New England Patriots

If you're interested in reading more about where the Patriots "came from," I would point you toward Tales from the Patriots Sidelines by Michael Felger, a not entirely well written book, but it does have some interesting tidbits.

Lest we wonder why they acquired Randy Moss or anyone else for that matter, this entry seeks to remember how the Pats got where they are today, over the last 13-14 years, to an organization where this could be considered okay.

In 1993, new Patriots owner James Orthwein had had enough and fired popular head coach Dick McPherson - who despite being popular was generally regarded as a terrible NFL coach having won all of 8 games in his tenure - and replaced him with Bill Parcells, which gave the Patriots immediate credibility. To give some perspective, McPherson was spectacularly successful next to his predecessor Rod Rust who in his only year as coach won exactly once.

The first draft pick of the Parcells/Orthwein era was Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe giving the newly budding fan base hope demonstrated by sell outs and increasing season ticket sales. I remember taking my first job out of college and talking to one of the other guys projecting that "It looks like they're going to take that kid from Washington..."

Also, curiously, the new ownership replaced the historic "Pat Patriot" logo and red, while, and blue motif with a blue, silver and red "Flying Elvis Head" logo. In retrospect, while I was sad to see the old Pat go, I now look upon that time as a redefinition of the New England Patriots and what it means. Now, at the time it may well have been meant to start breaking some bonds with the locals so a move could be more easily accomplished, but looking back it symbolized a redefinition of the organization. I still remember that press conference, newly drafted Drew Bledsoe modeling the new uni looking quite uncomfortable and a few side comments here and there disparaging the new Elvis logo from the players who were modeling it.

It may well have been Orthwein's intention to move the franchise to St. Louis at the end of the 1993 season - everything about the movements up to that point, indicated this was the case - but the Krafts held a lease binding the Patriots to decrepit Foxboro Stadium, which they had no interest in having bought out and in 1994 the Krafts bought the Pats from Orthwein for a record $180 Million. And while it was Orthwein who laid the symbolic ground work of change in Foxborough, it was Kraft who implemented the real organizational changes.

The next several years were years of conflict between Kraft and Parcells, culminating with Parcells essentially negotiating with the Jets in the weeks leading up to what would be a losing campaign in Super Bowl XXXI and a Tuna jumping ship. The quotable Parcells noted that if a coach is accountable for cooking the meal, he should be allowed to shop for the groceries, referring to the Kraft's Player personnel director Bobby Grier choosing the draft picks.

Bill's successor Pete Carroll while he has become the model for NCAA football at USC, as Patriots head coach he essentially rode a Superbowl runner up downward for three years. It's hard to say whether it was him or how the teams were constructed, but it clearly didn't work out for him in New England, and his easy manner, and laid back style really conflicted with New England's archetype of what a coach should be - particularly following Parcells. I remember the press conference announcing the re-signing of Chris Slade, a perennial resident of Parcells' doghouse, where he actually embraced Carroll and said he was his boy. Yikes!

Having learned from this experience, Kraft terminated Carroll's services in favor of retaining the services of one Bill Belichick, who had been an assistant in New England with Parcells, knew the system, and the owner.

The rest, as they say is history.

An interesting aside, in 1985 when the Patriots went to Super Bowl XX, there were 5000 season ticket holders and most did not buy Superbowl tickets. 20 years, and four superbowls later, there is a waiting list several years long accompanied by ten years of sell outs and a new stadium.

All of this between sexual harassment episodes with newspaper reporters (Lisa Olsen) and near electrocutions (the 1985 finale against Cincinnati, and Irving Fryar's off field issues.