Highlights
The New England Patriots are a professional football team that has enjoyed varying degrees of success throughout its checkered history. Under owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots won three Super Bowls during a four-year period (2001-04). The team originated when Boston businessman William H. "Billy" Sullivan Jr. was awarded the eighth and final franchise in the upstart American Football League on Nov. 16, 1959. Originally known as the Boston Patriots, the team played home games at several venues during the 1960s, including six years at Fenway Park. The Patriots were one of 10 AFL teams that joined the NFL when the two leagues merged on Feb. 1, 1970. The following year, t...
The New England Patriots are a professional football team that has enjoyed varying degrees of success throughout its checkered history. Under owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots won three Super Bowls during a four-year period (2001-04). The team originated when Boston businessman William H. "Billy" Sullivan Jr. was awarded the eighth and final franchise in the upstart American Football League on Nov. 16, 1959. Originally known as the Boston Patriots, the team played home games at several venues during the 1960s, including six years at Fenway Park. The Patriots were one of 10 AFL teams that joined the NFL when the two leagues merged on Feb. 1, 1970. The following year, the team was renamed the New England Patriots and started playing home games at newly built Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The venue would be renamed twice, first as Sullivan Stadium (1983-89) in honor of the man who founded the franchise and later as Foxboro Stadium (1990-2001) after Sullivan sold the team to Victor Kiam, owner and CEO of Remington Products in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1988. In 1992, Kiam sold the controlling interest of the team to James Orthwein. The ownership changed hands two years later when Kraft, who strategically purchased Sullivan Stadium in November 1988 with the hopes of buying the team some day, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he became the fourth owner in Patriots history on Feb. 25, 1994. The following day fans responded to the sale by purchasing nearly 6,000 season tickets, a single-day sales record at the time. The Patriots have come a long way. At his introductory press conference as head coach in 1969, Clive Rush was shocked, literally, when he grabbed a microphone that wasn't grounded and received a jolt. With the team headed to the postseason in 1978, fans were stunned to learn that coach Chuck Fairbanks had accepted a job to be the University of Colorado coach. The team suspended Fairbanks for the final game of the regular season but reinstated him for the playoffs and the Patriots played like a distracted team in a 34-14 loss to Houston. In 1985, the Patriots won three playoff games on the road for the team's first trip to the Super Bowl. Days after getting hammered by the Bears 46-10, six Patriots players were identified as drug users. The next time the Patriots played in the Super Bowl, there was more dysfunction. A power struggle between coach Bill Parcels and Kraft resulted in Parcells quitting shortly after a 35-21 loss to the Packers. He was replaced by Pete Carroll, who lasted three seasons. The Belichick era began in 2000 and coincided with the opening of Gillette Stadium two years later. In Belichick's first eight seasons, the team won the AFC East six times and three world championships with Tom Brady as quarterback.
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Cundiff appreciates support of his teammates since missed kick vs. Patriots
The Baltimore SunRavens kicker Billy Cundiff said Sunday that his teammates and the Ravens organization have given him nothing but support since he missed a 32-yard field goal attempt in the final minute of the team’s 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots in the...Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Des Moines Register, Steve Bisciotti, Billy Cundiff, Cam Cameron
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Randy Moss and the free-agent wide receiver market
Even with today’s news that Randy Moss plans to come out of retirement, the bumper crop of free-agent wide receivers appears to be thinning out as we learn more about how teams plan to use their franchise tags.
The Philadelphia Inquirer is...Tags: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, Reggie Wayne
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Ravens' Cundiff: 'I expected more backlash'
Des Moines RegisterBilly Cundiff expected worse after the AFC championship game. The Ravens kicker pushed a 32-yard field goal attempt wide left against the New England Patriots with 15 seconds remaining Jan. 22. A converted kick would have tied the game at 23, likely...Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Shayne Graham, Baltimore Ravens, NFL Pro Bowl, Des Moines Register
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Regional combine provides another road to the NFL
With NFL dreams and sleepy eyes, small-school standouts, practice-squad castoffs and a pack of unknown draft hopefuls stepped onto the Ravens' indoor practice field Saturday morning. For many of them, it was the closest they will come to playing in the...Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Ray Lewis, Adam Vinatieri, Baltimore Ravens, Transportation Accidents
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Analysis: Tweaking the Ravens' special teams
This is the final installment of a three-part series in which Baltimore Sun reporter Matt Vensel examines the Ravens and how each area of the team can be improved this offseason.
Billy Cundiff's missed field goal in the closing seconds of last month's...Tags: Marcus Smith, Emanuel Cook, Tavares Gooden, Baltimore Ravens, NFL Pro Bowl
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Tweaking the Ravens Part II: The defense
This is the second installment of a three-part series in which Baltimore Sun reporter Matt Vensel examines the Ravens and how each area of the team can be improved this offseason. He will look at the Ravens' special teams unit in Saturday's paper.
The...Tags: Jimmy Smith (football), Arthur Jones, Jon Ritchie, John Harbaugh, Minnesota Vikings
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How did Joe Flacco fare when pressured?
For Thursday’s newspaper, I began a three-part series called “Tweaking the Ravens” and I started by tweaking the offense. A big chunk of the analysis piece (you can find it here) was about the importance of continuity and stability for...Tags: Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cam Newton, Baltimore Ravens
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Super Bowl TV: Good game, nasty ads, pathetic half-time show
The Baltimore SunI was supposed to review NBC's telecast of the Super Bowl itself. You know, what kind of job did Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Bob Costas do? And I will deliver a short, fast version of that. But you cannot review the Super Bowl without talking...Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Ghouls and Zombies (supernatural entities), Bob Costas, Travis Beckum, Television
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Sunday's Super Bowl most watched show in TV history
The Baltimore SunThe New York Giants victory over the New England Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl made history as the most watched show ever on television, according to NBC and Nielsen Media Research. Here's the release from NBC: Super Bowl XLVI is the most-watched...Tags: Television Industry, Eli Manning, Bruce Springsteen, ABC (tv network), Concerts
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Comparing Joe Flacco and Eli Manning through four NFL seasons
The Baltimore SunFor the second time in five seasons, New York quarterback Eli Manning has led the Giants to the Super Bowl title -- not too shabby for a former first-round draft pick who was criticized often in his first four NFL seasons. Does that last part sound...Tags: Joe Flacco, National Football League Draft, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, Eli Manning
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With these three tweaks, Ravens' offense could be humming
This is the first installment of a three-part series in which Baltimore Sun staff writer Matt Vensel examines all three phases of the Ravens and how those areas can be improved this offseason. He will tackle the Ravens defense in Friday's newspaper and...Tags: Anquan Boldin, Anthony Allen, Emmitt Smith, Cam Cameron, Seattle Seahawks
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Raymond Berry's 'Super' Walk
As he carried the Lombardi Trophy to midfield after the Super Bowl Sunday, past a double row of giddy and groping New York Giants, Raymond Berry felt their glee.
"They (players) were in another world," said Berry, 78. "As I watched them touch the trophy,...Tags: Baltimore Colts, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Raymond Berry, Kraft Foods, Inc.
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