98 Fun Facts About New England Patriots

Which Boston business executive was awarded the eighth and final AFL franchise on November 16, 1959?

Billy Sullivan kept the Patriots until 1988, when losses from his family's bankrolling of the Jacksons' 1984 Victory Tour forced him to sell the team he had founded.

The Patriots' 1971 Foxborough stadium originally carried which beer company's name?

Schaefer Stadium, named for the brewery that bought the rights, gave the Patriots a home of their own after a decade spent borrowing Boston fields, Fenway Park and Harvard Stadium among them.

The Patriots' logo from 1961 to 1992 showed a Revolutionary War minuteman doing what?

Hiking a football: the minuteman began in 1960 as a newspaper cartoonist's sketch, and the team's owner liked it so much that he adopted it as the club's logo.

The Patriots' logo unveiled in 1993 is popularly known by what nickname?

The Flying Elvis nickname stuck because fans thought the gray minuteman's face, with its streaming red, white and blue hat, resembled a young Elvis Presley.

Which team crushed the Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX?

The Chicago Bears, with Richard Dent as MVP and William 'The Refrigerator' Perry scoring a touchdown, routed New England 46-10 after the Patriots had won three road playoff games as a wild card.

Which Patriots quarterback replaced a struggling Tony Eason during Super Bowl XX?

Steve Grogan replaced Tony Eason, who went 0-for-6, in the second quarter of Super Bowl XX and threw the Patriots' only touchdown pass, to Irving Fryar.

Who was the first special-teams Super Bowl MVP, with a 99-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXXI?

Desmond Howard struck on the very next kickoff after the Patriots had closed to within six points, and New England never scored again in the Packers' 35-21 win.

Which head coach left the Patriots for a division rival after Super Bowl XXXI?

Bill Parcells quit within a week of Super Bowl XXXI, still angry that owner Robert Kraft had overruled his wish for a defender in the 1996 draft and taken receiver Terry Glenn.

Robert Kraft's 1994 purchase blocked the Patriots' move to which city?

St. Louis was the seller's home city, but Kraft, who already owned the stadium, refused $75 million to release the team from its lease there and bought the club himself.

Before New England, Bill Belichick was head coach of which team from 1991 to 1995?

Bill Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1995, going 36-44 with one playoff trip, and was fired after the franchise's move to Baltimore was announced.

In December 2024, Bill Belichick was named head football coach of which university?

North Carolina gave Bill Belichick his first college job, on the campus where his father Steve had been an assistant coach in the 1950s, when Bill was a toddler.

With which overall pick of the 2000 NFL draft did the Patriots take Tom Brady?

199th overall, in the sixth round: six other quarterbacks were taken before Tom Brady, who went on to win a record seven Super Bowls.

Tom Brady played his college football for which school?

Michigan: Brady arrived seventh on the depth chart, and even as a senior he had to share the job, playing the first quarter before Drew Henson took the second.

Whose injury in 2001 opened the door for Tom Brady to become the Patriots' starter?

Drew Bledsoe suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest from a Mo Lewis hit in week two of 2001, and Tom Brady kept the job when Bledsoe was fit again.

Who was the Boston Patriots' first head coach when they began play in 1960?

Lou Saban coached the Boston Patriots from their 1960 debut until he was fired five games into 1961 and replaced by Mike Holovak; Saban later won two AFL titles with Buffalo.

Which Raiders defender's hit on Tom Brady triggered the Tuck Rule ruling?

Charles Woodson's corner blitz knocked the ball loose, but referee Walt Coleman ruled on replay that Brady's arm had been moving forward, making it an incomplete pass.

Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots' first title, was the first Super Bowl ever played in which month?

Super Bowl XXXVI fell on 3 February 2002 because the schedule slid a week after the September 11 attacks; the Patriots chose to be introduced as a team rather than individually.

Whose interception return gave the underdog Patriots their first lead of Super Bowl XXXVI?

Ty Law stepped in front of a Kurt Warner pass and ran it back for a touchdown, and the Patriots, given little chance against the Rams, never trailed again.

Vinatieri's kick made Super Bowl XXXVI the first ever won in which way?

On the final play: no earlier Super Bowl had been won by a score as time expired, and the kick sealed one of the game's great upsets, over a team favoured by 14 points.

In 1982's 'Snowplow Game', a plow cleared a spot for the Patriots' winning field goal against which team?

