Happy Anniversary Mr. Kraft!!

[BillD1984]

This week marks the 20 year anniversary when Bob Kraft bought the New England Patriots. What he has accomplished in his 20 years of being the owner is staggering!!

* In the Patriots first 34 years of existence they won 2 division titles, played in 1 AFC Championship Game (and won it), 0 Super Bowls and qualified for the playoffs only 6 times. In the 20 years under Kraft ownership, the Pats have won 13 division titles, played in 9 AFC Championship Games, won 6 AFC Championships (with a chance at 7 on Sunday), and won 3 Super Bowls

* the Patriots hosted 1 (yes, ONE) playoff game in the 34 pre-Kraft years. In the last 20 years the Pats have hosted 17 playoff games.

This organization was all but moved to St. Louis in 1993, and then Mr. Kraft (who already owned Foxboro Stadium) bought the team. The Patriots were not only the laughingstock of the NFL, they were the laughingstock in all of North America sports!! Now this organization is as stable as any in any sport, and they have a first class stadium to go along with it. I always say Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe brought long needed credibility to this franchise in 1993, and Bill Belichick and Tom Brady turned this organization into a dynasty in 2001. Bob Kraft? All he did was save professional football in New England!

Happy anniversary, Mr. Kraft....Patriots fans everywhere will ALWAYS be thankful!!

 

[riffjim4069]

Mr. Kraft needs to rescue the Lions from 50-years of hell known as William Ford Family ownership of the team.

 

[BillD1984]

Mr. Kraft needs to rescue the Lions from 50-years of hell known as William Ford Family ownership of the team.

LOL....I'm telling you, the pre-Kraft Patriots would have given any team a run for their money in the futility dept. I was reading a Patriots fan site earlier tonight, and someone started a thread on all the ineptitude of this organization pre-Kraft. A lot of the things I had long forgotten........lucky me.

 

[AntAltMike]

You're never as smart as you look like you are when you're winning and you're never as dumb as you look like you are when your losing, so I guess that means that Dan Snyder is not as dumb as he always seems to be, because he's always losing. Snyder is vilified for every personnel move he makes, but Kraft is not criticized for choosing Terry Glenn over the defensive player that Parcells wanted chosen with that draft pick.

I haven't read today's Boston papers yet, but I lived through the Billy Sullivan and Victor Kiam eras. I vaguely remember one game where no one on the staff had the keys to open the stadium and they had to break in. I also remember there was a shareholder named Fran Murray who I thought should have been named Fran "half a loaf" Murray because every ownership deal he tried to make involved splitting the ownership with someone else who could never agree with him on what direction they were going to go.

 

[Ramy]

They played in one Super Bowl before Kraft, that's more that most teams.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Of course, those of us in Connecticut will never forgive him....

Patriots Headed For Hartford

 

[Peter Parker]

They played in one Super Bowl before Kraft, that's more that most teams.

I don't think that is true. There are what 32 teams and 18 of them have won superbowls add to that teams like the Bengals,Bills, Chargers and eagles that have been there but never won and you see that most have been there at least once.

IIRC the Pats were in fact the last of the old AFL teams to make a SupEr Bowl.

 

[Kraven]

This is the only franchise owner I will ever refer to as Mr.
Compared to Mr Kraft, that clown in Miami Loria couldnt
even clean Mr Kraft's toilet.

 

[BillD1984]

Of course, those of us in Connecticut will never forgive him....

Patriots Headed For Hartford

I agree, not his finest moment.

 

[BillD1984]

They played in one Super Bowl before Kraft, that's more that most teams.

Blind squirrel and all that.......

 

[Neutron]

Too bad he can't buy the Dallas Cowboys...

 

[BillD1984]

I don't think that is true. There are what 32 teams and 18 of them have won superbowls add to that teams like the Bengals,Bills, Chargers and eagles that have been there but never won and you see that most have been there at least once.

IIRC the Pats were in fact the last of the old AFL teams to make a SupEr Bowl.

They were actually the fourth. The Chiefs were the first, followed by the Raiders and Jets.

