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This Patriots trivia quiz has 49 free questions with answers and runs from Billy Sullivan's 1959 AFL franchise, the Pat Patriot logo and a homeless decade of borrowed stadiums, through the Super Bowl XX and XXXI defeats, to the dynasty: the 199th pick, the Snow Bowl, Vinatieri's kicks, 16-0, Malcolm Butler, 28-3 and the 13-3 win over the Rams. It closes with the post-Brady years, Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel's turnaround. Use it for a Foxborough tailgate, a New England bar quiz or to settle who in the family really knows the team. The easy questions any casual fan will get; the hard ones dig into draft slots, halftime acts, retired numbers and the details of the famous plays. Every answer was checked against encyclopedic sources before it went live, and each question explains itself as soon as you pick.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Boston business executive was awarded the eighth and final AFL franchise on November 16, 1959?
Billy Sullivan
Billy Sullivan, a Boston business executive, was awarded the eighth and final AFL franchise on 16 November 1959; the Boston Patriots name came from a fan contest.
Q 02The Patriots' 1971 Foxborough stadium originally carried which beer company's name?
Schaefer
Schaefer Stadium, named for the F&M Schaefer Brewing Company, which bought the naming rights, opened in Foxborough in 1971 with seating for about 60,000.
Q 03The Patriots' logo from 1961 to 1992 showed a Revolutionary War minuteman doing what?
Hiking a football
Pat Patriot, the logo used from 1961 to 1992, drew a minuteman in a three-point stance. Hiking a football was the pose, and the design later gave its name to the team mascot.
Q 04The Patriots' logo unveiled in 1993 is popularly known by what nickname?
The Flying Elvis
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.
Q 05Which team crushed the Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX?
Chicago Bears
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.
Q 06Which Patriots quarterback replaced a struggling Tony Eason during Super Bowl XX?
Steve Grogan
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.
Q 07Who was the first special-teams Super Bowl MVP, with a 99-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXXI?
Desmond Howard
Desmond Howard returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the Packers' 35-21 win, the first special-teams player named Super Bowl MVP.
Q 08Which head coach left the Patriots for a division rival after Super Bowl XXXI, refusing even to fly home with the team?
Bill Parcells
Bill Parcells, feuding with Robert Kraft over personnel control, quit after Super Bowl XXXI to coach a division rival and flew home from New Orleans separately from the team.
Q 09Robert Kraft bought the Patriots in which year?
1994
Robert Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million from James Orthwein, who had planned to move the team to St. Louis.
Q 10Before New England, Bill Belichick was head coach of which team from 1991 to 1995?
Cleveland Browns
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.
Q 11In December 2024, Bill Belichick was named head football coach of which university?
North Carolina
Bill Belichick was hired by North Carolina in December 2024, his first college head-coaching job, succeeding Mack Brown as coach of the Tar Heels.
Q 12With which overall pick of the 2000 NFL draft did the Patriots take Tom Brady?
199th
Tom Brady went 199th overall, in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, behind six other quarterbacks, including Giovanni Carmazzi and Spergon Wynn.
Q 13Tom Brady played his college football for which school?
Michigan
Tom Brady played at Michigan from 1995 to 1999, starting his final two seasons and beating Alabama 35-34 in overtime in the January 2000 Orange Bowl.
Q 21Which two performers were involved in the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime 'wardrobe malfunction'?
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake
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.
Q 22Which receiver was Super Bowl XXXIX MVP with a record-tying 11 catches against the Eagles?
Deion Branch
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.
Q 23Gillette Stadium, opened in 2002, was originally known by what name?
Q 14Whose injury in 2001 opened the door for Tom Brady to become the Patriots' starter?
Drew Bledsoe
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.
Q 15Who was the Boston Patriots' first head coach when they began play in 1960?
Lou Saban
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.
Q 16Which Raiders defender's hit on Tom Brady triggered the Tuck Rule ruling?
Charles Woodson
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.
Q 17Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots' first title, was the first Super Bowl ever played in which month?
February
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.
Q 18By how many points were the Rams favoured over the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI?
14
The Rams, the 'Greatest Show on Turf', were favoured by 14 points, yet Ty Law's 47-yard interception return for a touchdown helped the Patriots lead 17-3 in the third quarter.
Q 19Adam Vinatieri won Super Bowl XXXVI with a field goal on the final play from how many yards?
48
Adam Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal as time expired beat the Rams 20-17, the first Super Bowl decided on the final play; two years later his 41-yarder beat the Panthers.
Q 20Adam Vinatieri played his college football at which school?
South Dakota State
Adam Vinatieri kicked at South Dakota State, then a Division II school in Brookings, went undrafted and joined the Patriots in 1996 after a season with the Amsterdam Admirals.
CMGI Field
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.
Q 24What structure at Gillette Stadium reaches 218 feet and offers 360-degree views of Foxborough?
A lighthouse
A lighthouse 218 feet tall, topped by an observation deck, was built at the north end of Gillette Stadium in a 2023 renovation, replacing the stadium's original smaller lighthouse.
Q 25Which receiver set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches for the 2007 Patriots?
Randy Moss
Randy Moss caught 23 touchdown passes in 2007, breaking Jerry Rice's 1987 mark of 22, while Tom Brady threw a then-record 50 touchdown passes and won his first MVP.
Q 26Who ended the 2007 Patriots' perfect season in Super Bowl XLII?
New York Giants
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.
Q 27The 2007 'Spygate' penalty punished the Patriots for videotaping which team's sideline signals?
New York Jets
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.
Q 28Which undrafted rookie's goal-line interception with 20 seconds left sealed Super Bowl XLIX?
Malcolm Butler
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.
Q 29Which pop star opened the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show riding a giant golden mechanical lion?
Katy Perry
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.
Q 30How many games was Tom Brady suspended over Deflategate?
Four
Four games was the suspension the NFL imposed in May 2015; a judge voided it for 2015, but the Second Circuit reinstated it and Brady sat out the first four games of 2016.