The Miami Dolphins lost 3-0 after Mark Henderson, a prisoner on work release, drove his plow across the snow-covered field to clear a patch for kicker John Smith.

Which two performers were involved in the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime 'wardrobe malfunction'?

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake ended their halftime duet with the exposure that brought CBS a $550,000 FCC fine, later thrown out in court; the Patriots beat the Panthers 32-29.

Which receiver was Super Bowl XXXIX MVP with a record-tying 11 catches against the Eagles?

Deion Branch caught 11 passes for 133 yards in the 24-21 win over Philadelphia, tying Dan Ross and Jerry Rice's Super Bowl record, and was named MVP without scoring.

Gillette Stadium, opened in 2002, was originally known by what name?

CMGI Field was the name sold to internet company CMGI before the 2002 opening; after the dot-com bust that deal was scrapped and Gillette bought the naming rights.

What structure at Gillette Stadium reaches 218 feet and offers 360-degree views of Foxborough?

A lighthouse has marked the stadium's entrance since it opened; the 2023 rebuild, billed as the tallest lighthouse in the United States, turned it into a tower fans can climb to an observation deck.

Which receiver set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches for the 2007 Patriots?

Randy Moss cost the Patriots only a fourth-round draft pick in a trade with Oakland, then caught 23 touchdown passes to break Jerry Rice's record of 22.

Who ended the 2007 Patriots' perfect season in Super Bowl XLII?

The New York Giants won 17-14 after David Tyree's helmet catch kept the winning drive alive, leaving the Patriots 18-1 after an 18-0 start.

The 2007 'Spygate' penalty punished the Patriots for videotaping which team's sideline signals?

The New York Jets, coached by former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini, were the team taped in the 2007 opener; the NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and took a first-round pick.

Which undrafted rookie's goal-line interception with 20 seconds left sealed Super Bowl XLIX?

Malcolm Butler, an undrafted rookie from West Alabama, jumped Russell Wilson's slant to Ricardo Lockette at the goal line, moments after Jermaine Kearse's juggling catch had set up first-and-goal.

Which pop star opened the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show riding a giant golden mechanical lion?

Katy Perry rode in on a giant golden lion to 'Roar' and later shared the stage with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, with the dancing 'Left Shark' stealing the show.

Who first replaced Tom Brady during his Deflategate suspension?

Jimmy Garoppolo was 21-0 up in his second start when a shoulder injury knocked him out, so rookie Jacoby Brissett finished that win and started the next two games.

Deflategate stemmed from the January 2015 AFC Championship Game against which opponent?

The Indianapolis Colts, beaten 45-7 that day, had alerted the league; linebacker D'Qwell Jackson's interception produced the ball that was checked at halftime.

From what deficit did the Patriots come back to win Super Bowl LI against Atlanta?

Down 28-3 midway through the third quarter, the Patriots scored 31 unanswered points, helped by a diving catch that came off a defender's shoe, in the first Super Bowl decided in overtime.

Super Bowl LI, the 34-28 overtime win, was played in which city?

Houston's NRG Stadium hosted Super Bowl LI, where Lady Gaga opened the halftime show on the stadium roof and then appeared to leap down into the arena.

Who scored the only touchdown in the Patriots' 13-3 Super Bowl LIII win over the Rams?

Sony Michel scored from two yards out in the fourth quarter, one play after Rob Gronkowski's 29-yard catch, ending the first Super Bowl to go three quarters without a touchdown.

The Patriots' sixth Super Bowl title tied them for the most in NFL history with which franchise?

The Pittsburgh Steelers needed three head coaches to win their six; the Patriots, without a title until 2002, won all of theirs under one coach and one quarterback.

Rob Gronkowski's 17 receiving touchdowns in 2011 set the single-season record for which position?

Tight end Rob Gronkowski slid to the second round of the 2010 draft after back surgery cost him a college season, then led the whole NFL with 17 touchdown catches a year later.

Which guard, drafted from Alabama in 1973, was the first Patriots player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

John Hannah's blocking drove the 1978 Patriots to 3,165 rushing yards, an NFL record at the time, and the last game of his 13 seasons was Super Bowl XX.

Tom Brady left the Patriots in March 2020 to sign with which team?

Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on 20 March 2020 and won Super Bowl LV with them that season, while the Patriots went 7-9 under Cam Newton.

Which Patriots receiver was named MVP of Super Bowl LIII?

Julian Edelman, a college quarterback drafted in the seventh round, caught 10 passes for 141 yards, more than half of his team's receiving total that night.

