Facts and information about the New England Patriots

• Head Coach Bill Belichick was head coach of the New York Jets for one day before resigning to take the Patriots job.
• At one time, the Patriots were the only team in the league who had a picture of a football as part of their helmet logo.
• Super Bowl MVP Jim Plunkett (Raiders) was originally drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots.
• The Patriots were originally a member of the competing American Football League (AFL) before joining the NFL when the leagues merged in 1970.
• During the 1960’s while in the AFL, and in 1970 their first year in the NFL, the team was known as the Boston Patriots.
• For a brief period in 1971 the team was officially renamed the Bay State Patriots, but before the season started it was decided they would be the New England Patriots.
• From 1963 to 1968 the Patriots played in Fenway
  Park.
• The first player to play his entire career with the Patriots and make the Hall-of-Fame was Offensive Lineman John Hannah.
• Chuck Fairbanks was fired as Head Coach in 1978 after it was revealed that he had secretly already taken the job of Head Coach at the University of
  Colorado.
• After a successful run as Quarterback at Boston
  College, a stint in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals, and a couple years with the Chicago Bears; local hero played backup Quarterback for the Patriots.
• The injury that caused Tom Brady to take over for Drew Bledsoe was caused by a hit by New York Jets Linebacker Mo Lewis.
• The Patriots have had three Head Coaches who also held the position of Head Coach with the New York Jets; Bill Parcells, Pete Carroll, and Bill Belichick (although Belichick only held the title of New York Jets Head Coach for one day).
• Through the 2006 season the Patriots have played in nine games that ended in ties. These tie games all came while they were members of the American Football League.
• Former Patriots Running Back Mosi Tatupu’s son Lofa plays Linebacker in the NFL.
• TV Announcer Craig James, a graduate of SMU, played Running Back for the Patriots in the mid 1980s.
• In December of 2005, in a game against the Jets, backup Quarterback Doug Flutie played for the Patriots against backup Quarterback Vinny Testaverde for the New York Jets; this marked the first time ever in the NFL that two Quarterbacks over the age of 40 years old competed in a regular season game against each other.
• On January 1, 2006 in the regular season finale against the Dolphins, New England Patriots backup Quarterback Doug Flutie successfully drop kicked the ball for an extra point. While still a legal scoring play, the drop kick had not been used in a game since 1941.
• Former Patriots Running Back Craig James’ brother Chris had a major league baseball career that lasted over 9 seasons.
• When the New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins in the 1985 playoffs, it marked their first win in the Orange Bowl in Miami since 1966.
• The New England Patriots originally drafted future Vikings, Chiefs, and Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon with plans on turning him into a defensive back.
• When the Patriots drafted Irving Fryar with the number one overall pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, he became the first wide receiver ever drafted number one overall.
• With his last second field goals to win both Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII, Adam Vinatieri became the first player to be the deciding factor in two different Super Bowl victories.
• Former coach Bill Parcells is the first (and as of 2007 only) coach to take four different NFL teams to the playoffs (Giants, Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys).
• Tom Brady grew up a huge Joe Montana fan and was actually present at the famous 49ers/Cowboys playoff game that featured “The Catch”.
• Tony Eason, quarterback on the 1985 AFC Champion Patriots, became the first (and through 2006 only) Super Bowl starting quarterback to not complete a pass after he was pulled in favor of backup Steve Grogan.
• In 1992, the Patriots had games started by four different quarterbacks: Scott Zolak, Tommy Hodson, Hugh Millen, and Jeff Carlson.
• Kicker Adam Vinatieri is the first kicker to play in five Super Bowls (and also win four).
• Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri got his start in professional football with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.
• In the Super Bowl loss to the 1985 Chicago Bears the Patriots running backs were dominated by the Chicago Defense. Craig James rushed 5 times for 1 yard and had one fumble, while fullback Tony James rushed for 4 yards on 3 carries.
• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was drafted in the 18th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Montreal Expos in 1995.
• Bill Parcells had three different players play for him on three different teams; Pepper Johnson, Jumbo Elliott, and Dave Meggett.
• At Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season, though the Patriots didn’t play in the game, Tom Brady did participate. He was the official coin tosser.
• Running back Kevin Faulk is a distant cousin of former Rams and Colts running back Marshall Faulk.

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