 

[Peter Parker]

hey were the eighth. The Broncos bengals (expansion)and Dolphins (expansion AFL) went earlier as well. I guess that theile longer to go.ls and Chargers took awh Bi

 

[BillD1984]

hey were the eighth. The Broncos bengals (expansion)and Dolphins (expansion AFL) went earlier as well. I guess that theile longer to go.ls and Chargers took awh Bi

My bad, I thought you were talking about the original 8 AFL franchises. And you're also right that the Broncos went to their first SB before the Patriots. I forgot about their SB against the Cowboys.

 

[Jimbo]

LOL....I'm telling you, the pre-Kraft Patriots would have given any team a run for their money in the futility dept. I was reading a Patriots fan site earlier tonight, and someone started a thread on all the ineptitude of this organization pre-Kraft. A lot of the things I had long forgotten........lucky me.

Who was the Coach and how were the teams before Billichick came on board ?

Billichick and Parcells, how many years have these two been together under Kraft ?
That has a lot to do with the state of the Pats.

 

[Peter Parker]

My bad, I thought you were talking about the original 8 AFL franchises. And you're also right that the Broncos went to their first SB before the Patriots. I forgot about their SB against the Cowboys.

We are on the same side Bill. Don't sweat the details.

 

[BillD1984]

Who was the Coach and how were the teams before Billichick came on board ?

Billichick and Parcells, how many years have these two been together under Kraft ?
That has a lot to do with the state of the Pats.

Bill Parcells 1993-1996: two playoff berths and one Super Bowl appearance
Pete Carroll 1997-1999: two playoff berths
Bill Belichick 2000-present

There's no question that coaching brought stability to this franchise, but it starts at the top and this organization was a disaster for many of those first 34 years.

 

[Peter Parker]

Bill Parcells 1993-1996: two playoff berths and one Super Bowl appearance
Pete Carroll 1997-1999: two playoff berths
Bill Belichick 2000-present

There's no question that coaching brought stability to this franchise, but it starts at the top and this organization was a disaster for many of those first 34 years.

i grew up in an area of MA that got its TV from Albany NY. I wasa Pats fan but frankly the neighborhood was full of Jets and Giants fans. When I lived in Boston the games did nto usually sell out and therefore were not always on TV.

Beinga Pats fan meant getting a lot of derision form friends who rooted for then more successful teams. There wee periods of respectability (the Fairbanks era) but for the most part things were bleak and people did not really believe in the team until Parcells came and most people recognized that Kraft was going to bring in football people and let them run a successful franchise.

Now I hear that I only support the team because they are a winner or hear about "Spygate". I guess you can't win for being a Pats Fan.

 

[BillD1984]

i grew up in an area of MA that got its TV from Albany NY. I wasa Pats fan but frankly the neighborhood was full of Jets and Giants fans. When I lived in Boston the games did nto usually sell out and therefore were not always on TV.

Beinga Pats fan meant getting a lot of derision form friends who rooted for then more successful teams. There wee periods of respectability (the Fairbanks era) but for the most part things were bleak and people did not really believe in the team until Parcells came and most people recognized that Kraft was going to bring in football people and let them run a successful franchise.

Now I hear that I only support the team because they are a winner or hear about "Spygate". I guess you can't win for being a Pats Fan.

Those mid-late 70's Patriots teams were loaded with talent. Before Tom Brady came along, Steve Grogan was my all-time favorite Patriot. In fact, I was proudly wearing his #14 red Patriots jersey last Saturday night. Andy Johnson, Sam Cunningham, Don Calhohn, Horace Ivory, Russ Francis, Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan, John Hannah, Leon Gray, Shelby Jordan, Mike Haynes, Steve Nelson, Raymond Clayborn, Julius Adams, Tim Fox and of course the tragedy that was Darryl Stingley. Wow......STILL can't believe that roster didn't win a Lombardi.

 

[Ramy]

Those mid-late 70's Patriots teams were loaded with talent. Before Tom Brady came along, Steve Grogan was my all-time favorite Patriot. In fact, I was proudly wearing his #14 red Patriots jersey last Saturday night. Andy Johnson, Sam Cunningham, Don Calhohn, Horace Ivory, Russ Francis, Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan, John Hannah, Leon Gray, Shelby Jordan, Mike Haynes, Steve Nelson, Raymond Clayborn, Julius Adams, Tim Fox and of course the tragedy that was Darryl Stingley. Wow......STILL can't believe that roster didn't win a Lombardi.

They came close. They were a great team.