Which quarterback did the Patriots take third overall in the 2024 NFL draft?

Drake Maye went third overall in April 2024, behind Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, after a 4-13 season in 2023 that ended Bill Belichick's 24-year tenure.

Who did the Patriots hire as head coach in January 2025 after firing Jerod Mayo?

Mike Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a Patriots linebacker and caught touchdown passes in two of them, when he was sent in on offence at the goal line.

Which team beat the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX?

The Seattle Seahawks won 29-13, avenging Super Bowl XLIX, which New England had snatched from them eleven years earlier with a goal-line interception in the final seconds.

When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, the Patriots were placed in which division?

The AFC East was the Patriots' division from the 1970 realignment, when the ten AFL clubs joined three NFL teams to form the American Football Conference; the club became New England in 1971.

What geographic name did the Patriots briefly adopt in 1971 before the NFL rejected it?

Bay State Patriots, borrowing the Massachusetts nickname, was announced early in 1971; when the NFL turned it down, the club chose New England instead, to claim the whole region.

In 1979, how did Patriots fans reject a sleek new logo meant to replace the old minuteman?

By booing it at halftime: the owner put the new design to a voice vote against Pat Patriot during a home game, and the crowd's verdict kept the old logo for 13 more seasons.

Which head coach led the Patriots to Super Bowl XX after taking over in 1984?

Raymond Berry, a Hall of Fame receiver, replaced Ron Meyer midway through 1984; his 1985 team went 11-5 and won three road playoff games to reach Super Bowl XX.

Which Major League Soccer club began playing at Gillette Stadium alongside the Patriots in 2002?

The New England Revolution, an MLS charter club from 1996, is owned like the Patriots by the Kraft Group and moved into Gillette Stadium when it opened in 2002.

What nickname did the Patriots give the 'Rivalries' uniform they unveiled in 2025 for home games against division rivals?

The Nor'easter exists because Nike and the NFL gave teams a special kit for one home game a year against a division rival; Buffalo's version is called the 'Cold Front'.

Which world leader ended up with Robert Kraft's third Super Bowl ring after a 2005 visit abroad?

Vladimir Putin kept the ring after a 2005 meeting in Saint Petersburg. Kraft first called it a gift, then said years later that he had never meant to give it away.

Which Major League Baseball team drafted future Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as a catcher in 1995?

Montreal Expos scouts took Brady in the 18th round after working him out at Candlestick Park. He chose college football instead and became the last active athlete the club had drafted.

Patriots championship parades through Boston carry the players aboard which tourist vehicles?

Duck boats, the amphibious sightseeing trucks, first carried the Patriots after Super Bowl XXXVI. Some later parades have also taken to the river.

What do the End Zone Militia, a troop of Revolutionary War reenactors, do when the Patriots score?

Fire muskets: the militia lines up behind the end zone and lets off a volley of blanks from flintlock guns. The group has been part of Patriots home games since 1996.

In 2020, the Patriots' team plane flew to China to collect over a million of which medical items?

N95 masks: owner Robert Kraft had negotiated for 1.7 million of them, but only 1.2 million would fit on board. The team's truck then helped hand them out.

The man who drove the plow in the Patriots' 1982 Snowplow Game was at the stadium on what basis?

Prison work release: operator Mark Henderson was a convict when he veered off the yard line to sweep a clean patch for the kick. His tractor now hangs from the ceiling of the Patriots Hall of Fame.

After first retiring from the Patriots in 2019, Rob Gronkowski won a title belt with which company?

WWE signed him in 2020: he hosted WrestleMania 36 and won the 24/7 Championship on the show's second night. He was back in the NFL later that year.

In 2017, the Patriots became the first NFL team to buy which form of transport for away games?

Their own planes: the club bought two Boeing 767s, one of them as a backup. The aircraft are nicknamed AirKrafts after owner Robert Kraft.

Which salad staple did Tom Brady's strict diet rule out, along with peppers and eggplants?

Tomatoes are off the menu, along with mushrooms, coffee, flour, gluten and dairy. Brady packaged the regime for sale as the TB12 Method.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback joined the Patriots in June 2013 but was cut before the season?

Tim Tebow signed a two-year deal with no guaranteed money and was released on the final cut-down day. He later spent several years playing minor league baseball.

Which Brazilian supermodel did Patriots star Tom Brady marry in 2009 after two years of dating?

Gisele Bündchen and Brady started dating in late 2006 and married in a Catholic ceremony. The couple announced their divorce in 2022.

