New England Patriots 50 Year Flashback

It's been 50 years since the New England Patriots entered the NFL, and what a storied 50 years they've been. My next five articles will be about the history of the New England Patriots, each of them covering a ten year period in the team's history. We'll now look at the origins of the team and their first ten years.

In late 1959, the Boston Patriots came to life. The franchise was founded by Billy Sullivan Jr., who decided that it'd be fun to let the media select the team's name. It was decided that the team would be called the Patriots, and with a name and logo in hand, it was time to find a coach and a stadium.

The Patriots hired Lou Saban as the teams first head coach on February 8, 1960. The "Pats" as they were nicknamed called Nickerson Field at Boston University home in the inaugural 1960 season. The Patriots were AFL pioneers playing in the leagues first preseason and regular season games. Boston lost to the Denver Broncos 13-10 in front of a home crowd of about 21,000 fans. That season was mediocre at best with Patriots posting a 5-9 record finishing last in the AFL eastern division.

The 1961 season started off slow with a 2-3 start. Saban was dismissed and newly hired coach, Mike Holovak rallied the team to a 9-4-1 record. Holovak posted an identical record in 1962 as the Patriots moved their home to Harvard University. However, the teams nomadic ways did not stop there.

The Patriots continued to look for a home in 1963, and opted to move to Fenway Park for the season. While their record (7-6-1) was worse in '63 than in '61 and '62, it was good enough to win the team its first ever division title. Beating the Bills in the first round of the playoffs, the Pats were stopped in their tracks by the Chargers in the next game.

The franchise took well to Holovak, and his success resulted in an upgrade to the team's general manager in 1964. This season, the Pats finished at 10-3-1, and Holovak was rewarded with AFL Coach of the Year. With three straight successful seasons, the Pats were a force to be reckoned with. 1965 was an off year, and 1966 a successful one. Things took a turn for the worse after that, and Holovak was dismissed in 1969.

The 60s would draw to a close and so would the AFL. The AFL would finalize their merger with the NFL by acquiring the Patriots and 9 other clubs. The Pats would then join the newly formed American Football Conference. The decade could be considered a state of flux in franchise history. The club played in 3 different stadiums and had 3 coaches. The Pats had their share of losing seasons and winning seasons, but never had a lack of grit and heart on the field.

The team was fortunate enough to produce some great players during the decade, including two (Gino Cappelletti and Jim Nance) who made it to the hall of fame, not to mention Nick Buoniconti and Babe Parilli. Boston fans took a liking to these players and developed a rapport between the fans and their team base. This laid the groundwork for the 70s: a new decade with some new stories to tell.