New England Patriots: Debunking the myths of past futility

Summing up the New England Patriots history

The Brady and Belichick era of excellence began in 2000. An era of unparalleled and unprecedented success. That was certainly and unquestionably the golden age of football in New England. We are unlikely to see its equal again.

Yet, the purpose of this article was to point out that contrary to a widely-held belief, the past history of the Boston and then New England Patriots was not so bleak as some would portray it. Far from it. The Patriots went to an AFL title game in 1963 and Super Bowls in 1985 and 1996, and lost. Some teams have never been to a Super Bowl.

And there were good teams in between as well, as well as downtimes, as are witnessed by all teams not named “the Brady/Belichick era in New England”.

In addition, in the decade that they did not advance to a Championship game, the 70’s, they possessed arguably 2 of the best teams in their history and in the National Football League those years. Coupled with the 3 Championship runs, this is hardly the record of a “loser” franchise.

Those New England Patriots‘ teams may have failed to win a championship. But, to label their history a complete failure and all of those teams laughingstocks or losers does a huge disservice to the great, the good and all the other players who played on some of those truly outstanding teams. To so disparage their earlier history is unfair, inaccurate and uncalled for. I hope this article helps to set the record straight.