Growing up in San Mateo, California, Tom Brady regularly went to watch which NFL team's home games?

San Francisco 49ers games at Candlestick Park were a boyhood habit for Brady, who has called quarterback Joe Montana his idol and one of his inspirations.

How did the Patriots break with tradition during the player introductions before Super Bowl XXXVI?

Entered as a team: Bill Belichick refused to pick his offense or his defense for the usual one-by-one introductions. Both Super Bowl teams have come out together ever since.

Which band's halftime show at the Patriots' first Super Bowl win honored the September 11 victims?

U2 played as the victims' names were projected onto a sheet behind the stage. SI.com later ranked it the best halftime show in Super Bowl history.

Which former league MVP became the Patriots' starting quarterback in 2020, after Tom Brady left?

Cam Newton, the league's MVP in 2015, signed a one-year deal after nearly three months as a free agent. He ran for two touchdowns in his first Patriots start.

Which future Super Bowl-winning coach led the Patriots for three seasons before Bill Belichick arrived?

Pete Carroll won a division title in 1997 but was fired after the 1999 season. He rebuilt his name with national championships at USC before winning a Super Bowl of his own.

Tom Brady's 50 touchdown passes for the 2007 Patriots broke a season record set by which quarterback?

Peyton Manning had thrown 49 in 2004. Brady matched and then passed him in the last game of the regular season, and was named the league's MVP for the first time.

Which heavy metal singer's hit Crazy Train became the Patriots' entrance song at Gillette Stadium?

Ozzy Osbourne released Crazy Train in 1980 as his first solo single. It has also been walk-out music for Aston Villa, the football club from his home city of Birmingham.

Which team beat the Patriots 35–21 in Super Bowl XXXI for its first championship since the 1960s?

Green Bay Packers supporters had waited since Super Bowl II in 1968 for another title. The win over the Patriots was the franchise's twelfth NFL championship.

Which 43-year-old Patriots backup converted the NFL's first successful drop kick since 1941?

Doug Flutie drop-kicked an extra point in January 2006 on the first kick attempt of his NFL career. Bill Belichick hinted that the play was a retirement present for his veteran.

Which Patriots running back scored the overtime touchdown that won Super Bowl LI?

James White ran in from two yards out for his third touchdown of the night. His 14 catches and 20 points were both Super Bowl records.

Which Patriots linebacker returned to the field in October 2005, eight months after suffering a stroke?

Tedy Bruschi suffered the stroke days after playing in the Pro Bowl and said he would sit out the season. He came back anyway and shared the league's Comeback Player of the Year award.

Bill Belichick grew up around football thanks to his father, an assistant coach at which service academy?

Navy shaped his childhood: Belichick was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father was on the Naval Academy's football staff.

Before a 1993 redesign switched them to blue, the Patriots wore home jerseys of which color?

Red was the home color from the team's first season in 1960, with red numbers on the white road jerseys. The 1993 overhaul brought in royal blue jerseys and a new logo.

The heavily favored Rams offense that the Patriots upset in Super Bowl XXXVI went by which nickname?

The Greatest Show on Turf had powered the Rams to a league-best 14–2 record. The Patriots, two-touchdown underdogs, built their lead by forcing three turnovers.

The Patriots' first three Super Bowl appearances, two defeats and then a win, were all played in which city?

New Orleans and its Superdome staged Super Bowls XX, XXXI and XXXVI. The third trip ended with the franchise's first championship.

Which Alabama quarterback did the Patriots select 15th overall in the 2021 NFL draft, the fifth passer taken?

Mac Jones had been widely tipped to go third overall before sliding to the Patriots. He became the first rookie quarterback in franchise history to earn Pro Bowl honors.

Which undrafted slot receiver led the NFL in receptions three times after a 2007 trade to the Patriots?

Wes Welker made five Pro Bowls in six Patriots seasons and set the franchise record for receptions. He also once scored on a 99-yard catch.

Long before buying the Patriots in 1994, Robert Kraft had followed the team since 1971 in what capacity?

Season ticket holder: Kraft bought his seats in 1971 and had been a fan since the team's AFL days. As a boy he sold newspapers outside Braves Field in Boston.

Which career backup led the 2008 Patriots to 11 wins after Tom Brady's injury in the season opener?

Matt Cassel had spent his whole college career at USC backing up two Heisman Trophy winners. His 11–5 Patriots still missed the playoffs.

