Everyone knows about the success that the Chargers had in 1963, but not nearly as much is said about their opponents in the AFL championship, the Boston Patriots. Rightfully so, as the Chargers blew them out in that game, but Boston had put together a solid club after fours years in the league.
This article talks a bit about their success, but focuses more on the joy and camaraderie that the Patriots shared in those early years. Written in 1986, this piece mentions even then about how much professional football had changed, and how much of the fun had been taken away. I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute, and it is just another reason to appreciate the old AFL.
Great read… from Saban’s being fired (a mistake in retrospect?), Eisenhauer’s not so Presidential expose, to memorable if unrequited years sans Championships the AFL Patriots, memories are made of this.
In retrospect, that ’63 Championship Game strikes me as an aberration if not a fluke, that such a good become great defense as Boston’s was dominated by a SD team that never again sniffed that type of post season production. On that day, the Chargers wore the crown and the Patriots the frown.
Not sure which post season debacle was worse, 1963’s loss to SD or the Patriots latter-day namesakes ’86 Superbowl losing 46-10 loss to the Bears. Fortunately, Belichick and Brady et al have more recently helped soothe those earlier hurts.
Great stories. And to think I picked these early AFL guys to be my heroes! Well, they still are. It would be great to watch some full games from that era. If a quarteback back then had 15 TD passes and 25 INT’s in a season he was a star. Today, he’d be shot at sunrise with those numbers. HA HA Lincoln sure enjoyed ’63 a lot more than he would the ’64 champ. game.
Slightly off topic but how come the Patriots played in so many places in Boston prior to moving to Foxborough MA?
The Giants’ decline (’64-68) gave the Pats and Bills the break they sorely needed for success. Until ’63 the Giants were contenders, going to NFL championship games twice, and were wildly popular throughout upstate New York and New England. Their plunge to 2-12 in ’64 helped create impetus for the Bills and Pats to win fans and stanch red ink. Their rivalry was a big part of the AFL’s success, but no one seems to remember it in New England these days. I wish the Bills would bring it back.
Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft, a Patriots ticket holder during the ’60s, emphasized during a pre-game radio broadcast, that it was NOT his decision to scuttle the old Pats helmet, logo, and uniform. That decision had been made before he acquired the team, probably by an interim owner. Most old Patriots’ fans didn’t favor the change at all. Of course, they do favor the play on the field these days.
Bring back the Pat Patriot helmet and the red and white uniform, PLEASE.
I am with Eddie, bring back the Pat Patriot helmet please!
Great read by the way.
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