Patriots.

The official colors of the New England Patriots are new century silver, nautical blue, white, and red. The team's mascot is Pat Patriot.

Three former players for the Patriots are currently enshrined in the National Football Hall of Fame. Those three players are Nick Buoniconti, John Hannah, and Mike Haynes.

The New England Patriots have retired the jersey numbers of seven former players. Those players are Gino Cappelletti - 20, Mike Haynes - 40, Steve Nelson - 57, John Hannah - 73, Bruce Armstrong - 78, Jim Lee Hunt - 79, and Bob Dee - 89.

Some other former fan favorites in New England include Drew Bledsoe, Sam Cunningham, Ben Coates, Irving Fryar, Johnny Rembert, and Ty Law. Some former coaches of the New England Patriots include Raymond Berry who took the team to its first Super Bowl, Bill Parcells who took the team to its second Super Bowl, and the current coach of the USC Trojans of college football, Pete Carroll.