The 1985 Patriots became the first team to reach a Super Bowl by winning three playoff games in what way?

On the road: a wild card with an 11–5 record, the Patriots won three straight away games to book a place in Super Bowl XX.

The Patriots lost Super Bowl XLII and won Super Bowl XLIX in the same stadium in which state?

Arizona hosted both games at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, seven years apart. The second visit ended a ten-year wait for the Patriots' fourth title.

Which kicker took over from Adam Vinatieri in 2006 and became the Patriots' all-time leading scorer?

Stephen Gostkowski, a fourth-round draft pick, beat a veteran to the job as a rookie and stayed for 14 seasons. He also passed Vinatieri's franchise record for field goals.

Which Patriots safety won Super Bowl LIII alongside his twin brother Jason, a first for twins in the game?

Devin McCourty and Jason became the first twins to play in the same Super Bowl. The brothers had also started together at cornerback in college, at Rutgers.

Patriots special teams ace Nate Ebner played for the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympics in which sport?

Rugby sevens was his first love: Ebner was twice named MVP of the United States teams at junior world championships before he turned to football.

Patriots tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who first played American football at 14, was born in which country?

Germany produced Vollmer, who was born in Kaarst and went to school in nearby Neuss. He later became an NFL analyst for the television network RTL back home.

Which Patriots wide receiver filled in on defense in 2004 and finished second on the team in interceptions?

Troy Brown caught only 17 passes that year but made three interceptions in what began as an emergency role. He was even used as an emergency quarterback in a later preseason.

Patriots receiver Chris Hogan played which sport at Penn State before switching to football?

Lacrosse came first: Hogan played his college football later, at Monmouth. In 2021 he went back to the sport as a professional midfielder.

Tom Brady's 2008 Patriots season ended in the first quarter of week one after a hit by which team's safety?

Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard hit Brady's left knee, tearing two ligaments. The injury ended the quarterback's run of 111 consecutive starts.

Robert Kraft outflanked the Patriots' owners in 1988 by buying what out of bankruptcy court?

The team's stadium came with a lease tying the Patriots to it through 2001. Kraft later refused to let the owners break that lease and move the franchise away.

Which Heisman Trophy winner from Stanford did the Patriots select first overall in the 1971 NFL draft?

Jim Plunkett was the first Latino to win the Heisman and the first player of Hispanic heritage drafted first overall. His two Super Bowl wins came later, with the Raiders.

Which Hall of Fame Patriots linebacker of the 1980s is also a high-ranking black belt in karate?

Andre Tippett earned his rank in Uechi-ryu, a style from Okinawa. On the field, his 100 career sacks are the most in Patriots history.

Which Patriots cornerback was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019 season?

Stephon Gilmore was the first Patriots player ever to win the award. He had joined the team as a free agent two years earlier.

Which team beat the Boston Patriots 13–10 in the American Football League's first regular-season game?

Denver Broncos players won that Friday-night opener in Boston, yet ended the year with the only record in the eight-team league worse than the Patriots' 5–9.

Which Boston Patriots receiver and kicker, nicknamed the Duke, retired as the AFL's all-time leading scorer?

Gino Cappelletti scored 1,130 points and played in every one of the Patriots' AFL games. He later spent 28 seasons as half of the team's radio commentary duo.

How did the Patriots summon Bob Gladieux, waived a week earlier, to play in the opening game of 1970?

Over the stadium loudspeakers: two unsigned defensive backs had been benched shortly before the game, so Gladieux was paged. He then made the tackle on the opening kickoff.

At which Connecticut university did Bill Belichick play center on the football team in the early 1970s?

Wesleyan later dedicated the Belichick Plaza in recognition of his leadership and generosity. He went straight from campus into his first NFL job in 1975.

Patriots kicker Tony Franklin, who scored the first points of Super Bowl XX, famously kicked in what way?

Barefoot kicking earned Franklin his nickname, the Barefoot Kicker. His 32 field goals in 1986 stood as the Patriots' single-season record until 2008.

Which Remington boss, famous for starring in his own razor commercials, bought the Patriots in 1988?

Victor Kiam had made his name by turning Remington's fortunes around, but he lost money on the Patriots and sold up within a few years.

Super Bowl XXXIX made the Patriots the second team to win three Super Bowls in four seasons, after which franchise?

Dallas Cowboys teams had managed it in the 1990s. The Patriots' third title in four seasons cemented their status as the NFL's dynasty of the 2000s.